Wild Hog Meat can be cooked many ways
Any discussion on how to prepare wild hog meat must begin with the harvest and preparation of the meat. We’ve returned home from the hunt with a cooler full of very fresh wild pork. We made certain to take care of the meat from the time we made the short recovery after placing that broadhead or bullet in the kill zone. Swine blood is one of the quickest to congeal but with that double lung shot, we didn’t have to worry about the animal bleeding out. While skinning our hog we made sure the outside of the hide never touched the meat which is one of the major causes of that ‘gamey’ flavor some folks complain about, especially with boars. So far, we’ve done everything just right. Our hunt was down in Texas, and it was way too warm to allow the animal to hang outside. The lease we were hunting didn’t have a walk-in cooler so we promptly skinned and quartered our porker, packed it in ice and pulled the drain plug on the cooler and tilted it so water would drain. By replenishing the supply of ice each day, our pork will keep several days.
It’s now time to butcher our porker and plan how we wish to prepare the cuts for the table. Age, size and sex to some degree of our hog is the key factor that will determine how best to cook it. A small hog weighing less than about 80 pounds makes great barbeque when sawed down the backbone and slow smoked on a large wood fired smoker or quartered and cooked on a smaller smoker. But if our hog is an older, tougher boar we might want to remove the backstraps and grind the remainder of the meat for breakfast or smoked link sausage. Regardless of what you might have read or heard, boars up to 150 pounds can be very good eating, and I’ve shot and butchered many such animals. Older actively breeding boar shot when the hormones are pumping sometime have an ‘off’ flavor and are best made into sausage. Long tusk boars are the trophy hunter’s dream, and they can make tasty pork but if its table far you are after, set that sight pin on a sow or smaller boar.
WILD HOG PORK CHOPS OR RIBS
Larger hogs weighing over about 130 pounds made decent size pork chops and I usually ‘double cut’ chops by cutting though the backbone and each side of the backstrap. My favorite ‘eater’ hog is a fat barren sow weighing 150 pounds or more. Sows are usually either pregnant or with piglets, or both and body condition might not be prime if they are worn down from nursing. These heavy weight sows are not nearly as plentiful as smaller ones but usually have plenty of fat to flavor the meat and make nice size single chops. I like to saw smaller hogs down the backbone and slow smoke the backstrap with ribs attached.
Suggested Spice Blend: HuntChef Low Down & Dirty Sweet & Smoky BBQ Rub
WILD HOG BACKSTRAPS
I absolutely love putting the backstrap with ribs attached of smaller hogs on my smoker for several hours, keeping the meat moist with barbeque sauce. You might wonder why I don’t cook the whole ‘half hog’ with front shoulders and hams attached. The larger, thicker cuts take much longer to cook. I prefer to allow them to smoke uncovered for three hours or so which gives them a good smoke flavor and then wrap with foil and cook another several hours until the meat reaches around 200 degrees. This is the temperature when the larger cuts fall off the bone tender.
Wild porkers are usually much leaner that domestic hogs thus, traditional methods such as grilling pork chops often doesn’t work well with wild hog chops. Unless the pork chop is from a very fat wild hog, it is definitely not a candidate for quick grilling over hot coals, but If placed in an aluminum pan with olive oil or barbeque sauce, covered and allowed to cook in moisture, they are a gourmet’s delight!
Suggested Spice Blend: HuntChef Smokey Bayou Southern Blend
WILD HOG BURGERS
We absolutely love ground wild pork, the ‘burgers’ are every bit as tasty as those from beef. The trick is getting the correct fat content to lean meat. If the wild pork is from a fat hog, there’s no need to add additional fat. The meat from lean porkers makes good burger as well with a little pork fat added, the exact amount depends upon your taste. We like about 85 percent lean pork mixed with 15 percent fat which is usually available free or at little cost from your local butcher. Remember your burgers are made from pork and not beef so make sure and heat the ground meat to at least 160 degrees, the USDA recommended temperature for ground pork. Solid cuts are safe at 145 degrees but in order to make them tender and more flavorful, 200 degrees is recommended.
Suggested Spice Blend: HuntChef Canadian Carnivore Bold Grill Seasoning
WILD HOG SAUSAGE
Both pan sausage for breakfast and all sorts of smoked links. are a big favorite and a good way to put those tougher cuts of pork to good use. Pan sausage is the easiest of sausages to make; all that’s needed is seasoning and ground lean meat with just enough fat to give moisture and flavor to the finished product. Rather than purchase each individual spice, I much prefer to buy prepackaged ‘kits’ that come with recommendations for a given amount of meat, usually 10 pounds Huntchef Nation Sausage Kits is a great spot to get all variety of premixed seasonings and supplies for butchering meat at home.
Suggested Spice Blend: HuntChef Sausage Kits: Camp Breakfast, Mtn Top Maple and Hot Italian
WILD HOG CHILI
I also make a great tasting Chile from wild pork that is ground in chili size pieces or trimmed into small pieces with a fillet knife. Begin by placing the chunked-up chili meat in a pan or cast-iron skillet and smoke with your favorite wood for about 30 minutes until the meat is well flavored with wood smoke. Next, add the meat to a cast iron Dutch Kettle (if cooked outside over coals) or large skillet, add a chopped onion, a seeded jalapeno, tomato paste and your favorite chili seasoning. About 30 minutes of slow simmering will result in a very tasty pork chili.
Suggested Spice Blend: HuntChef Straight Outta Pontchartrain Cajun & Blackening seasoning
WILD HOG FAJITAS
Another favorite wild pork recipe is fajitas. Begin by slicing lean ham meat or backstrap into fajita size pieces and season well with Fiesta Brand fajita seasoning or your personal favorite. I like to marinate in the refrigerator overnight. In a cast iron skillet, fry a few slices of diced bacon, some fresh garlic pods, an onion and diced jalapeno. Add your pork and cook until done. I usually squeeze the juice for a couple limes into the mix as its cooking. I often pre smoke the pork and then slice and season it before placing into the iron skillet.
Suggested Spice Blend: HuntChef Taco Takedown Southwest seasoning
WILD HOG HAM
A few years ago, I begin curing and smoking whole wild hog hams. Hams from most wild hogs are not very large, a 100-pound hog will have hams weighing about 8 pounds each. The trick is injecting cure next to bone and brining for the appropriate time for the number of pounds of meat. Follow the instructions for whatever cure method you choose. After the cure has penetrated the ham to the bone, I smoke with hickory wood until the meat is thoroughly cooked, (160 degrees). After the meat is smoked, then brought to cooking temperature, it is ready for the table. You can also freeze or refrigerate. I often slice the ham into sandwich size slices and vacuum seal them individually so than I can enjoy cured smoked ham whenever we desire.
Kits for curing ham: Country Style Brine Kit
There are many ways to put your wild pork to use. Just about any way you prepare domestic pork works well with the pork you pack out of the woods yourself. Just remember your pork from the wilds might require a bit longer cooking time to achieve the desired tenderness and moisture is your friend, regardless how you prepare your wild porker.
