How is boar as table fare
Hogs
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Heres a strange question, I've been thinking about going on a boar hunt. My wife is all about filling the freezer but is concerned the boar will be too "gamey" for her liking. How much different is wild hog and domestic pork for eating?
I cant tell you how much difference but my bet your wife will become a fan of you hog hunting after she eats the pork.
Depends on the size of the hogkilled, how much care was taken with the meat after the kill and the method of cooking.
Excellent! Loin roasts, ribs, bacon, sausage and hams are all great. The thing I like about it most is how lean it is compared to domestic pork.
The only difference would be in what they eat. I've cut up many wild hogs that need extra pork fat added to the sausage and I've seen some that are as big as a domestic hog with just as much fat. Then again, I've cut up a lot of domestic hogs that are way too lean and needed extra pork fat added too. The main thing with a wild hog is that you don't want a small skinny thing if you plan on having some good bacon. You may not want to shoot a big boar either as these have more of a tendency to have a bad smelling and tasting meat just like a domestic hog. I think one around 200 lb live weight would be your best choice.
I've never had a bad one from Shiloh, even my 295 lb boar that's on another thread. Some of the best eating I've ever had, and I eat a lot of good stuff.
In the 150lb range and under, they are excellent. Butcherboy may be on if talking about feed-lot hogs turned loose, but a wild feral hog of 250-300lbs is a big, old, pig - not the best eating.
If you ate an unmarinated loin chop of a wild pig and a domestic one side by side, you'd be able to tell the difference, but in a 'low & slow' method, stewed, bbq'd, carnitas, etc, you're not going to be able to tell much difference other than the wild pig being generally leaner.
I've killed tons them from 100 pounds to 300 pounds. The size of hog killed has nothing to do with the flavor. The larger hogs require longer cooking time than a dink of 100-150 pounds.
IF the meat is properly taken care of directly after the hog is killed you'll never have a bad hog for table fare. The biggest issue with proper handling of the meat is getting it cooled down quickly. Secondly is meat prep. Removing all, sinew, silver skin, internal and external is key. Don't fall into the trap you need to leave fat on the hog so it doesn't dry out when cooking. It is not true. There are multiple means of keeping meat moist while cooking. The main issue is protecting the meat from direct dry heat.
Don't worry about the size of hog you shoot and that it may be too "big". Most mature wild boar hang around 150 lbs avg. You'll see some whoppers too, but for the most part, hit'em in the pocket and pack'em in the freezer. Just have fun and enjoy the bbq afterwards.
Txnrog
You are right. I was comparing more of a domestic style hog with an actual wild feral hog. I edited my post about the weight size after I thought about the domestic ones I butchered today. Wild hogs will be a little tougher than a domesticated hog due to what they eat, where and how they live. Still good eating though. I cut a wild one up this last spring that looked just like a domestic hog. Same fat content but it was 148 lbs dressed. I was surprised at how well the bacon and ham turned out compared to a domestic hog.
Best meat of any animal that I have harvested
Jeff,
Consider having some ground up as hamburg....NOT sausage....."ham"burg. We did about 10 pounds worth from a hog killed this Spring.....and I wish that we had done more like it!!
I shot a 150 pounder and the meat was great. I'm ready to go and do it again. I had mine done up in chops and sausage at P&P outside of Colgate Oklahoma.
Shoot a sow, not sure about there, but here all boars have a distinct taste and smell, you can smell it when your cooking it, hard to describe but I call it "hairy". It's not that bad but it's there. Usually make sausage out of boars mixing it with sow meat or pork bellies.
I've shot a few hogs and found that proper meat care goes a long way to making the meat taste great. Age, size, gender all can play a role.
If you want good meat, younger/smaller is better. Big hogs = big amounts of meat but not necessarily great meat.
Find a copy of my book, "Swine and Dine" and you will have some fine recipes.
Good luck and get after them!
Bear in mind, my good friend Inbowdude is a weak man. Pigs only slightly larger than a good housecat will see a Magnus two blade flying their way if he's in a tree. :)
If the meat has been properly cared for I prefer a wild pig to a domestic one.
Since I started bringing boar home, the wife won't eat domestic pork.
Guilty as charged Bad Karma. But my hogs are nice and tender compared to those big tough eating hogs you kill.
thanks everyone. This all sounds good to me. Time to fill the freezer.
What Kawabunga said. There is a difference between wild pigs, feral pigs and domestic or semi-domestic pigs turned loose to hunt. We have a good deal of wild pig genes in our population.
Like any other animal I've ever eaten, wild is gameier, domestic fed is better eating. Younger is more tender, old males can get to be kinda gamey. Same range of difference in eating an old nasty dairy bull or a young angus hefier. All cattle, but not all the same.
Under 150 is prime. I like about 50-60 or so field dressed for imu (steamed under ground) or huli-huli (rotisserie). Been playing with halves and quarters in the bbq (smoker/wood oven) with good results.
Big Isle boys even trap young ones, cut em, notch an ear and turn em loose to grow, or barrow pigs. They grow fatter and don't have the boar gamey smell and flavor, much better eating.
Maybe a good time to make up your mind if you want good table fair or big cutters for decoration. Personally I favor the cutters, but I kill everything I have a chance at anyway. They are a huge pest here.
It's all edible, I would say I've never had AWFUL wild pork, some is OK, some is very very good.
I shot what I'd call an "average" sized boar a couple of years back and the meat was excellent. The guys at Clarksrange cut him up for me and I finished the job at home. The loins were as good as store bought and the brats and sausage were awesome!
The only wild game my wife refuses to eat.She tastes lanolin in it and I have tried to fool her no dice.Lewis
this one was SUPERB!! even at 603 pounds, it was better than any 240lb store bought pig, and even better than the pork my son raised.
Rick, that is a pig of a pig! Thanks for sharing.
I can't imagine dragging that one to the road. My 295 lb pig was like trying to push a Ford pickup with the parking brake on.
Well domestic boars have a very strong taste so I would imagine that wild ones do also that is why they are castrated before feeding up to slaughter weight.
young hogs in good condition are the best meat in the wild...period...old boars can be made edible, but only just...older sows are best for sausage
It seems that most high fence operations castrate their males before stocking them - or somewhere along the line, they have been. And this may not go for all high fenced hunting destinations.
But, to answer your question directly, I have had really good wild boar, and relatively bad wild boar. Though it cannot be confirmed as I am simply relying on experience, but it seems that size really plays no part in the test, rather it seems that the boars are much tougher and gamier than any others. And it may be similar to other game, the boars are much stronger flavored at certain times of year due primarily, I am sure, due to hormonal secretions that occur during breeding periods. That is just my thoughts, and several here I am certain have had much more experience than I.
it's not "bigger" it's "older".....and barrows (castrated males) are fine eating no matter age....the HF ops cut em to keep em from killing each other, mostly
I've shot and fed my family many, many, many hog and yet to have a bad one.
The trick like most animals is to get cleaned, washed down well and into a freezer or cooler.
I will say IF you ever get a chance to shoot a piglet (less than 15 pounds). DO IT!!!
You can roast them whole in your oven until it's crispy and the meat is sooooo tender that it's almost a religous experience. I'm talking you would think you are eating possible one of the greatest meats ever. AMAZING!!!! We use catch dogs and a knife so it's a little easier.
"Barrows"?
Thanks, Fuzzy!! I learn something new everyday!!
Jake
fuzzy likes eating canned squirrel brains...a tainted boar ain't gonna' hurt his pallet one danged bit! ;?)
I will say he makes one hell of a cat-head biscuit for breakfast! Not to mention the rest of the breakfast. fuzzy...you ROCK!
Had most of mine smoked. Was excellent.
One quick test as to gamey flavor is take a piece of fat and fry/burn it real quick in a pan. If it has that smell to it the meat will likely have it too. If it smells OK you're good to go.
Works with any game, I use it a lot with feral goats and mouflon sheep. When you have a grinding party with several different batches to make sausage or jerky or whatever, one bad one can ruin the whole thing. So I test each package before grinding, you never know exactly what came from which animal. I label as best I can but I don't label it "old nasty billy goat", just a date, cut and species. I forget who is what.
I don't throw it away, the strong stuff becomes dog food. They are your very bestest friend in the whole wide world about then....
oh no Rog, I don't can the brains, I eat em fresh! too good to wait! the rest of the rat goes in the jar for later.
Thanks buddy, but honestly you ain't even had my good biscuit yet. for some reason I have been "off my game" on the biscuit bakin at MHH ever time I tried...
btw I am sched. to get the MHH tatt, next week :-)
I agree with the poster above who indicated the size of the hog has nothing to do with the flavor. This is a complete myth. We happen to live in hog infested south Texas and kill pigs year round, from small "roasting" hogs less than fifty pounds dressed to full-blown, mature boars pushing 300 pounds. It all comes down to field preparation and care. Like all game, wild hog is not particularly fatty (in terms of marbling) and will dry out if over-cooked. Same rules apply with all game species. However, do not forget ground pork - it is outstanding and makes the best chili the world has known.