Cooking hog

[Henry54]

2 weeks ago my son harvest his first hog. What is the best way to cook the hog:smiley-mouse: and do I need to do anything before I cook the meat.

 

[DuckFever]

I'm assuming you washed it thoroughly with water both after field dressing and butchering? If you paid to have it butchered, you can eat as is without any safety precautions. My favorite part of a wild boar is the ham, which I turn into wild boar pulled pork (sorry, not going to give you the family recipe), but as far as preparation, if anything brine it first. I use salt, water, maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne pepper for my brine. Congrats to your son.

 

[Caninelaw]

Very simple recipe. Ribs, lots of your favorite BBQ sauce and about 8 hours in a slow cooker. Meat will fall off the bone.

 

[dustin ray]

So many ways i like to throw big chunks or if im having a party the hole pig in my pit BBQ. Season wrap it up in foil onions peppers then wrap with banana leafs and then sum heavy chicken wire throw the meat on top of about two feet of hot coals made from good wood then cover with ply. wood then dirt. For about 40 lbs of meat it takes about 12 hr.

 

[3056_HUNTER]

Keep it simple!
cook over CHARCOAL,
season when done on the grill just before taking it off or just serve plain with A1 on the side.

Also through any kind of roast from the pig in a crockpot (even still frozen) in the morning.
add your faviorite mexican spices and let it cook all day.
your house will smell great!

its done when the meat falls apart.
searve on corn tortillas, cilantro, onion and tapatillo (sp?) or your favorite salsa.


Those are my favoite ways....cooked 4 pigs in one year that way!

BRINING RUINS THE GAME TASTE! might as well buy some pork from the store!

 

[bisonic]

All great ideas above. I often marinate in a teriyaki sause and grill. Last week I used my smoker on some chops and they were fantastic. I tried to smoke a ham a few weeks ago and it was OK but pretty dry, I don't think there was enough fat in it to do good pulled pork (though DuckFever seems to know how to solve this). My butcher makes phenomenal sausage that we grill in patties (had some at tailgate party yesterday), use on pizzas, lasagne, etc. Hard to go wrong as long as you don't start with a stinky boar.

 

[Pumpa]

So many ways i like to throw big chunks or if im having a party the hole pig in my pit BBQ. Season wrap it up in foil onions peppers then wrap with banana leafs and then sum heavy chicken wire throw the meat on top of about two feet of hot coals made from good wood then cover with ply. wood then dirt. For about 40 lbs of meat it takes about 12 hr.

About how many cinder bricks is that deep? Grandpa use to have one, wanted to try n dig one in

 

[dustin ray]

About how many cinder bricks is that deep? Grandpa use to have one, wanted to try n dig one in

four foot deep or so

 

[ltdann]

I love smoked hams and hocks!

 

[EPic1856]

From my experience, you have to take into consideration that there is less fat than in commercial hog which may dry things out.

Some thoughts:

• Low and Slow is the way to go. I make some pulled pork using the shoulder in a crock pot. 8-10 hours on low heat and the meat will melt in your mouth.
• Cook it with a sauce. I make mexican red chile and I double the time i cook it from typical store bought pork.
• Make Chili. I use a pressure cooker to reduce the time, but same idea on the low, slow, and cook it in a sauce (except it's a stew).

 

[Live2hunt]

That boar has tough meat. Most people I know make sausage from an old boar like that.

 

[myfriendis410]

That boar has tough meat. Most people I know make sausage from an old boar like that.

It all just depends. If it smells like pork, treat it like pork. If it smells funky; it ain't worth the effort. We only try to shoot boars out here and they (with only one exception) all tasted good. Wild pork tends to be drier than domestic due to the lower fat content. Add some oil in some way like basting and you should get good results. Slow cooking is always a good idea with any pork. You can do carnitas in the slow cooker, as well as pulled pork. We do schnitzel with the 'straps. I've done several hams to LtDann's recipe and they were all from boar hogs. We just got done doing a mess of sausage; mixed 10% with venison, and another 5% unflavored bacon. Had some yesterday and it was fine! Don't be afraid to experiment.

 

[XDHUNTER]

+1 on making sausage out of an old boar.or you can try a pinoy recipe for a change...you can omit the chicken from the adobo recipe...

http://www.filipinofoodrecipes.net/adobo.htm

 

[DuckFever]

Venison/wild boar meatballs are also a favorite of mine. 40% boar, 60% venison (this holds them together better) and I throw a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbeque Sauce for about 4 pounds of meat. I just eat them with a fork, or you could throw them in spaghetti.

 

[michaelp]

Lt. Dan, I noticed you use a Bradley smoker. Seriously considering one for myself - I might even be able to convince my wife it would be a great Christmas gift for me. Any comments/likes/dislikes are appreciated.

 

[ltdann]

Lt. Dan, I noticed you use a Bradley smoker. Seriously considering one for myself - I might even be able to convince my wife it would be a great Christmas gift for me. Any comments/likes/dislikes are appreciated.

It was good in its day, but not good enough. It was tough to find the pucks(expensive too) and the temperature was hard to control. Then the auto-feed mechanism broke... After awhile better smokers were developed and I switched to a Masterbuilt 40" smoker and I'm much happier with it.

It has digital temp control, built in meat thermometer, a window and light and you can use regular wood chips/sawdust which you can add without opening the door.

I like that I can set the temp to whatever I need and then program the cook time. It has a seperate button that I can push and get the internal meat temp. And it's cheaper than what I orginally paid for the Bradley.

Matter of fact, my buddy and I made 12 lbs of Venison/wild hog salami with that smoker this weekend. I'd recommend it over the Bradley.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home...stype=GNU&WTz_l=SBC;BRprd1088479;cat104582880

And its on SALE!

Probably find it at Bass pro, Sportsmen's warehouse, BBQ galore as well.

 

[michaelp]

ltdann, thanks very much for the Bradley review and more importantly the recommendation on the Masterbuilt -- I will check it out.

 

[ltdann]

de nada. A good smoker is a worthwhile investment. I've use mine for hams, sausages/salami, ribs and even whole suckling pig.

Oh don't get me wrong, the Bradley's a nice smoker and was state of the art when it came out. I had to add a digital meat therometer to it, otherwise I was constantly opening the door to check the internal temp. Mastebuilt has that open installed.

Only thing about the masterbuilt is that it shuts off the heater coil at the target temp but the temp will still climb about 5-7 degrees, before dropping down. The selenoid kicks the heater element in at the target temp, but the temp will still go down another 3 degrees before it catches up.

For example, you want it to stay at 130-the temp will bounce from 126-137. If that's not critical for you, no worries. The other thing I worry about is making sure the electronic controls don't get wet, since my smoker is stored under a porch. I make sure it's covered up when not in use.

 

[myfriendis410]

I've been using a Brinkmann Smokin' Pit for like ten years now and get fantastic results. It will hold 100 lbs. of meat, but it requires some attention to maintain your smoke and/or temp. For hams I finish in the oven in the house. It's also nice 'cause you can use oak logs and chunks. It also does great barbecue.

 

[sancho]

different parts of the animal require different cooking methods.