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Simple Tips and Reminders For Cooking Wild Boar.
A good thing to know and keep in mind before you start preparing Wild Pork is that the meat contains much less fat than Domestic or Production Pork. The meat will be a bit darker and the grain will be tighter.
This doesn't mean the meat will be tough or taste bad. It just simply means that if not prepared correctly it can be dry compared to store bought pork. This is important to remember when baking, smoking, or grilling whole portions such as legs, ribs and other large portions.
Another good point to keep in mind is that Wild Pork has different fat than domestic or Production Pork.
Wild Pork will have "Soft Fat" and Production Pork will have "Hard Fat".
Soft Fat is not as desirable and should be trimmed away when possible. It is worth noting,, that soft fat is not nearly so unhealthy as hard fat.
Bigger boar are often criticised and marked as tough and not fit for table fare, well folks,, that is flat out WRONG!! Lots of HIGH CLASS RESERAUNTS consider Wild Boar as a Fine Table Fare and the bigger older boar is preferred. Most every one is familiar with the commercial slaughter house for Wild Hog in Devine TX. They want hogs over 200 pounds and pay more per pound for those hogs. This meat is being served in resteraunts with more stars than what shines in the sky and one Medallion OF Wild Boar cost more than the guns we used to kill'em with.
If the meat is prepared correctly BEFORE COOKING it will be the best pork of all.
The first thing to make sure of, is a quick clean kill is made on any game animal. If the animal was chased, gut shot, or died a slow death then then a strong taste could result. There is a solution to this problem though.
WILD MEAT SOAK and TENDORIZER
I use this technique for all the wild game animals I take and I highly and frequently recommend this for all wild game.
# - Skin and Debone or Quarter the animals out and place the meat in a large ice chest with the following mixture.
# - ICE WATER!! Along with 1/2 - 1 cup of vinegar and a medium or large (18 - 20 oz) size container or real lemon juice.
# - Soak large portions of meat for 2 0r even 3 days changing the water as needed and keeping the water ICE COLD and all meat covered with the ice water. Soak the meat till it turns white and all blood is leached out.
**NOTE, if the meat begins to darken or turn blue then you got too much vinegar! The meat is not spoiled!! Change the ice water and reduce or eliminate the vinegar.
Smoking (slow cooking Quarters or Whole Hogs
This is the most common and preferred way for preparing wild pork. Usually to be served at friend and family get-to-gethers.
First of all read the tips and reminders and apply those to those tips in preparing the meat for best results.
# - Gather your favorite seasonings such as lemons, peppers, onions, potatos, and any other seasonings that suit your taste and get that part taken care of.
# - Completely wrap the meat so the vapors are locked in as well as possible and the drippings will not escape.
# - Slow smoke (or bake) at about 275 - 300 degrees turning or rotating as needed to insure even cooking. The time will vary greatly depending on the size.
# - Whole hogs should cook overnight or all day. Quarters will usually cook in 5 - 6 hours.
If your wanting to serve the meat in slices you should cook it till you notice that the meat is about ready to fall of the bone and has become very tender. At that point you would unwrap the meat and brown and baste to firm up the meat.
If you're wanting the meat extremely tender and juicy then it should remain covered and cooked till it falls off the bone.
This doesn't mean the meat will be tough or taste bad. It just simply means that if not prepared correctly it can be dry compared to store bought pork. This is important to remember when baking, smoking, or grilling whole portions such as legs, ribs and other large portions.
Another good point to keep in mind is that Wild Pork has different fat than domestic or Production Pork.
Wild Pork will have "Soft Fat" and Production Pork will have "Hard Fat".
Soft Fat is not as desirable and should be trimmed away when possible. It is worth noting,, that soft fat is not nearly so unhealthy as hard fat.
Bigger boar are often criticised and marked as tough and not fit for table fare, well folks,, that is flat out WRONG!! Lots of HIGH CLASS RESERAUNTS consider Wild Boar as a Fine Table Fare and the bigger older boar is preferred. Most every one is familiar with the commercial slaughter house for Wild Hog in Devine TX. They want hogs over 200 pounds and pay more per pound for those hogs. This meat is being served in resteraunts with more stars than what shines in the sky and one Medallion OF Wild Boar cost more than the guns we used to kill'em with.
If the meat is prepared correctly BEFORE COOKING it will be the best pork of all.
The first thing to make sure of, is a quick clean kill is made on any game animal. If the animal was chased, gut shot, or died a slow death then then a strong taste could result. There is a solution to this problem though.
I use this technique for all the wild game animals I take and I highly and frequently recommend this for all wild game.
# - ICE WATER!! Along with 1/2 - 1 cup of vinegar and a medium or large (18 - 20 oz) size container or real lemon juice.
# - Soak large portions of meat for 2 0r even 3 days changing the water as needed and keeping the water ICE COLD and all meat covered with the ice water. Soak the meat till it turns white and all blood is leached out.
**NOTE, if the meat begins to darken or turn blue then you got too much vinegar! The meat is not spoiled!! Change the ice water and reduce or eliminate the vinegar.
First of all read the tips and reminders and apply those to those tips in preparing the meat for best results.
# - Gather your favorite seasonings such as lemons, peppers, onions, potatos, and any other seasonings that suit your taste and get that part taken care of.
# - Completely wrap the meat so the vapors are locked in as well as possible and the drippings will not escape.
# - Slow smoke (or bake) at about 275 - 300 degrees turning or rotating as needed to insure even cooking. The time will vary greatly depending on the size.
# - Whole hogs should cook overnight or all day. Quarters will usually cook in 5 - 6 hours.
If your wanting to serve the meat in slices you should cook it till you notice that the meat is about ready to fall of the bone and has become very tender. At that point you would unwrap the meat and brown and baste to firm up the meat.
If you're wanting the meat extremely tender and juicy then it should remain covered and cooked till it falls off the bone.
Remember I'm not a chef, just an ole east Texas Country Hick.
Most folks like my sausage and this is how it's done. First of all pork and other raw meat has germs, so use your common sense and keep things clean and separated.
While processing your kill you'll want to save certain portions for grinding. Such as smaller pieces of meat that were trimmed or leftover from processing chops and other choice cuts. I usually grind a large portion of the hog when I decide to make sausage.These are the things you'll need for this project. Sharp knives, ice chest with ice (you must chill the meat somehow), meat grinder, one pound package of sausage seasoning, 2 ounces of ground sage and whatever you like to package the meat with.
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Quick And Easy Battered Chops
The loins or backstrap or used for this dish.
John's Summer Sausage Recipe
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While processing your kill you'll want to save certain portions for grinding. Such as smaller pieces of meat that were trimmed or leftover from processing chops and other choice cuts. I usually grind a large portion of the hog when I decide to make sausage.
- When I decide to make sausage I usually decide to grind all of the hog except maybe a front leg and I always save the loins (Back Strap and Tenderloin) for the frying pan. The rest will be ground up (if I'm going to make a mess then I'm going to make enough sausage where it justifies such a mess)
- These saved portions will need to be chilled and soaked in ice water. This will draw the blood and it makes for easier and faster preparation. (cold meat slices and grinds easier than warm meat)
- After the meat has chilled you can begin to dice the meat into 1 inch to 2 inch squares. And keep them chilled on ice.
- When you've diced all the meat you can add the seasoning.
About The Seasoning
Simply purchase some Prepackaged Sausage Seasoning from your local grocery store. There are many kinds and its all roughly the same thing. Usually one bag (one pound) will do 25 pounds of meat and cost less than 5.00 bucks.
Also pick up 1 or 2 ounces Ground Sage. - Now comes the tricky part. In most situations this meat is not weighed or is not 25 pounds. Don't worry about it.
- Spread the chilled, diced meat out where it's not piled up. You can spread it out on pans or just spread it over the counter. You'll want the meat grouped tightly but not piled up.
- Then sprinkle the seasoning over A SMALL PORTION OF THE DICED MEAT.
- At this point you will want to grind a small serving (1/4 pound). Make a thin sausage patty and fry it up. If the taste is OK then proceed by sprinkling the rest of the diced meat in the same manner as before. (remember to keep your cooking area and utensils clean and separate from the grinding area)
- If it's too strong take the seasoned meat and destribute it among the unseasoned meat..
- Sprinkle the seasoning over another small portion, grind a serving and fry it up. Do this until the flavor is acceptable.
About The Flavor
If the sausage becomes to hot yet still lacks flavor then you will want to add the extra Ground Sage. Usually you can add 1.5 ounces of Ground Sage to a pound of seasoning to reduce the heat affect and gain more flavor. Note-Keep in mind the flavor will weaken a small bit after refrigeration and even more after freezing. - After adjusting the flavor and seasoning to the meat you will need to start grinding it up BEFORE the meat warms up. The colder the meat the easier it will grind.
- After grinding the pork simply package it (I prefer Zip-Lock freezer bags) and store it.
- Remember the tips and trim all fat and gristle from the portions.
- Take the backstraps and slice it into 1/3 of an inch thick chops.
- Salt and pepper or season the chops to your liking.
- Prepare to dip the chops in one cup milk and one egg mixed together.
- The chops will then be placed and rolled in flour.
- Then drop them in some hot grease. Won't take long to cook if completely covered with grease, maybe 5 minutes.
- Cook till no red juices are left in the meat and the outside is browned.
- Serve with southern gravy, bread and vegetables.
- NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT - MMMMM - SOUNDS GOOD.
To make it even quicker you can simply season the chops and drop them in a frying pan with bacon grease.
Cook till slightly brown and serve same as above.
- 2 pounds ground hog
- 1 cup of water
- 2 tbsp tenderquick salt
- 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (if baked in oven)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Mix well and refrigerate for 24 hours. Form into logs. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, or till internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, or smoke till intern temp is 160 degrees.