neutralizing game smell/taste for hogs

[slippinaround]

The hogs are taking over our deer lease and we're seeing less deer due to this fact. So we're going to start lowering their numbers. The only thing is I can't stand their smell! I've been told to soak em in milk but haven't tried it yet. Any suggestions or comments will be appreciated.

[jbro]

After a lot of research this is how I cook wild game.

1. I clean the meat as good as I can.

2. I mix 1 cup of kosher salt to 1 gallon of water. I also add a ½ cup of brown sugar and stir until it all dissolves. I then soak the game (also poultry) in the mixture for 4 to 8 hours depending on the size and the type of game. (this adds moisture to the meat)

3. I then soak the game in milk and I usually add a cup of buttermilk for 4 to 8 hours. (this is what removes the strong game taste)

4. For pork and fish I often coat the meat with mustard. I then season the meat with salt, pepper, dry rub etc. I then apply Italian or Mediterranean (Greek) dressing and let it sit for 1 to 4 hours. (this is to tenderize and season the meat)

5. I think smoke the game on an indirect smoker at a temperature of 225 to 250 degrees until it reaches the correct temperature. I always use a wireless temperature gauge.

I hope this works for everone.

[spursfiend]

I quarter the hog and put it in an ice chest and completely cover it with ice with the drain plug open. As the ice melts, the blood drains from the meat. Once the ice is melted, the gamey smell should be gone (unless it's just a huge pig, then ice it down again).

Sometimes I'll pour red wine on the pork while the ice is melting. It makes a good marinade.

[timbo]

I quarter the hog and put it in an ice chest and completely cover it with ice with the drain plug open. As the ice melts, the blood drains from the meat. Once the ice is melted, the gamey smell should be gone (unless it's just a huge pig, then ice it down again).

I heard the guys from Bellville Meat Market say the same thing on the Outdoors Show one Saturday morning. I've never tried it before, but a friend of mine says it works.

[whymel]

I quarter the hog and put it in an ice chest and completely cover it with ice with the drain plug open.

i d the same thing, but repeat it for a couple of days.... just make sure it keeps ice, so that it doesn't start warming.... it also helps relax the meat, making it more tender.... it would relax even more hanging, but in the cooler, it relaxes it a little bit

[CopanoCruisin]

I recommend nit for a week. Drain the water daily and refill with ice. Oh! Um! I just love that wild hog. As ole Andy would say, mmm, mmmm,
good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Barnacle Bill]

I quarter the hog and put it in an ice chest and completely cover it with ice with the drain plug open. As the ice melts, the blood drains from the meat. Once the ice is melted, the gamey smell should be gone (unless it's just a huge pig, then ice it down again).

Sometimes I'll pour red wine on the pork while the ice is melting. It makes a good marinade.

I've always done that and it's the way we did the wild hog we cooked at the EEF tourneys. It works the best IMHO. We had no complaints.

[Kayak Kid]

Depending on what they are eating, wild hog (feral, not Russian boar)is, in my opinion, better than domestic hog.....or venison, for that matter.

Usual diet on south west Texas properties is corn and sweet root. If so, and if they are not eating acorns, you needn't go through much of a 'de wilding' process. Simply gut and skin (make sure you wear thick surgical gloves) and wash thouroghly, KEEP THE MEAT COOL AT ALL TIMES, get to a cooler asap and let it hang for a week.

In short, treat the meat, as soon as the animal is down, as you woiuld a very expensive prime portor house steak. Be sure to have barnicle bill say a brucha over the meat to make it kosher.

[Barnacle Bill]

Avade!

[Yaklash]

Depending on what they are eating, wild hog (feral, not Russian boar)is, in my opinion, better than domestic hog.....or venison, for that matter.

Usual diet on south west Texas properties is corn and sweet root. If so, and if they are not eating acorns, you needn't go through much of a 'de wilding' process. Simply gut and skin (make sure you wear thick surgical gloves) and wash thouroghly, KEEP THE MEAT COOL AT ALL TIMES, get to a cooler asap and let it hang for a week.

In short, treat the meat, as soon as the animal is down, as you woiuld a very expensive prime portor house steak. Be sure to have barnicle bill say a brucha over the meat to make it kosher.

I ditto this point. I've eaten about 15 South Texas Feral Hogs in my life and the only taste I got that bothered me was the lack of the taste of fat. Their meat is so lean, even when well fed. Now, the smell of the critter when you clean it is a whole nutha thing. And the ticks and fleas Yikes.

[Yaklash]

Oh, and one other thing.....

...who knew BB was a Rabbi.

Brings up an issue I had to ask of some Kosher friends. If you are kosher and you are in need of a heart valve replacement, is it Kosher to get a pig's heart? My most Kosher friend said that Kosher laws can be "circumvented" in order to sustain life.

[Kayak Kid]

OMG!!! Is eating crisp bacon with one's fried eggs and grits not sustaining life??????????

[Joe Guilbeau]

I quarter the hog and put it in an ice chest and completely cover it with ice with the drain plug open. As the ice melts, the blood drains from the meat. Once the ice is melted, the gamey smell should be gone (unless it's just a huge pig, then ice it down again).

Sometimes I'll pour red wine on the pork while the ice is melting. It makes a good marinade.

Yep, if you don't gut shoot it, it gets dressed in 30 minutes or so on a cool day this is how we do it. W e do it for 3 days and it really makes a difference in the quality of the table fare. Just keep packing ice on it for the three days, and you will be fine.

[latrans99]

Leave the boar hogs for the coyotes to eat, if they will even bother, very few boars will be worth spending time cleaning! Boar hogs produce a pheromone called Androstenone from the time they reach sexual maturity, it is stored in their fat cells and can't be removed regardless what you soak them in or marinate them with, it's the stinch that smells like a combination of wild onions and skunk piss. There is a certain percentage of the human population that can't smell or taste Androstenone, the reason some folks say there's nothing wrong with boar hog meat. I've even killed a few 50-60 pounders that were'nt fit for the table. Stick to cleaning and eating the sows and gilts and you won't have to worry with all the time consuming preparations, just kill, clean, season, cook and eat!

[Coastal Country]

SSS and for the small ones let the ice pull the blood out of it for a week.

[sitewader]

The ice bath works great for all wild game.

For drum or red fish, make sure the blood line is cut out and before final rinsing, soak in a little apple cider vinegar/water solution for 10 minutes.

You'll be surprised how squeeky clean they rinse.

[CWalker]

We have always had good luck soaking hogs in a mixture of apple cider vinegar and Italian dressing. We cleaned them immediately after "harvesting" and put them straight into the marinade.

I had not heard of the ice method, however, and I am looking forward to giving it a try.

Chad