Pulled pork from a wild hog... your experience?

[Mike D Texas]

my problem with Texas hogs, not fat, meat gets dry. Personally I would never harvest nything over 100 lbs, if I make sausages I mixe it with pork, otherwise, still need a little pork fat on top when smoking. My experience is limited though.

I've killed, processed and eaten boars up to 250# with no complaints. Getting them skinned and processed quickly is the key. That's why I only hunt them in the winter.

In the summer they feed the buzzards and coyotes. Worms gotta eat too.

 

[jmaars]

The two issues with wild pork are:
1. Low fat content
2. Wild flavor issues.

The methods you described above wouldn't help either of those issues much. Here is my suggestion:
I haven't cooked a wild pig like that, but your temp scares me. I smoke domestic pork at way lower temps. Pork fat becomes soluble at about 130°. In other words, by the time your internals hit 160° when cooking with a temp of 325°, you're going to have drained all of the fat out of the outer layers of the meat. They are already lean anyways. I wouldn't get my cooking temp above about 225°, and I'd be looking at 8-10 hours. In fact, to aid in time and prep, what I would do is vaccum seal them individually with an aggressive brine, then drop them into a big vat and sous vide them for probably 24 hours at 140°. That will get 90% of the cooking done, and the brine would be deep into the meat. Then, I'd pull them out, drain them, wipe them dry, add a coat of mustard and then a dry spice rub. Then I'd smoke them open (not in foil) for 4-6 hours at about 200°, maybe 225°.

I agree 100% on too hot. Like you, Ive never cooked wild but many domestic butts. 225, low and slow to an internal temp of 180-200. And yes, 15 to 18 hrs

 

[Deleted member 115360]

Any of you fellas got a piece of ground that @338 dude and I can run down some weekend and get a few to eat? We are in TN, and we don't have any (yet) where we live.

 

[Revolting Peasant]

I killed a fat 40#er. Trimmed up a hindquarter and browned it in oil. Seasoned and cooked it in the Instant Pot pressure cooker for an hour or two to make a batch of pulled pork two weeks ago for a little family pot luck at the river.
No complaints. Easy and it didn't heat up the house. Smoked would have been better as long as you can keep it from drying out. I have plenty of pigs to experiment on.

 

[Jaustinhogfader]

I killed a fat 40#er. Trimmed up a hindquarter and browned it in oil. Seasoned and cooked it in the Instant Pot pressure cooker for an hour or two to make a batch of pulled pork two weeks ago for a little family pot luck at the river.
No complaints. Easy and it didn't heat up the house. Smoked would have been better as long as you can keep it from drying out. I have plenty of pigs to experiment on.

I have an Instant Pot. I'll have to try it.

 

[Kkeene]

We year round bow hunt pigs and often quarter them ourselves to save on processing costs.

2 extra step(s) needed w wild hog!

1 - I soak shoulders in a salt and brown sugar brine for 5 or 6 days in a big ziplock (and in a tub in case of bag leak) in the refrigerator.

2 - Meat is leaner and a bit tougher than commercial hog so I pull off big hunks after smoking, slice them across grain to shorten the fiber length, then finish shredding.

With a little sauce its hard to tell it's wild hog.

If you don't crosscut the grain you notice it's tougher.

 

[DUCKMAN11]

I like to eat the ones that still have lines on them. The grand prize trophy in our camp is a hog under 25#. We don't brine or soak the little ones in ice water. 40# and up get soaked in ice water only, then usually bagged and frozen for a later use.

Recipe goes as follows.

Inject with a 50/50 mix of Klassen pickle juice and pineapple juice. Dont use regular pickle juice!!!!!! Mix in whatever seasoning you want to the injection, we use fajita seasoning or Tony's or both.

Cover outside with mayo and more seasoning or dry rub. Smoke uncovered but in a brisket pan, hot! Like 350°-400° for 30min or so or till meat starts to draw up the bones. Cut the heat back to 200° and cook uncovered till internal temp is 140°. Add a few onions cut in thick slices. Cover pan with foil and cook till tender and pull apart. Cooking times are hard to dictate due to how big the hunk of hog is. Makes some of the best tacos known to man! Top 3 meals I've ever ate in my life.

I'm talking don't waste this by feeding it to your wife's friends and family kinda food!! Lol

The recipe can be tweaked however you want but the key is ....
1) the injection
2) the mayo
3) that initial sear at high temp

 

[Trangieboy]

Wild pork is the best tasting pork I have ever eaten.

 

[Kay0404]

I've cooked quite a few wilds and the best version outcome that I've personally done was the big bag Sous vide for about 20hours in a brine of salt, brown sugar, pineapple juice and CHEAP bourbon.. then smoke it for around 3hrs in a heavy thick smoke..
good luck and enjoy!

 

[Revolting Peasant]

The little watermelon striped pigs that are still nursing are kind of a pain to skin but so good. Pork veal! I like to split them down the front and press then flat so they fit on the grill or smoker. The smaller the better.
The only bbq that is better is baby/young goat.

 

[Taylorbok]

I'd venture that anyone who complains about wild pig meat has either never tried it or just doesn't like meat in general.
How ever you normally like to do your pulled pork do it the same, you wont tell the difference.

 

[Buckys]

Agree with the low and slow although I've never tried anything other than feral hog backstraps/porkloin that I did not have processed into sausage. Completely agree about needing to get wild pig into a saltwater ice bath quickly and generally only hunting them in cooler temps.

My latest grocery store pulled pork used a lot of the same tips you're getting on the cooking temps, brining, etc. and it was terrific. The only thing really new and different in this run was the brine injection. As you pull the pork, add a little of the juices (minus the fat) at a time as you probably won't need much and you can over-do it.

https://www.traeger.com/recipes/apple-juice-brined-pulled-pork

 

[Panhandle Pete]

my problem with Texas hogs, not fat, meat gets dry. Personally I would never harvest nything over 100 lbs, if I make sausages I mixe it with pork, otherwise, still need a little pork fat on top when smoking. My experience is limited though.

The little watermelon striped pigs that are still nursing are kind of a pain to skin but so good. Pork veal! I like to split them down the front and press then flat so they fit on the grill or smoker. The smaller the better.
The only bbq that is better is baby/young goat.

We call the piglets with stripes WATERMELON HOGS also, they smoke whole really well!

 

[John Klingenberg]

Do wild pulled pork in a crock pot. Saves all the trouble of this trick or that trick. Use two of the big boxes of chicken broth for moisture and spice hell out of it. Wild hog makes good sausage/chorizo and the backstrap cutleylts are useable for Asian dishes. Otherwise I leave them lay mostly.