Wild hog processing and cooking

[BrianE]

I'm sure this has been covered 100 times but I'll post it anyway. We seem to have quite a few of these wandering around the property. There is one REALLY solid large ol' boy and three smaller I would guess females. I have seen them a number of times out ripping up my food plot or up at the feeder. They generally don't hang around much during the day but I have seen them a couple of times. I hear they are pretty good chow if you do it right but before the chow comes the field dressing and processing. For deer I do my own. Normally 3 or so every year and we do a combination of grinding, sausage, steaks, roasts, etc. My question is on the processing. I hear they are nasty with bacteria and disease. I assume most of the nasties are in the hid and once it is cut up it is not much different than any other pig meat. Cook it completely and all that. But what's the deal on the skinning and processing? Do I need a haz-mat suit or just some gloves or is all of the talk about nasties just hype? I figure if they are reasonable table fair I might as well knock a couple down. For the mess they make of my food plot I figure they owe me provided the I can get one processed without contracting some disease that will cause me to grow a third arm or something. Any comments?

 

[Muddpuppy]

I'm sure this has been covered 100 times but I'll post it anyway. We seem to have quite a few of these wandering around the property. There is one REALLY solid large ol' boy and three smaller I would guess females. I have seen them a number of times out ripping up my food plot or up at the feeder. They generally don't hang around much during the day but I have seen them a couple of times. I hear they are pretty good chow if you do it right but before the chow comes the field dressing and processing. For deer I do my own. Normally 3 or so every year and we do a combination of grinding, sausage, steaks, roasts, etc. My question is on the processing. I hear they are nasty with bacteria and disease. I assume most of the nasties are in the hid and once it is cut up it is not much different than any other pig meat. Cook it completely and all that. But what's the deal on the skinning and processing? Do I need a haz-mat suit or just some gloves or is all of the talk about nasties just hype? I figure if they are reasonable table fair I might as well knock a couple down. For the mess they make of my food plot I figure they owe me provided the I can get one processed without contracting some disease that will cause me to grow a third arm or something. Any comments?

I personally have not done it, but I was told to stay away from the reproductive organs and gut. And just wear a rain suit and rubber gloves to keep everything off.

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[BrianE]

A rain suit?! Egh. So that would also mean eye protection I suppose. That makes it sound like the stories of nasty stuff might be true. I do know they smell pretty bad. At least I think it was a pig smell I found out scouting one day. I was hiking through an area of pretty dense cover and came up on a nasty smell. I thought it was a particular dump or something but really it was more of a area smell than a specific spot. Sort of striking like a skunk but it wasn't a skunk. (My dog introduced me to the pleasures of skunk smell up close and personal so I am VERY familiar with that stench. Ya really don't want to get hit with that stuff. Believe me. ) Anyway this was more like a javelina musk gland stink. Surprised me because I wasn't expecting it. I am wondering if these don't have a similar gland that causes the hide to stink and seem worse than it actually is.

 

[ImThere]

I Just wore long gloves and no open wounds. Skinned it out. Pulled the meat off the bones and threw out the carcass. Next year if I'm lucky I plan on bringing back mostly the whole pig. Minus internals and head.


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[JimFromTN]

All of the wild pork I have eaten tastes just like farm raised. It just has less fat and the boars can be tougher depending on their age. If you are worried, just wear a pair of those yellow rubber gloves that are meant for cleaning. I have butchered 7 wild hogs so far and I have not gotten sick yet.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I just wear gloves. I tend to just eat tenderloins too because I kill way to many to deal with the whole pig. Food bank won't take them anymore either.


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[DaveB]

Boy do they stink. Know how a rabbits internals smell? that is perfume any chicklet would be glad to have compared to a piggie's.

Also, beware of ticks.

 

[WTM]

brucella and trichonella are the two main cullrits. trichonella is also found in rabbits and heavily in bear. brucella is a bacteria and trichonella is a parasitic worm(cyst) in the meat. cook it thoroughly and what ever you do dont feed pork or rabbit guts to a dog. some advice my older brother ignored.

 

[WTM]

also to add, freezing does not kill trichinella like other parasites and TN incidence rate is about 17%.

 

[WTM]

also to add, freezing does not kill trichinella like other parasites and TN incidence rate is about 17%.

By the book, holding the meat at 155F for 5 minutes takes care of it. Bear meat is by far the greatest culprit m. I believe something like 90% of the cases, but raccoon and even lobster carry it as well.

my biology teacher's dad years ago had some type parasite that he got from eating raw water chestnuts.

i wanted to bear hunt for years until Bowriter sent me a pic of a skinned bear one time. that put an end to my wanting to kill a bear.

 

[WTM]

yep, creeped me out.

 

[Mike Belt]

I've eaten some wild hog a couple of times and couldn't tell any difference from a domestic hog. We used to butcher our on hogs so I'd assume you do it the same way with wild ones. Build a fire, get the water boiling in a 55 gallon barrel, and start dipping the hog and scraping????

 

[JimFromTN]

I've eaten some wild hog a couple of times and couldn't tell any difference from a domestic hog. We used to butcher our on hogs so I'd assume you do it the same way with wild ones. Build a fire, get the water boiling in a 55 gallon barrel, and start dipping the hog and scraping????

I doubt many people go to the trouble for a wild hog. I suppose it depends on what you intend to do with it, but probably easier for most hunters to skin it out and butcher it just like a deer. They are usually too lean for making bacon, but you can do roast cuts and grind some of it. If feasible, mixing some ground park and ground venison would make for excellent meatballs.

Thats all we did. Skin, quarter, and pack in ice chest. Get it home and process it like a deer. Actually, I have been contemplating venison and wild boar meatballs. Getting the ratio of venison to pork is going to be the key.

 

[WTM]

20% pork would probably work. i make venison only meatballs with instant potatoes as a binder. depending on how lean the wild pork is, might still have to use a binder

 

[Snowwolfe]

Only thing I will add is to make sure you don't cross contimamte anything. Dissamble any grinders, mixers, sausage stuffers, etc and clean thoroughly.

 

[fishboy1]

A lot of the stories about nasty wild hogs comes from poor processing or gut shooting one.

Keep the meat CLEAN and cut like a deer.
Pork fat will go rancid much faster than deer or beef so hang a max of 2-3 days to avoid off flavors and remove the glands prior to hanging if possible.

Freezing for at least 10 days is supposed to kill trichinosis.
Wear gloves
Wild hog is much leaner than grocery store pork so your cooking times/methods will need a bit of adjustment to avoid dried out tough meat.

 

[TX300mag]

Treat it like a deer and the rest is all hype. I've never scalded one, always skinned them. I've eaten board up to 375lbs. They smell sometimes, but I've never had bad meat that was handled correctly.


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