I was wondering if anybody on here has made bacon from a wild pig? I am not sure what cuts the bacon is, we never had a pig around when I was growing up. Any ideas? I'd like to give it a try with my next pig. Plenty left in the freezer from last one, though...
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Speckmisser
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Bacon usually comes from the belly meat.
Unfortunately, most wild pigs don't have enough belly meat and fat to make bacon. You could try it, of course, but it's not usually do-able.
Unfortunately, most wild pigs don't have enough belly meat and fat to make bacon. You could try it, of course, but it's not usually do-able.
you take a nice piece of belly meat, soak it in some sort of brine for a few days and then smoke it. Slice it paper thin and fry it up. Like speck said, there's usually not enough fat on the belly of wild hogs to do it. The brine is usually one cup kosher salt to a gallon of water along with whatever ingredients you want to add(maple, honey, garlic etc...) somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but its real similar to making ham.
Redneck75
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I took a couple pigs up to Tip-Top Meats in Oceanside. Rod (the wild game guy) claims he's never seen a wild pig that had the belly meat/fat to get any bacon off it. He's seen a bunch of pigs so I'll take his word on it.
Valley Hunter
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Redneck75 @ Jan 29 2008, 07:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
The Exeter meat locker told me the same thing when I brought my pig in,, I was bummed....
The Exeter meat locker told me the same thing when I brought my pig in,, I was bummed....
Redneck75
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ltdann @ Jan 29 2008, 08:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Rod at Tip-Top does the wild game. He does it there on site but he has to be there for you to drop it off and pick it up. If you bring him a whole pig carcass, he'll only charge $80.00 to cut and wrap. I got a 175lb boar done for $95. Had to pay a bit extra to cover the smoking of the hams and the pork ends he added to the breakfast sausage. It only cost about $125 for a 400+ pound boar I got in June. You have to skin the animal before he'll take it but that's still a real good deal. I don't think you'll find a better price or a better quality job in San Diego but that's just my humble opinion.
Tip-top does wild game?[/b]
Rod at Tip-Top does the wild game. He does it there on site but he has to be there for you to drop it off and pick it up. If you bring him a whole pig carcass, he'll only charge $80.00 to cut and wrap. I got a 175lb boar done for $95. Had to pay a bit extra to cover the smoking of the hams and the pork ends he added to the breakfast sausage. It only cost about $125 for a 400+ pound boar I got in June. You have to skin the animal before he'll take it but that's still a real good deal. I don't think you'll find a better price or a better quality job in San Diego but that's just my humble opinion.
My meat feller, Old Fashioned Country Butcher in Santa Paula, made German Spareribs out of the belly meat/fat and bottom of the ribs, I believe they were smoked and then I just rubbed them and smoked them, it was good that way, but had it just been trimmed and used for bacon it wasn't worth the effort, but that was only a 170-180lb hog on the hoof, might be worth it on a really fat one, but still a real fat wild hog is about half the bf% of a thin domestic hog.
sfhoghunter
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I haven't done it myself, but the first hog I ever shot I took to Specialty Meats in Paso Robles. I specifically asked to have some bacon made, and they obliged. It was pretty dry and sure didn't taste like any bacon I'd ever had before - tough, dry, and pretty darn gamey. Of course, the hog was a 200lb boar - but I wouldn't recommend it.
Nic Barca
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Yep, I've accidentally made bacon before. You need a good fatty pig, which is sometimes hard to find in wild pigs but there is some out there. Make a good brine or marinade and smoke the meat. What you should end up with are some stiffenned belly meat pieces which when cross cut, look exactly like bacon. So now all you would have to do is slice it thin and fry it up.
ltdann
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Redneck75 @ Jan 29 2008, 09:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Rod at Tip-Top does the wild game. He does it there on site but he has to be there for you to drop it off and pick it up. If you bring him a whole pig carcass, he'll only charge $80.00 to cut and wrap. I got a 175lb boar done for $95. Had to pay a bit extra to cover the smoking of the hams and the pork ends he added to the breakfast sausage. It only cost about $125 for a 400+ pound boar I got in June. You have to skin the animal before he'll take it but that's still a real good deal. I don't think you'll find a better price or a better quality job in San Diego but that's just my humble opinion.
[/b][/quote]
You just made my day! Thats not far from the house, and smoked hams!
Tip-top does wild game?[/b]
Rod at Tip-Top does the wild game. He does it there on site but he has to be there for you to drop it off and pick it up. If you bring him a whole pig carcass, he'll only charge $80.00 to cut and wrap. I got a 175lb boar done for $95. Had to pay a bit extra to cover the smoking of the hams and the pork ends he added to the breakfast sausage. It only cost about $125 for a 400+ pound boar I got in June. You have to skin the animal before he'll take it but that's still a real good deal. I don't think you'll find a better price or a better quality job in San Diego but that's just my humble opinion.
[/b][/quote]
You just made my day! Thats not far from the house, and smoked hams!
Bulleye
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Here is a cool video on youtube about butchering pork
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOookzk9aZ4
and finding the bacon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOookzk9aZ4
and finding the bacon
oneshothunter
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pork belly about 13 to 16 hrs low heat in the smoker .. and you have bacon .. oh you need to soak in a brine for a week .. and its eating time when you smoke your own bacon you will never eat store bacon again
duckhunterflyfisher
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Here are three ways to cure a pork belly, one sweet, one savory, and the best way pancetta. I have made all three, all are great. I would suggest getting pink salt and adding it in the correct proportion to the salt. Pink salt is a preservative aka salt peter and will prevent botchalism, which will kill you if you are unlucky enough to breed a colony of it in your bacon. Pink salt will also help keep the porks pink color, the meat will not turn gray on you. You can get pink salt at http://www.butcher-packer.com/ along with a million other meat curing and sausage making supplies.
Once you cure your own bacon you wont like store bought. You can smoke any of these except the last version. If you smoke you should use a sweet wood, apple, cherry, hickory, not oak as it is too harsh. But experiment and adjust these to your taste. The most important part of curing is the salt/sugar content and length of time you cure.
These are all dry cure methods.
The quality of pork is very important. I think the quality of commercially available pork bellies is ok it is not the best. Either find a local 4H kid and get them to fatten the hog up beyond normal parameters or buy a Niman Ranch belly. Fat = Taste when curing.
Sweet Smoked Bacon
A cure mixture that performs well under home curing conditions consists of 7 pounds meat curing salt, 4 pounds sugar (white or brown) and 3 ounces of nitrate/pink salt (saltpeter -- optional). This cure produces a milk-flavored bacon. You can cut back amounts appropriately. I use pink salt, don’t like the idea of anyone getting sick.
In a clean, non-metallic container, and with clean hands, mix the salt, sugar, pepper and any of the optional ingredients you are using.
Place one piece of belly at a time on a clean work surface. Grab a good handful of the dry-cure mix and rub it all over the surface of the meat. When the belly is thoroughly salted all over, place it in a clean box or tray, again non-metallic (wood, plastic or ceramic is ideal), and repeat with the other pieces. Stack the finished bellies on top of each other and leave, covered, in a cool place, safe from flies. Keep any left-over cure.
After 24 hours, the meat will have leached salty liquid into the container. Remove the bellies, pour off this liquid and rub the meat all over with more cure. Re-stack the bellies, preferably moving the one that was on the bottom to the top. Repeat the process daily. The bacon will be ready in just four days, though if you cure it for longer (up to 10 days), it will keep for longer.
Bellies cured in this way should be rinsed of excess salt, patted dry, wrapped in clean muslin and left to hang in a cool, well-ventilated place, such as a larder, garage or outhouse. Cut pieces off the belly as you need them, then rewrap and rehang. Alternatively, wrap the belly in cotton, muslin or greaseproof paper and store in the fridge.
Bellies cured for more than 10 days will keep for months in this way but tend to be unpalatably over-salty. Counteract this by soaking pieces cut from them in fresh water for a few hours. My preference is for a lighter (four- or five-day) cure. Any I'm not likely to use within a month get vacuum-packed and frozen.
Smoke to taste, for Maple receipt put end smoked product in non-reactive container with 3-4 cups of real maple syrup.
Panchetta
FOR THE DRY CURE
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons pink salt
1/4 cup Morton's kosher salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed with the bottom of a small sauté pan
4 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper, divided
1. Trim the belly so that its edges are neat and square.
2. Combine the garlic, pink salt, kosher salt, dark brown sugar, juniper berries, bay leaves, nutmeg, thyme, and half the black pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly so that the pink salt is evenly distributed. Rub the mixture all over the belly to give it a uniform coating over the entire surface.
3. Place the belly in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or in a covered nonreactive container just large enough to hold it. Refrigerate for 7 days. Without removing the belly from the bag, rub the belly to redistribute the seasonings and flip it over every other day — a process called overhauling.
4. After 7 days, check the belly for firmness. If it feels firm at its thickest point, it's cured. If it still feels squishy, refrigerate it on the cure for 1 to 2 more days.
5. Remove the belly from the bag or container, rinse it thoroughly under cold water, and pat it dry. Sprinkle the meat side with the remaining black pepper. Starting from a long side, roll up the pork belly tightly, as you would a thick towel, and tie it very tightly with butcher's string at 1- to 2-inch intervals. It's important that there are no air pockets inside the roll. In other words, it can't be too tightly rolled. Alternately, the pancetta can be left flat, wrapped in cheesecloth, and hung to dry for 5 to 7 days.
6. Using the string to suspend it, hang the rolled pancetta in a cool, humid place to dry for 2 weeks. The ideal conditions are 50°F to 60°F (8°C to 15°C) with 60 percent humidity, but a cool, humid basement works fine, as will most any place that's out of the sun. (I often hang mine in our kitchen next to the hanging pans on either side of the stove.) Humidity is important: If your pancetta begins to get hard, it's drying out and should be wrapped and refrigerated. The pancetta should be firm but pliable, not hard. Because pancetta isn't meant to be eaten raw, the drying isn't as critical a stage as it is for items such as prosciutto or dry-cured sausages. But drying pancetta enhances its texture, intensifies its flavor, and helps it to last longer.
7. After drying, the pancetta can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for 3 weeks or more, or frozen for up to 4 months. Freezing makes it easier to slice thin.
Once you cure your own bacon you wont like store bought. You can smoke any of these except the last version. If you smoke you should use a sweet wood, apple, cherry, hickory, not oak as it is too harsh. But experiment and adjust these to your taste. The most important part of curing is the salt/sugar content and length of time you cure.
These are all dry cure methods.
The quality of pork is very important. I think the quality of commercially available pork bellies is ok it is not the best. Either find a local 4H kid and get them to fatten the hog up beyond normal parameters or buy a Niman Ranch belly. Fat = Taste when curing.
Sweet Smoked Bacon
A cure mixture that performs well under home curing conditions consists of 7 pounds meat curing salt, 4 pounds sugar (white or brown) and 3 ounces of nitrate/pink salt (saltpeter -- optional). This cure produces a milk-flavored bacon. You can cut back amounts appropriately. I use pink salt, don’t like the idea of anyone getting sick.
In a clean, non-metallic container, and with clean hands, mix the salt, sugar, pepper and any of the optional ingredients you are using.
Place one piece of belly at a time on a clean work surface. Grab a good handful of the dry-cure mix and rub it all over the surface of the meat. When the belly is thoroughly salted all over, place it in a clean box or tray, again non-metallic (wood, plastic or ceramic is ideal), and repeat with the other pieces. Stack the finished bellies on top of each other and leave, covered, in a cool place, safe from flies. Keep any left-over cure.
After 24 hours, the meat will have leached salty liquid into the container. Remove the bellies, pour off this liquid and rub the meat all over with more cure. Re-stack the bellies, preferably moving the one that was on the bottom to the top. Repeat the process daily. The bacon will be ready in just four days, though if you cure it for longer (up to 10 days), it will keep for longer.
Bellies cured in this way should be rinsed of excess salt, patted dry, wrapped in clean muslin and left to hang in a cool, well-ventilated place, such as a larder, garage or outhouse. Cut pieces off the belly as you need them, then rewrap and rehang. Alternatively, wrap the belly in cotton, muslin or greaseproof paper and store in the fridge.
Bellies cured for more than 10 days will keep for months in this way but tend to be unpalatably over-salty. Counteract this by soaking pieces cut from them in fresh water for a few hours. My preference is for a lighter (four- or five-day) cure. Any I'm not likely to use within a month get vacuum-packed and frozen.
Smoke to taste, for Maple receipt put end smoked product in non-reactive container with 3-4 cups of real maple syrup.
Panchetta
FOR THE DRY CURE
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons pink salt
1/4 cup Morton's kosher salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed with the bottom of a small sauté pan
4 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper, divided
1. Trim the belly so that its edges are neat and square.
2. Combine the garlic, pink salt, kosher salt, dark brown sugar, juniper berries, bay leaves, nutmeg, thyme, and half the black pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly so that the pink salt is evenly distributed. Rub the mixture all over the belly to give it a uniform coating over the entire surface.
3. Place the belly in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or in a covered nonreactive container just large enough to hold it. Refrigerate for 7 days. Without removing the belly from the bag, rub the belly to redistribute the seasonings and flip it over every other day — a process called overhauling.
4. After 7 days, check the belly for firmness. If it feels firm at its thickest point, it's cured. If it still feels squishy, refrigerate it on the cure for 1 to 2 more days.
5. Remove the belly from the bag or container, rinse it thoroughly under cold water, and pat it dry. Sprinkle the meat side with the remaining black pepper. Starting from a long side, roll up the pork belly tightly, as you would a thick towel, and tie it very tightly with butcher's string at 1- to 2-inch intervals. It's important that there are no air pockets inside the roll. In other words, it can't be too tightly rolled. Alternately, the pancetta can be left flat, wrapped in cheesecloth, and hung to dry for 5 to 7 days.
6. Using the string to suspend it, hang the rolled pancetta in a cool, humid place to dry for 2 weeks. The ideal conditions are 50°F to 60°F (8°C to 15°C) with 60 percent humidity, but a cool, humid basement works fine, as will most any place that's out of the sun. (I often hang mine in our kitchen next to the hanging pans on either side of the stove.) Humidity is important: If your pancetta begins to get hard, it's drying out and should be wrapped and refrigerated. The pancetta should be firm but pliable, not hard. Because pancetta isn't meant to be eaten raw, the drying isn't as critical a stage as it is for items such as prosciutto or dry-cured sausages. But drying pancetta enhances its texture, intensifies its flavor, and helps it to last longer.
7. After drying, the pancetta can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for 3 weeks or more, or frozen for up to 4 months. Freezing makes it easier to slice thin.
you could try Canadian bacon with a pork loin.
1 5 pound pork loin trimmed
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs Jalapeno Powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 C Morton Tender Quick
2 Gal water
Brine for 5-6 days then smoke.
1 5 pound pork loin trimmed
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs Jalapeno Powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 C Morton Tender Quick
2 Gal water
Brine for 5-6 days then smoke.
I've made it from wild pigs along with hams. I used cure recipe that I got from local guy. Paso Meats does a good job at fair price. I don't hunt for big ones any more, the 300lber was a nice trophy but it was gamey. I hunt for 80-180lbers and they are real good eating on fire or cured, just lean, old world style. I know this will go big on this site, try "Charcuterie", it's French for meat curing. its a great book with great recipes for ALL cured meats. Hankl
