Whole Wild Boar

[bigdan05]

My neighbor just brought home a wild boar from a hunt in Texas.  Never even dreamed of doing a whole hog but he has one and I agreed to do the deed.  But here is where I need help.  I don't even know where to start?!?!?  Any advice or links to techniques will be handy.

 

[bigdan05]

Hog.jpg

• bigdan05
• Jul 30, 2012

 

[pigman jim]

Dan,

That's cool... an adventure! I love it. As with most game, you will probably want to do a brine with some beer or vinegar mixed in. Create a marinade to mop over it every 1/2 hour or so. Don't be in a rush to cook the hog or it will be tough. Slooowly roast it and keep mopping it. Then come back and let us know how it went. Have fun!!

Jim
 

 

[thoseguys26]

Nice pic. I've never done a whole hog before but I'm sure someone will chime in eventually.

 

[daveomak]

Dan, evening....  Is the hog frozen ??  Has the hair been scraped from the hide ??  If so, leave it in the freezer for a month at -5 deg F... this is supposed to kill all the trich etc. in the meat... Now work on a recipe for success.... there are many members that will help make your hog-Q come out as good or better than their smoke.....  Be sure and take pics of the process for all to learn from....  Dave

 

[stillsmokin]

I trap wild hogs year round, and process most for my family. One thing to realize is that a wild hog is not the same critter as the domestic variety that grocery store pork comes from. Because of the taste and special handling necessary with a wild pig, I never scrape or remove the hair. I skin the animal completely. Makes it much easier to assess the quality of the meat, fat content, etc. It will also get rid of quite a bit of the gamey flavor if handled correctly. As mentioned, we eat wild hogs year round, and this is in East Texas. We make lots of sausage, bbq the ribs, smoke the loins, and have lots of roasts. Rarely enough fat on one for bacon, and I never make jerky from wild pigs. If you want to pit roast or bake a whole hog, I think I would recommend buying a domestically raised animal. Not saying it can't be done, but you may get less than perfect results. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.

 

[thoseguys26]

Keep us posted if you roast it whole. Nice kill.

 

[still smoking]

When I was living back east,we used to buy a wild boar about 90-110lbs.from a dude who raised them,we would scrape them clean of hair (very important) & burn off any remaining hair with a torch,when gutting make as small a cut as possible to clean the insides,then insert a stainless rod And fill the insides with quartered apples that have been soaking in pure maple syrup over night,after that sewing the incesion as tight as possible,after that wrap in chicken wire & throw it on a spit over maple wood until cooked,don't worry about basting,with all the people standing around,plenty of beer will get dumped on to keep it moist,this goes good with macaroni or patato salad . Be forewarned a party like this may last until the wee hours & the cops may even show up for a plate!

 

[roadkill cafe]

A friend of mine and I did a wild hog quite some years ago. The pig was frozen whole for a couple months beforehand. Rented a large pit roaster with a rotisserie. We had never cooked one so we had a guy my friend knew take charge of doing it. I don't recall him using a brine but it was skinned when harvested. Started at about 3am on the spit and about every 15-30 minutes he would spray it down good with red wine vinegar in a spray bottle for the first 3 hours or so then used a mopping juice afterwards. Slow roasted over oak coals until about 4pm. Came out really tender and juicy. Hardly any gamey flavor at all but certainly nothing like a domestic pig.