I'm planning on targeting hogs over Thanksgiving weekend. Question is - do I need to soak a backstrap in ice for a couple days or can I just cook it in a crock pot shortly after cutting it off the hog?

JR

Either

I've done both, it's all good …

I pull the loins and put on ice overnight. Marinate and put in crock pot overnight. Another good thing is to smoke on pit wrapped with bacon.

Good stuff!

This guy ^ has the right idea. They can be good either way though.

Give it a day to die, a few days is better. I was told once to "wait for the squeal to go out of the pig before you eat it."
We hang ours for a week in a cooler (dry aging) before we package, eat or freeze them. It does make a difference.
I was also told that cooking meat that has just been killed is tough and can give you belly ache. I saw this happen when the guys at camp though it would be cool to grill the backstraps from a morning deer kill for lunch. I mentioned that they needed to wait for the meat to die. It was really tough. No one got sick but a few guys didn't feel great. That deer had only been dead for a couple of hours.

Several times we have taken a hog on a morning hunt, smoked it on the pit all day, then ate it after the evening hunt. Each time everyone thought it was pretty tasty. I will say it's pretty hard to mess anything up when you can smoke it on mesquite all day.

There have been a few times when we've hung up a hog, removed the backstraps, and someone will take them inside to cook 'em. Cut up the backstraps into small chunks, add some onions and peppers, and supper is ready for the cleaning crew when they're done. Always good.

Marinate tenderloins and wrap TIGHT in foil. Put in slow cooker over night......Unwrap and shred with two forks.....add onion and/or bell pepper. Pulled Pork!

I'm with Simple Searcher. I like to let them hang if its cold enough or sit on ice for at least a day to let the rigor resolve. I'll usually wait several days.

As far as cooking I'll put a couple of chops in a zip lock with some chopped jalapenos, fresh rosemary and a little orange juice. Let it sit for a day in the fridge and grill over a pecan fire.

I just back strap them and quarter it. If it's not cool I leave them in a cooler with ice for a day or two. Smoke those front shoulders and then if I have killed more than one the back straps and hams make the best jerky you have ever tasted if you like jerky.

I like jerky, but I'm leery of making it from feral hog meat. The incidence of trichinosis is supposedly very low, but it's not something I want to experience. The low temps involved in making jerky aren't sufficient to guarantee killing the trich larvae.

Cooking them right After the kill...... you will find them surprisingly tender.
The meat proteins havent changed yet.

Otherwise a little age helps IME ... though pork is a little different than beef where aging for a month makes it perfection.