View Full Version : Preparing a wild hog
JamesTX
03-15-2010, 02:07 PM
I'm letting some guys hunt hogs on our land in return for some meat. My wife has been wanting me to do a whole hog, so I may give that a shot. My question is - what do you have to do to a wild hog to prepare it for cooking? Yes, I know - kill it and gut it first. Got that far on my own.
After that though - do you burn the hair off? How? Do you have to scrub the skin with soap and water or just hose it off?
Thanks.
Arlin_MacRae
03-15-2010, 02:09 PM
I've only helped cook hogs a couple of times but we always burned the hair off with a propane torch and rubbed the burnt hair off. Didn't wash them as far as I can remember. The heat does a good job of killing cooties, I imagine.
thomasjurisd
03-15-2010, 02:33 PM
You probably already know this but be extremely carful when handling that hog. I read an article several months ago about a gentleman who contracted burcellosis while cleaning a wild hog on his ranch and he said it was truly a horrible ordeal to get over. The following is an except from the Texas Department of Wildlife:
What is brucellosis?
Swine Brucellosis is an infectious, bacterial, reproductive disease that can cause abortion, low conception rates and other problems. It is transmittable to humans, known as undulant fever, and causes flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, aches and pains. It is treatable with specific antibiotics.
How do I keep from contracting diseases?
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recommends all hunters use disposable plastic or rubber gloves when field dressing or cleaning wild swine. Bury or burn the gloves and entrails and then wash your hands with soap and hot water. And finally, make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked.
JamesTX
03-15-2010, 02:56 PM
Thanks Thomas. Luckily for me, the hunters will gut it. I just have to cook it. What's the safe temp for pork -165?
Chuckwagonbbqco
03-15-2010, 03:12 PM
Are you cooking it whole? Are you smoking it flatened out in a smoker or cooking it on a rottiserre. Are you stuffing it's belly and sewing it shut.
What have these hogs been feeding on? Are they near grain fields or are they eating acorns and such. Wild hogs can be very lean and sometimes what they have been eating makes them taste more "wild"
What size is the pig? Sometimes with wild pigs we skin them to get more spice directly on the meat--especially if the meat has a "wild" smell to it. Pigs we have killed on the Central Coast that have been killed near barley fields taste better and are basically "Grain fed hogs." Those pigs we just burn and scrape the hair off.
grillzilla10
03-15-2010, 03:33 PM
I think I would use a power washer to start cleaning the outside of the hog and either use a torch or skin the hog out and inject that bad boy up and cook.
JamesTX
03-15-2010, 03:44 PM
Are you cooking it whole? Are you smoking it flatened out in a smoker or cooking it on a rottiserre. Are you stuffing it's belly and sewing it shut.
What have these hogs been feeding on? Are they near grain fields or are they eating acorns and such. Wild hogs can be very lean and sometimes what they have been eating makes them taste more "wild"
What size is the pig? Sometimes with wild pigs we skin them to get more spice directly on the meat--especially if the meat has a "wild" smell to it. Pigs we have killed on the Central Coast that have been killed near barley fields taste better and are basically "Grain fed hogs." Those pigs we just burn and scrape the hair off.
Weight will be less than 200# - probably less than 100# cleaned. They'll have been eating a lot of acorns, some pecan, and whatever else hogs eat. If I cook it, it'll be flat.
smoken don
03-15-2010, 03:49 PM
We skin wild hogs when we cook them.Lots of hair there.As far as temps.go.
190/200* in the hams and shoulders for pullin has always worked well for me.
Yeah we skin our wild hogs also. rub what ever you want on it and make sure there is moisture in your smoker to keep it moist. Most of the time we grind them for sausage
If you want to get one for smoking go ahead and have them catch you one with dogs or in a easy to make trap.( if you need help with that pm me and I can tell you how to make an easy one.)
like a 60 pounder then feed it on corn for a couple of months, it's not going to grow that much. in the months while you have it go ahead and kill all of those big ole lice and ticks on him. Then when you kill it you could scauld and scrape for smoking.
I don't think I would want to try and smoke a whole fresh killed hog out of the wild. BUGS AND ALL THAT..
It would be cheaper to go by you a 100 pound hog from a show pig producer.The flavour will not be as good, as a wild hog. They are good.
Hope that helps
Navchop
03-15-2010, 04:19 PM
When I was a kid I worked on a pine tree/cattle farm in northeast FL. We would set traps for the wild hogs that would root up the pastures. If the caught sows had small ones we would run them down and catch them.
We would then corn feed them for a few weeks until they were a good size. On a cold Saturday morning we would light a fire under a huge cast iron kettle (I know there was a mixture of something in that kettle but I couldn't tell you what it was). After soaking the killed pig for awhile in the almost boiling water, we would rub/scrape the hair off of the hide. We would also clean the skin real well. We would then do a rough "butcher" job and get some good hams, ribs, etc. The old man from down the road would get the head to make hogs head cheese and he would also get some of the other parts to make some of the best country sausage I can remember having.
These pigs were a different flavor but I think corn feeding them for a while helped make them less "gamey." These pigs were never more that about 60 to 80 pounds dressed so you didn't get a whole lot. Some of the best eating I can remember as a kid.
MattG
03-15-2010, 05:41 PM
We skin our wild hogs also rub it down hard then pump about 5 gal of injection in it. I love wild hog.
mgwerks
03-15-2010, 10:02 PM
Tell them you want a younger female.
JamesTX
03-16-2010, 08:58 AM
Tell them you want a younger female.
Don't we all................
TWISTED PIG
03-16-2010, 10:45 AM
My wife is 11 years younger than me, much younger than that & I'm in TROUBLE !
EatRBBQ
03-16-2010, 12:15 PM
We don't get much for wild hogs in Northern IL, but I have dealt with hunters and farmers around here for years.
Just throwing my 2cents out there...
Consider taking the field dressed wild hog to a local meat processor that can handle whole roaster hogs. Break out the yellow pages and make a couple of calls.
They will inspect, clean, flash boil/burn off all hair, and hang and chill your pig for you. Around these parts a basic processing of a roaster pig would cost me no more than 100.00.
Personally, for the professional inspection and hanging/chilling it'd be worth the 100.00 to me.
Jorge
03-16-2010, 12:31 PM
How are you planning to store it between the time it's gutted, and the time you cook it? In the past I've used a marine cooler and placed some ice in the cavity if I had to hold it for a while.
I'd season it a little heavier than I would a farm raised hog. Feral hogs will feed on whatever they can find, and they are omnivores. It's kind of like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. If you have to choose between a boar and a sow, I'd take the sow every time.
Rowdycue
03-16-2010, 12:41 PM
When I used to have to get a live pig to BBQ after killing and bleeding we would heat a barrel of water to 155 degrees to scald him, then scrape the hair off. If the water is too hot it will set and not scrape. I have had to shave the hog when this happens. Put him in the barrel of hot water one end at a time and keep him in until the hair comes off easily. It only takes a few minutes. You don't want to boil him. The skin is worth keeping on while cooking. Then after the meat is removed crisp the skins over a hotter fire. Good!!!!
Chuckwagonbbqco
03-18-2010, 12:25 AM
How did your hog turn out?
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