Depending on the diet of the pig and the actual cut, the fat content will vary widely. If you need to add more to your ground meat, just use back fat or trimmings from your butcher. Some of them give it away as a lot gets tossed out anyway.
Or you could buy one of those blocks of bacon trimmings and ends and grind it up to add. They are high in fat and would also give some flavor.
Chef Jimmy J posted this in another wild meat thread. Trichinella is the most common parasite in wild pigs.
[h3]6.4.
Trichinella[/h3]
Pork products must be treated to destroy
Trichinella by (a) Heat: A minimum internal temperature of 130°F(30 min.), 132°F(15 min.), 134°F(6 min.), or 136°F(3 min.), (b) Freezing: 5°F(20 days), -10°F(10 days) or -20°F(6 days) for all pork in pieces not exceeding 6 cu. inches. Double the freezing times for larger pieces up to 27 inches of thickness or (c) some combination of curing, drying, and smoking can kill
Trichinella, but these are process specific (9 CFR 318.10).
FSIS approved of the use of up to 50% KCl[sub]2[/sub] in place of NaCl for the destruction of trichinae (
USDA FSIS 1995c).
Wild game (bear, elk, etc.) must be treated to destroy Trichinella by heating to 170°F, since some strains of Trichinella are freeze resistant (
CDC 1985).
The source...
http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/lit_rev/cure_smoke_pres.html
Also here is more from the Wikipedia page on Trichinosis and prevention of same....
[h3]Food preparation[/h3]
Larvae may be killed by the heating or irradiation of raw meat. Freezing is only usually effective for
T. spiralis, since other species, such as
T. nativa, are freeze resistant and can survive long-term freezing.[sup]
[13][/sup]
- All meat (including pork) can be safely prepared by cooking to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) or more for 15 seconds or more.
- Wild game: Wild game meat must be cooked thoroughly (see meat preparation above) Freezing wild game does not kill all trichinosis larval worms. This is because the worm species that typically infests wild game can resist freezing.
- Pork: Freezing cuts of pork less than 6 inches thick for 20 days at 5 °F (−15 °C) or three days at −4 °F (−20 °C) kills T. spiralis larval worms; but this will not kill other trichinosis larval worm species, such as T. nativa, if they have infested your pork food supply (which is unlikely).
Pork can be safely cooked to a slightly lower temperature provided that the internal meat temperature is at least as hot for at least as long as listed in the
USDA table below.[sup]
[26][/sup] Nonetheless, it is prudent to allow a
margin of error for variation in internal temperature within a particular cut of pork, which may have bones that affect temperature uniformity. In addition, your thermometer has measurement error that must be considered. Cook pork for significantly longer and at a higher uniform internal temperature than listed here to be safe.
| Internal Temperature | Internal Temperature | Minimum Time |
|---|
| (°F) | (°C) | (minutes) |
|---|
| 120 | 49 | 1260 |
| 122 | 50.0 | 570 |
| 124 | 51.1 | 270 |
| 126 | 52.2 | 120 |
| 128 | 53.4 | 60 |
| 130 | 54.5 | 30 |
| 132 | 55.6 | 15 |
| 134 | 56.7 | 6 |
| 136 | 57.8 | 3 |
| 138 | 58.9 | 2 |
| 140 | 60.0 | 1 |
| 142 | 61.1 | 1 |
| 144 | 62.2 | Instant |
[sup]
[26][/sup]
Unsafe and unreliable methods of cooking meat include the use of microwave ovens,
curing, drying, and smoking, as these methods are difficult to standardize and control.[sup]
[13][/sup]
