Texas Hunting Forum

Boar On The Table

Posted By: Brother Phil

Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 05:52 AM

For those of you that eat hogs, what are your thoughts on eating a large boar, say 150+ pounds? Or a large sow? I am new to hog hunting. I always hear that the sows taste better than the boars, and that large boars are usually left for the coyotes. I shot a large sow last season. The meat was not tough, but had a very strong taste, and a smell like pine sol. I tried soaking the meat overnight in milk, nothing got rid of the unpleasant taste. I finally tossed it. I also shot a small, and medium size sow, that tasted fine. Any feedback?
Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 12:04 PM

If they don’t stink we cook them....we had to load this one on the pit with a tractor and front end loader....

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Posted By: RattlesnakeDan

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 12:44 PM

I have eaten a lot of hogs. The best are the boars under 200#. If they are not stinky and rank smelling they lose their backstraps and a front shoulder makes a fantastic roast for the crock pot.
I will only eat a sow if it is young and hasn't had piglets yet. Sows will have much lower levels of fat because of nursing and their fat tends to be off colored, their meat seems to be tougher and less of it. Give me a big spoiled boar who sleeps a lot, breeds a lot and eats a lot.
Some guys love the little piglets but I can't eat them, it's like veal, too soft and less flavor.
Posted By: DLALLDER

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 12:51 PM

I have killed & eaten some large boars & sows (250+ lbs ). A trick I was told about many years ago has worked for me every time. I soak the pork in ice water for a couple of days, sometimes more if I have something more important to do. Quarter the hog place in large cooler, put as much ice in cooler as you can & add water. After 24 hrs or so pour off water and add more ice & water for another 24 hrs. I have NEVER HAD A BAD SMELLING OR BAD TASTING HOG DONE THIS WAY. I make my own ice cubes in a spare fridge using 6 quart plastic containers bought at Wally World.
Posted By: bigjoe8565

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 02:44 PM

I prefer to cook one if it’s a sow who recently had babies or is pregnant . Maybe it’s just me, but sows in this condition seems to have more fat and taste better.
Posted By: Old Stony

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 03:18 PM

I always thought the younger sows were the best eating. I never take more than the hind legs and backstraps though, but they usually have lots of fat and are healthy. I won't even take the legs or backstrap off of any boars over 100 pounders. I guess I've fattened up a lot of coyotes and buzzards over the years.
Posted By: der Teufel

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 03:37 PM

I'm half Coonass (other half is Redneck) so I'll eat just about anything.
I'm in agreement with SnakeWrangler. If they don't stink (meaning if you can stand next to them and still breath) they get processed. Under 125 Lbs we put the leg quarters on the smoker. Between 125-150 Lbs it kinda depends upon what mood we're in, how many shoulders or hindquarters we have in the freezer, or the phase of the moon. Over 150 Lbs we send them through the grinder to become ground meat or sausage. Fewer than 1 in 20 get dumped.
Posted By: ChadTRG42

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by DLALLDER
I have killed & eaten some large boars & sows (250+ lbs ). Quarter the hog place in large cooler, put as much ice in cooler as you can & add water.


I'm assuming you skin them for the soaking? I've never soaked them, so I may have to try this.
Posted By: AMF

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 08:48 PM

Why is it black?
Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by Duke107
Why is it black?


If you're asking about the pic I posted it's because I had just pulled it out of the pit after about 28 hours at 225 degrees....the meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth...
Posted By: Dink Dodger

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 09:12 PM

I you have accommodations, wash all of the "mud" off of them before you ever put a knife to them. They pizz and sh!t in their wallows then roll around and lay in it. Keeping that off of your meat goes a long way. Get them skinned and cold as soon as possible. If you have to hang them overnight, skin them first and I won't let them hang unless the temps aren't going to get out of the 30's or very low 40's.
I'll do the ice bath thing sometimes but usually only because I don't have time to process them right away, so maybe just a day or two.
I've only ever dumped one whole pig because it was rank, and that was a very large wet sow. I shot a boar down in Madisonville that weighed 278lbs. I cut out the backstraps and took the hams and dumped the rest. While I was trimming the back straps and cutting pork chops, I cut off a thin piece and cooked it. It tasted better than store bought pork. I cured and smoked the hams and took one to our family Christmas dinner, my MIL's turkey barely got touched. I still feel kind of bad for dumping the rest of that boar.
If I shot as many as some of you guys do, I probably wouldn't mess with the really big ones but we aren't covered up with them like many of y'all are. Sort of lucky but I like pork.

Mix one cup of orange juice with about a tablespoon of fresh ground ginger, a couple of finely chopped jalapenos and a sprig of chopped fresh rosemary. Toss in your pork chops and marinade for at least a day then grill them over some pecan wood. food
Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 09:16 PM


I leave the skin on and cook them whole....This is how I prepare and cook mine
Posted By: 603Country

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 10:06 PM

I hang em, spray wash them for a while, and skin them far enough to get the back straps and to debone the hindquarters. And based on advice from a crusty old gal pig hunter, we soak the meat in ice and salt for a few days, which draws out the blood and then use ice without the salt for a day. Drain off the water occasionally.

The gal said the process worked even with seriously stinking boars. As it happened, the grandson was up soon after that to pig hunt. I suggested he kill a sow. I heard the shot, and here he came grinning about the big sow he shot. We went to get it, and I remarked to him that the big sow had some seriously big testicles, and stunk to high heaven. Well, he was and still is a starving college student, so we did the ice and salt soak for just one day. The wife took a chunk of back strap and cooked it and there was not even the slightest gamey taste.

With the freezer full of female pig right now, I’ll pass on the big stinky boars, but I don’t automatically reject boars now as a food source.
Posted By: Dink Dodger

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by SnakeWrangler

I leave the skin on and cook them whole....This is how I prepare and cook mine


Yes sir! I need to try that sometime. It looks crazy, but hard to argue with results
Posted By: Big8

Re: Boar On The Table - 02/29/20 11:13 PM

It’s always about the smell for me, I have processed many pigs and if you walk up and it stinks then your not going to be happy with the meat. My dad processed a 250 pound boar after shooting it in January with ice on the ground and it was great. It taught me a lesson that not all big boars are not good to eat!
Posted By: DLALLDER

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/01/20 01:20 AM

Originally Posted by ChadTRG42
Originally Posted by DLALLDER
I have killed & eaten some large boars & sows (250+ lbs ). Quarter the hog place in large cooler, put as much ice in cooler as you can & add water.


I'm assuming you skin them for the soaking? I've never soaked them, so I may have to try this.


Chad, yes I skin the quarters & backstrap, as a matter of fact, I did 2 today. A buddy called and said he had 2 down & did I want them. One was a 200 lb boar with a shield that was 3/4 to 1 inch thick, 2nd was a 75-80 lb sow. They are in the Ice water and I am a tired old dog. Daniel
Posted By: garyrapp55

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/02/20 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by DLALLDER
I soak the pork in ice water for a couple of days, sometimes more if I have something more important to do. Quarter the hog place in large cooler, put as much ice in cooler as you can & add water. After 24 hrs or so pour off water and add more ice & water for another 24 hrs


I do this but add a bottle of lemon juice and about 2 cups of distilled white vinegar at first. If it's got enough ice it can soak about a week. I've been told you have 7 days to cook or freeze it, I've never gone past 4.
Posted By: CharlieCTx

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/03/20 01:40 AM

Originally Posted by der Teufel
I'm half Coonass (other half is Redneck) so I'll eat just about anything.


So a real Coonass would never call himself a Coonass... so you have to be from Orange or Shreveport, which is it? 😀

Charlie
Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/03/20 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by CharlieCTx
Originally Posted by der Teufel
I'm half Coonass (other half is Redneck) so I'll eat just about anything.


So a real Coonass would never call himself a Coonass... so you have to be from Orange or Shreveport, which is it? 😀

Charlie


Sulphur…. rofl
Posted By: 10 Gauge

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/03/20 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by SnakeWrangler
Originally Posted by Duke107
Why is it black?


If you're asking about the pic I posted it's because I had just pulled it out of the pit after about 28 hours at 225 degrees....the meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth...



Is that a little puddle of fat in there? I bet that is juicy...
Posted By: Pigmaster Yoda

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/05/20 03:49 AM

Tasty
Posted By: Stump_jumper

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/05/20 06:38 PM

I don't think we have ever killed a good tasting pig in NW Burnet county. They almost all go in the pig dump for the scavengers. I have skinned a couple of young ones for my neighbor and took the backstraps out of a sow. I am the only one on our lease out of 9 people that has ever processed one. For some reason I think the pigs in east Texas are better eating.
Posted By: hook_n_line

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/05/20 07:57 PM

Split'em. They are mighty fine eaten. Just like everything else, clean shot, fast clean fast on ice and don't let the hair touch the meat.

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Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/05/20 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by laid over
Originally Posted by SnakeWrangler
Originally Posted by Duke107
Why is it black?


If you're asking about the pic I posted it's because I had just pulled it out of the pit after about 28 hours at 225 degrees....the meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth...



Is that a little puddle of fat in there? I bet that is juicy...


Mostly...also some fluid cooked out....the hide seals the meat so it slow cooks in its own juices...very moist and tender...
Posted By: redchevy

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/06/20 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by RattlesnakeDan
I have eaten a lot of hogs. The best are the boars under 200#. If they are not stinky and rank smelling they lose their backstraps and a front shoulder makes a fantastic roast for the crock pot.
I will only eat a sow if it is young and hasn't had piglets yet. Sows will have much lower levels of fat because of nursing and their fat tends to be off colored, their meat seems to be tougher and less of it. Give me a big spoiled boar who sleeps a lot, breeds a lot and eats a lot.
Some guys love the little piglets but I can't eat them, it's like veal, too soft and less flavor.

I guess different strokes for different folks, but we are polar opposite in our taste on hogs. We have enough hogs that we only take the ones we want. For now all boars go to the buzzards. Never cleaned a bad sow. The absolute fattest feral hogs I have cleaned, close to domestic hog fat levels were pregnant sows that hadn't had their litter yet. I will always pick a prego sow to shoot best table fare best population control.
Posted By: thorn4570

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/11/20 03:49 PM

Ate the backstraps on this one and just about all of them. Cooked in a pressure cooker and the meat would fall apart. Only time I won’t is if they have a nasty previous injury or something like that.



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Posted By: der Teufel

Re: Boar On The Table - 03/11/20 08:00 PM

I may have to try the pressure cooker thing. Usually the larger hogs end up as sausage or ground meat around here.
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