summer hogs OK to eat?
Hogs
It has been in the high 90's a lot down in La lately. I am thinking about a hog hunt to help pass the offseason, maybe this month. Are there any diseases, parasites, or problems with the meat from hogs taken in very hot weather?
Thanks for any insight you can provide.
Just dress it ASAP and cook till done and you will be fine.
I'd also get on the blood trail a bit sooner than usual if the hit justifies it, just to keep the flies off and the meat good. I don't think a hog left out overnight would be good to eat. Best of luck on the hogs.
Take a cooler full of ice when you go.Be ready to cool the meat and you should be fine.Get it skinned and quartered asap.Cooler with ice is the most important,don't let something unforseen ruin meat.Good Luck
I had heard things like parasitic worms in the meat, and the like. Is that a myth?
Taking care of game in the heat can be a bit tricky. Keep in mind that the game must be taken care of as soon as possible after recovery. As soon as you can, get them gutted, and cleaned. Then get them cooled down with ice if nothing else is available like a cooler. INbowdude is correct, in that the meat is subject to spoilage if left to hang too long. Now way would I let one hang more than a few hours. As far as parasites, no, that's not a myth. That's why all pork must be throughly cooked before eating. I've gotten a dose of bad meat, and I can assure you that you want no part of that. I was sick over a week, with a trip to the Dr. and hospital for lab tests. Very expensive, and a miserable time too, take my word for it.
BBQing pork back strap now---no problems as long as you clean n ice dwn quickly
Cooking wild hog tenderloin on grill for 4th July supper.
Bullshooter
You won't have any problems with meat from hogs that are shot in summer provided you cool them down as soon as they're recovered.
If you have access to a walk in cooler, field dress your pig, pack with ice while you drive to the 'walk in'. If you don't have access to one, skin and quarter your hob and pack it in ice quickly.
summer time hogs are very good to eat. ice the pig ASAP. get a quart of lemon juice pour over iced meat,it will kill an salmanelia. you can not hang a pig in a walk in cooler. pig and bear sour from the bone. Forrest
Why waste time gutting it when you can do a field-strip in far less time than it takes to gut, skin, and quarter?
Put the meat in a cooler packed with ice and leave it in the shade with the stopper open.
"...you can not hang a pig in a walk in cooler"
Never heard that before. Anybody else?
any game will sour on the bone if it is not cooled down soon enough. I wonder why all the processors i use hang the hogs that we have killed ( farm raised and wild)?
"...you can not hang a pig in a walk in cooler"
That is a surprise... can't think of the number of pigs we hung in the walk-in... and those were delicious!! The Cracker actually prefered the wild pig to venison... course, that could have been too because I didnt bring home venison LOL
We just killed one two days ago with temps in the mid 90's. No worries eating it.
I have killed and processed hogs with the temps into triple digits. I gut asap, and put ice into the body cavity, and then cover the hog with ice in a big cooler. I then get it skinned and cut/packaged asap. Do this in a timely manner and one should never have any meat go bad.
My proceesor tells me 2 hours is the limit between the shot an finished cleaning.
Yes, you can cool them properly in a walk in cooler. The company I work for does that with about 30,000 hogs a day. For best results, split the carcass in half with a Sawz all so you really drive the temp in to the internal part of carcass as quickly as possible. Get them field dressed and on ice as soon as you can. The better you take care of them in the field, the better they are on the table.
This NOT just pigs. Antelope the same way.
I always say, "Would you keep a steak in a hot car for more than the drive home?"
Same thing with wild game. In hot temps, quick and deliberate actions will make the difference between excellent meat and "gamey" meet.
Gamey = spoiled or tainted by hunter. Please write that down.
So go get yourself some pork. I would worry about the snakes more than the parasites (lol).
sure hope so. Nick, Lorie and I have alteady eaten about half the sow I killed at Shilo last week ;-)
Cold is cold. The temps are the key. The meat doesn't care if it's cold from an ice chest or cold from a walk in. Just make sure the walk in is the correct temp. Dry aging in a good walk in is a true luxury.
Some walk ins that are opened and used a lot have a hard time keeping the correct temps at all times. Some aren't properly designed in the first place, the cubic feet and hardware have to matched properly along with the insulation and air movement. That could be one reason for the warning.
I dont take the time to gut a wild hog. Cut the quarters off, cut out the backstrap. I always have my coolers full of ice water and salt slurry which the meat goes in ASAP. I leave them in for about 30 hours changing out the ice every 10 - 12 hours. Like every one says, cool it as soon as you kill it if possible.
Yep, just get it cooled as soon as possible
Break it down asap with a small electric chainsaw using cooking oil instead of chain oil.Get it on ice then take your time later.
A chainsaw huh? I'd about bet a good hand wirh a knife will have it well on the way of being done before you get your chainsaw cranked.
Electric saws with cooking oil work great for splitting hogs down the middle, much faster than a knife. Just saw down the vertebrae.
For me, chiggers and mosquitoes are the limiting factor in summer. No fun hunting hogs with those to contend with, lol.
neverdull,processors hang the hogs not only to start preserving the meat but also stiffen the carcass for easier and more precise processing.
Yep I have shot a few in the 90's and never had a problem! Gut it, skin it and into the ice it goes! Getting the hide off as soon as possible is very important! I gut, skin and start cutting into quarters. If it's really hot, split the hams down the middle and pack in ice!
Does anyone use a cordless sawz-all ?
