Feral Hog Recipes

fisherman66 · January 26, 2006, 10:23 AM

In light of the venison recipes I'd like some cook'n idears for a couple feral pigs I have sitting in the freezer. I'll start off with the one dish I've tried (and it turned out great, but a little dry due to over cooking - I didn't want to chance it with porcinus.)

Take the backstrap and rinse well and pat dry.

Make slits about 1 1/2 inches deep and fill with a broken clove of garlic (to break clove just lay flat on cutting board and hit with the ball of your hand) add jalapeno if desired. Pepper the surface.

Wrap the backstrap in bacon covering the entire surface of the meat.

Cook in a turkey bag to maintain moisure content. Cook slow on low heat. (I have some experimenting to do on the actual heat heat level and time. I did it 300 for 3 hours and it was perfect; but dry when reheating the next day.)

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I am requesting ham recipes. I stupidly gave the shoulders away (thinking they were like deer shoulders and less tender; I have since been told that was a bad move.) Another bad move....I deboned the hams to save space in the already stuffed cooler (2 deer, 2 hogs.)

Wild Bill Bucks · January 26, 2006, 11:03 AM

F66
Not bad move on de-boneing, Just soak meat in some Pepsi or Coke overnight and fix the way you want to . Cola will keep the meat moist and very tender.
I like to put in crock pot with stew fixings and let cook at about 250 degrees for a couple of hours then turn to 200 and cook until done (about 5 hours with no bone)
Probably the best pot roast you can eat when done.

P.S.
Pour off the soda after soaking and add 1 can of fresh soda to your crock pot along with a can of onion soup or mushroom soup along with enough water to cover meat. Carbonation will cook out as it cooks and leave the mix with a real rich flavor.

taralon · January 26, 2006, 04:31 PM

Backstrap or ham, doesn't really matter which. Take thawed meat and combine in a glass bowl with 2-3 cups of pitted quartered cherries, and 2 cans of coke, add a little liquid smoke flavoring if to your taste. Let marinade overnight. Place in cassarole dish with 1 cup of marinade and as many of the cherries as you feel like fishing out, add water until cassarole dish nearly full. Cover with foil, and bake at 300 for at least 4 hours, adding water as needed to keep level up. Serve with carameled sweet potatoes.

FirstFreedom · January 26, 2006, 10:14 PM

Well you can't really go wrong wrapping pork backstrap with bacon, now can you? Sounds like Homer would love it. I know I would like that recipe. I love garlic (and jalapenos). Hmmm, I'd bet if you sealed the dish while reheating it wouldn't be as dry - did you do that?

Long Path · January 27, 2006, 11:51 AM

I've got a lovely one that is as simple as any I've ever seen:

Start with pork backstrap, tenderloin, or a deboned ham roast, and butterfly it.

Crush several cloves of garlic. I like a garlic press, but you can mince and crush 'em if you wish. Whatever. Just make sure it's fresh and not powdered.

Take two or three sprigs of fresh rosemary. Don't have any growing in your back yard? Shame on you. It's pretty, it grows like a weed, and the fresh stuff kicks butt over any dried stuff. It's also perineal, which means it'll just get to be a bigger and bigger bush every year without replanting. If you don't have any fresh rosemary, get some at the store-- they tend to carry it fresh in the veggie department these days. Cut most of the little leaves off of the sprigs/stalks, and mince 'em up with a chef's knife. Crush them all to make the oils come out. Mix with the garlic paste you've made. Smear it all around your pork, inside the butterfly slit and outside.

Pepper it with lots of fresh-ground black pepper, and salt it well, and then coat the entire thing with extra-virgin olive oil. Then place the rosemary sprigs inside the cut in the meat, and fold it closed. At this point, you tie the meat closed. Heh. Last time I did it, I didn't have any string, so I just used mending wire. Hey, it worked.

At this point, you can roast it in a hot (375* + ) oven, or over smoke. While it would be good slow-roasted, I find that an excellent way to enjoy tenderloin or backstrap (which are tender) is to quick-fire them and not cook 'em to death. I throw 'em over a hot bed of coals with some wet fruit tree wood on 'em, and use a thermometer to check when the core temp reaches 190* F. Note: DON'T abandon your post! Over hot coals, you'd be surprised how fast that temp will go up.

I probably made it sound complicated, but keep in mind: It requires only one dish (your grill), and a cutting board and knife. It can be made, start to sit-down-at-your-plate, in less than an hour. It takes 5 other ingredients beside your pork: Rosemary, Garlic, Black Pepper, Olive Oil, and Salt. Many or even most of us have those items at home right now.

This is a big-flavored dish that is spectacular to put on the table.

fisherman66 · January 27, 2006, 12:15 PM

Sounds great (all of'em)!

I've been thinking about basting it with apple butter instead of olive oil. Mmmm, now that I have some idears I have the tough choice of selecting a recipe (good thing I have a couple hams.)

taralon · January 27, 2006, 12:24 PM

Personally I love wild pork that's flavored with fruit of some type. Be it cherries, or apples, or pears, or even chokecherries. There's something about the pungency of the meat combined with the sweet delicate flavor of the fruit that goes together well.

On the other hand, birds and venison I like with strong onion and garlic....

No matter what, one can't go wrong with cooking up wild game, as it means you have to get back in the field to get more.

whiskey · January 27, 2006, 01:58 PM

Sorry, but I am a wild pig snob. The only way I cook it is smoked. Of course I have eaten it other ways, but if it is my meat and I am going to be eating it, I want it smoked. I am very particular about “bleeding” the meat prior to freezing it, but you can “bleed” it afterwards too. I clean the pig and keep it on ice in a cooler for about 5 day. Everyday you need to drain the bloody water off and add more ice. When the water runs clear, then the majority of the blood is out. I smoke the meat unwrapped, rubbed with a good meat rub for about an hour to an hour and a half. Then I wrap it in foil after the outside is good and brown and sealed. Then smoke it for several more hours (4 to 8) till the meat is easily pulled away from the bone, but not to the point that it is overcooked and dry. Don’t forget to let the meat “stand” in the foil for about 30 minutes to re-absorb the juices.

armedtotheteeth · January 30, 2006, 12:23 AM

I experamented with a fat sow i shot last weekend. I Cleaned her and butchered her. I got the flanks, ,De-boned hams, and the shoulders and soaked them in Brine. In this brine there was :
A little Salt Maybe a cup
A little Sugar Maybe 1/2 cup
A little Brown Sugar 1/2 cup
1/4 cup of worchester sauce
6 ounces of liquid smoke (pecan )
a bit of cinnamon
Black pepper to taste
2 gallons of cool water.
I soaked the meat in this solution for about a week in the fridge , at 33 -34 degrees. Still it , or mix it every day, keeping all of the meat under the brine. After a week, dump the brine and rinse the meat. Dry it and freeze it . This made the very best damn Bacon and Ham you have ever dreamt about.!! No kidding give it a shot.

January 26, 2006, 10:23 AM	#1
fisherman66 Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2005 Location: The Woodlands TX Posts: 4,679	Feral Hog Recipes In light of the venison recipes I'd like some cook'n idears for a couple feral pigs I have sitting in the freezer. I'll start off with the one dish I've tried (and it turned out great, but a little dry due to over cooking - I didn't want to chance it with porcinus.) Take the backstrap and rinse well and pat dry. Make slits about 1 1/2 inches deep and fill with a broken clove of garlic (to break clove just lay flat on cutting board and hit with the ball of your hand) add jalapeno if desired. Pepper the surface. Wrap the backstrap in bacon covering the entire surface of the meat. Cook in a turkey bag to maintain moisure content. Cook slow on low heat. (I have some experimenting to do on the actual heat heat level and time. I did it 300 for 3 hours and it was perfect; but dry when reheating the next day.) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< I am requesting ham recipes. I stupidly gave the shoulders away (thinking they were like deer shoulders and less tender; I have since been told that was a bad move.) Another bad move....I deboned the hams to save space in the already stuffed cooler (2 deer, 2 hogs.)

January 27, 2006, 11:51 AM	#5
Long Path Senior Member Join Date: May 31, 1999 Location: N. Texas Posts: 5,899	I've got a lovely one that is as simple as any I've ever seen: Start with pork backstrap, tenderloin, or a deboned ham roast, and butterfly it. Crush several cloves of garlic. I like a garlic press, but you can mince and crush 'em if you wish. Whatever. Just make sure it's fresh and not powdered. Take two or three sprigs of fresh rosemary. Don't have any growing in your back yard? Shame on you. It's pretty, it grows like a weed, and the fresh stuff kicks butt over any dried stuff. It's also perineal, which means it'll just get to be a bigger and bigger bush every year without replanting. If you don't have any fresh rosemary, get some at the store-- they tend to carry it fresh in the veggie department these days. Cut most of the little leaves off of the sprigs/stalks, and mince 'em up with a chef's knife. Crush them all to make the oils come out. Mix with the garlic paste you've made. Smear it all around your pork, inside the butterfly slit and outside. Pepper it with lots of fresh-ground black pepper, and salt it well, and then coat the entire thing with extra-virgin olive oil. Then place the rosemary sprigs inside the cut in the meat, and fold it closed. At this point, you tie the meat closed. Heh. Last time I did it, I didn't have any string, so I just used mending wire. Hey, it worked. At this point, you can roast it in a hot (375* + ) oven, or over smoke. While it would be good slow-roasted, I find that an excellent way to enjoy tenderloin or backstrap (which are tender) is to quick-fire them and not cook 'em to death. I throw 'em over a hot bed of coals with some wet fruit tree wood on 'em, and use a thermometer to check when the core temp reaches 190* F. Note: DON'T abandon your post! Over hot coals, you'd be surprised how fast that temp will go up. I probably made it sound complicated, but keep in mind: It requires only one dish (your grill), and a cutting board and knife. It can be made, start to sit-down-at-your-plate, in less than an hour. It takes 5 other ingredients beside your pork: Rosemary, Garlic, Black Pepper, Olive Oil, and Salt. Many or even most of us have those items at home right now. This is a big-flavored dish that is spectacular to put on the table. __________________ "Welcome to The Firing Line, a virtual community dedicated to the discussion and advancement of responsible firearms ownership."T.F.L. Policy Page Will you, too, be one who stands in the gap? ____________

January 27, 2006, 01:58 PM	#8
whiskey Senior Member Join Date: January 19, 2000 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 431	Sorry, but I am a wild pig snob. The only way I cook it is smoked. Of course I have eaten it other ways, but if it is my meat and I am going to be eating it, I want it smoked. I am very particular about “bleeding” the meat prior to freezing it, but you can “bleed” it afterwards too. I clean the pig and keep it on ice in a cooler for about 5 day. Everyday you need to drain the bloody water off and add more ice. When the water runs clear, then the majority of the blood is out. I smoke the meat unwrapped, rubbed with a good meat rub for about an hour to an hour and a half. Then I wrap it in foil after the outside is good and brown and sealed. Then smoke it for several more hours (4 to 8) till the meat is easily pulled away from the bone, but not to the point that it is overcooked and dry. Don’t forget to let the meat “stand” in the foil for about 30 minutes to re-absorb the juices. __________________ "So he cocked both his pistols, spit in the dirt and walked out in to the street."

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January 26, 2006, 11:03 AM	#2
Wild Bill Bucks Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2005 Location: Southeastern Oklahoma, Next door to Sasquatch Posts: 1,266	F66 Not bad move on de-boneing, Just soak meat in some Pepsi or Coke overnight and fix the way you want to . Cola will keep the meat moist and very tender. I like to put in crock pot with stew fixings and let cook at about 250 degrees for a couple of hours then turn to 200 and cook until done (about 5 hours with no bone) Probably the best pot roast you can eat when done. P.S. Pour off the soda after soaking and add 1 can of fresh soda to your crock pot along with a can of onion soup or mushroom soup along with enough water to cover meat. Carbonation will cook out as it cooks and leave the mix with a real rich flavor.

January 26, 2006, 04:31 PM	#3
taralon Member Join Date: October 21, 2004 Posts: 88	Backstrap or ham, doesn't really matter which. Take thawed meat and combine in a glass bowl with 2-3 cups of pitted quartered cherries, and 2 cans of coke, add a little liquid smoke flavoring if to your taste. Let marinade overnight. Place in cassarole dish with 1 cup of marinade and as many of the cherries as you feel like fishing out, add water until cassarole dish nearly full. Cover with foil, and bake at 300 for at least 4 hours, adding water as needed to keep level up. Serve with carameled sweet potatoes.

January 26, 2006, 10:14 PM	#4
FirstFreedom Junior member Join Date: May 31, 2004 Location: The Toll Road State, U.S.A. Posts: 12,451	Well you can't really go wrong wrapping pork backstrap with bacon, now can you? Sounds like Homer would love it. I know I would like that recipe. I love garlic (and jalapenos). Hmmm, I'd bet if you sealed the dish while reheating it wouldn't be as dry - did you do that?

January 27, 2006, 12:15 PM	#6
fisherman66 Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2005 Location: The Woodlands TX Posts: 4,679	Sounds great (all of'em)! I've been thinking about basting it with apple butter instead of olive oil. Mmmm, now that I have some idears I have the tough choice of selecting a recipe (good thing I have a couple hams.)

January 27, 2006, 12:24 PM	#7
taralon Member Join Date: October 21, 2004 Posts: 88	Personally I love wild pork that's flavored with fruit of some type. Be it cherries, or apples, or pears, or even chokecherries. There's something about the pungency of the meat combined with the sweet delicate flavor of the fruit that goes together well. On the other hand, birds and venison I like with strong onion and garlic.... No matter what, one can't go wrong with cooking up wild game, as it means you have to get back in the field to get more.

January 30, 2006, 12:23 AM	#9
armedtotheteeth Senior Member Join Date: October 3, 2005 Location: podunk, Texas Posts: 1,610	I experamented with a fat sow i shot last weekend. I Cleaned her and butchered her. I got the flanks, ,De-boned hams, and the shoulders and soaked them in Brine. In this brine there was : A little Salt Maybe a cup A little Sugar Maybe 1/2 cup A little Brown Sugar 1/2 cup 1/4 cup of worchester sauce 6 ounces of liquid smoke (pecan ) a bit of cinnamon Black pepper to taste 2 gallons of cool water. I soaked the meat in this solution for about a week in the fridge , at 33 -34 degrees. Still it , or mix it every day, keeping all of the meat under the brine. After a week, dump the brine and rinse the meat. Dry it and freeze it . This made the very best damn Bacon and Ham you have ever dreamt about.!! No kidding give it a shot.