Boar Hunt: Is the meat tasty?

[Diabolus]

I am going to plan my first Boar hunt this year and I wanted some info on the quality and taste of the meat.

I'll take the animal to a butcher, so I'd like to get sausage, chops, and bacon. Most importantly, how does it taste?

[technique]

Yeah it is... The smaller females seem to taste a bit better..the larger boars have a gamey taste. IMHO

[zinfull]

Just a few points.

1. Do not shoot a big sow, they keep us in little piggies
2. 125-175# pigs are a little gamey but that is what is expected and is a good size. The really huge ones are hard to be next to cause of their smell.
3. Clean the pig beyond what you would normally clean a field kill. The butchers are catching heat from the health department about under cleaned wild game. They do refuse to take a pig if it is not properly cleaned.
4. The bigger pigs are usually just hams and sausage. Be sure to check if you want other stuff before you take it in to the butcher. Not all butchers will process wild game so your chose may be limited.

Have fun and be sure to share your spoils with your fellow hunters.

Jerry

[Splinter]

Ive never had california pig, but in hawaii I did a hunt and the meat was great. It dressed out to 100lbs of meat, so maybe 300lb pig?

[BamBam-31]

A friend of mine shot a 75 pounder, and the meat was supposedly very tender and delicious. Mine was a 150 pounder, and the meat had a very, very slight gamey taste to it. Ribs were awesome, though.

[5150Marcelo]

Just douse it with Tapatio whatever you do. i dont leave home with out it!

[Crazyhorse]

Smaller pig = better taste. Anything under 150 should be good eating much more and it starts going down hill.

[RedDawn]

Good to know...

[5150Marcelo]

Well, now that I know that... lets go! Who can i ride with?

[fireblast713]

Having never eaten wild anything, I'm curious what exactly "gamey" meat tastes like? I've heard the term used before in relation to things like venison, rabbit, etc, but could someone describe it in terms a domesticated meat eater like myself could understand/imagina-taste?

[Crazyhorse]

Having never eaten wild anything, I'm curious what exactly "gamey" meat tastes like? I've heard the term used before in relation to things like venison, rabbit, etc, but could someone describe it in terms a domesticated meat eater like myself could understand/imagina-taste?

Hard to explain, but I'll try. Depending on the animal the meat seems to be more tender/lean and taste more like the meats you are used to from the market but as the animal ages the meat seems to get tougher, and has (really hard to explain) tarter type flavor, can smell very strong and in some animals seems to get greasier. I'm mostly a deer hunter and my group goes for young does for meat and bucks for horns. The tender loins/back straps are the only thing that tastes yummy on a big buck the rest we make sausage and jerky out of. The doe ends up being steaks, roasts, with leftovers going to stew or burger. I also know people that soak meat of older animals in vinegar for days then water and that is said to remove it but I've never tried it. If I end up with some foul meat I like to slow cook it in cream of mushroom soup and make a sauce to put over noodles/rice.

ARG I'm hungry now.....

I doubt any of this makes sense.

E

[Rob454]

hard to explain the taste. Sort of liek eating meat but it has a taste of sage or something like that. Sometimes soaking the meat in lemon juice helps.
If youre making sausage you can mix the meat with some regular sausage meat and some spices
Rob

[Cazach]

Two words: Deep Pit

Best hog you will ever have. We cook ours over 24 hours and it falls apart and is wonderful.

[trinydex]

by deep pit do you mean smoking? i was gonna ask about smoking since it pretty much tenderizes and imbues the meat with the smoke's own flavor.

is that a fix?

[Crazyhorse]

Two words: Deep Pit

Best hog you will ever have. We cook ours over 24 hours and it falls apart and is wonderful.

Haven't tried it that way yet, but if your cooking one toss me a pm