Feral swine have made their way onto my property. Last evening, I saw three of them and shot a 50 pound sow. It was in the evening and I didn't want to go through to process of heating a barrel of water to scald the hair off and all that, so I just skinned her out planning on grinding the meat into sausage. Honestly, I am not prepared (for now) to do the whole scalding thing. My question is this: Can I grind up the fat that is on the pig or is that like deer and bear fat and causes an off flavor in the meat when cooked? Fat from butchers is getting very hard to come by so I thought I'd just use the natural fat if it doesn't ruin the meat. Anyone with experience?

I shot a large hog last fall. It was very tasty. But I would get the fat off it before cooking it because it does have a strong odor. If I had time, I would trim it off before freezing.

I’ve never found one with any appreciable fat on it nor have I made sausage so can’t help you there. I’ve only been hunting them for a few years now but this is the best and quickest way I’ve seen to process them.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-BmX-3Qqa4

I render the fat instead of using it directly.

I'll just add that the Havalon Piranta knife with replaceable blades is by far the best skinning knife I have ever used. The replaceable blades are like scalpels. No more blade gettign dull half way through. Pop the blade out with a multi tool and pop a new blade in. Sharp as all heck! Go with bright orange so you can find it. I bought a black one and lost it my first time skinning the woods.

https://www.havalon.com/piranta-fitment-2

Everyone I know gives the big ones away to local po'folks.

The little ones taste good, though. I had sausage from one the other day.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I'll just add that the Havalon Piranta knife with replaceable blades is by far the best skinning knife I have ever used. The replaceable blades are like scalpels. No more blade gettign dull half way through. Pop the blade out with a multi tool and pop a new blade in. Sharp as all heck! Go with bright orange so you can find it. I bought a black one and lost it my first time skinning the woods.

https://www.havalon.com/piranta-fitment-2

This times a million. I have a tendency near the end of letting the knife get dull which means I have to work harder and that is when accidents happen. This product removes that problem...

I think it depends to some degree on their diet. Those under 100 lbs we kill, which have been living on pecans, seem to have lots of fat that doesn’t impart any off taste.

I've hunted wild hog at a camp in NC and that's all they ever did was skin them.

You don't have to grind the entire thing if they are large enough; the shoulders and hams are pretty good whole. Don't plan on getting any sort of ribs or bacon out of them though.

Be sure to protect yourself from Brucellosis when slaughtering and butchering feral swine.

We always gave the large males away and kept the sows and piglets.

I'm sure they'd make good sausage, but I killed two in Texas in September, and they taste great!

Part of the deal with wild hog is in the process. Our guide/outfitter, said not to cut up or freeze our quarters until they'd been in the cooler on ice for five days. Sounded crazy to me, but I did it. The meat I've had since then has been fantastic. Another good tip is to always cook it slow.

You can get some nice chops out of the back straps, but it's good to tenderize them before you put them in the skillet. The loins are awesome - of course - and the shoulders make great roasts. Just put them in the crockpot with taters and carrots and set it on low and walk away. Come back six hours later to an amazing pot roast.

They - our guides - said the ribs are good too, but I only had so much room in the cooler, and for the meat they have, ribs take up a ton of room. So I donated the ribs and most all of the 180lb boar that I got. But I brought home almost all of the 60lb one I shot on day two though.

I wish I could help, but I choot’em and call the redneck relatives / friends to drag them away and process them.

Last I saw they skinned them without boiling, didn’t seem to take them long, then gave it a 3-4 day ice bath before making them into sausage.

Thank you all for your response. I saw the two that were with the sow I killed night before last. Let them walk today. I still have one to process. I know where they're hanging out.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
Be sure to protect yourself from Brucellosis when slaughtering and butchering feral swine.

/\/\/\/\/\

this!! In my job I deal with many that hunt deer and hogs. There has been at least one processor that contracted Brucellosis and died.

Wear rubber gloves. Let me meat hang for a day or two if possible. All mine get ground unless my daughter shoots it and wants something else done with the cuts. Bacon has never been possible for me. They have all been too lean. We've slayed a fair number over the last 10 years. Only one was inedible.

quote:

Originally posted by MarinetoRN:
Feral swine have made their way onto my property. Last evening, I saw three of them and shot a 50 pound sow. It was in the evening and I didn't want to go through to process of heating a barrel of water to scald the hair off and all that, so I just skinned her out planning on grinding the meat into sausage. Honestly, I am not prepared (for now) to do the whole scalding thing. My question is this: Can I grind up the fat that is on the pig or is that like deer and bear fat and causes an off flavor in the meat when cooked? Fat from butchers is getting very hard to come by so I thought I'd just use the natural fat if it doesn't ruin the meat. Anyone with experience?

We have processed many wild hogs. A few things to look out for but the meat is very good on sows and young boars. I have a post here on the process. Send me an email and we can talk specifics.
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...140064744#9140064744

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