Hello, Well we took our huge boar to slaughter. We actually found one that did boar meat. So after quite an adventure getting him into a trailer, we used one of those snatch wires on a stick like our vet used on our sow who prolapsed and then hubby proceeded to drag him while I shoved his rear with a board while the boar screamed because he didn't want to leave his pen. When we got to the butcher, most of the people dropping off hogs hadn't seen one that big. We got the meat back yesterday and were very surprised to discover he was only about 350 lbs, meat was 204lbs and butcher said they lose about 100 or so. Our boar did have a nice coating of fat on him. I can't even begin to imagine a 600 lb hog now that I know ours wasn't that big. No wonder you told me to get rid of him, anything bigger would surely hurt the sows. We're not upset he's gone, because he was really mean and the 2 sows he bred had a total of 7 piglets together, therefore not good for breeding. Now comes the big problem, cooking and eating this meat. We smoked a shoulder roast last night and cooked up some of the sausage for dinner. I had to run from the house, the smell was like boar urine. Hubby quickly added lots of seasoning and onions and the smell got better. He said he couldn't smell it. He tasted it and liked it, saying it didn't taste any different from store bought. I tasted it after quite a while and the initial taste wasn't bad, but the aftertaste was just like the smell. I couldn't eat it. When the shoulder roast was done, I smelled it and can still smell the bad smell through the smoked flavor. Is there anything we can do to get rid of the smell? Luckily there isn't a lot of meat and it didn't cost very much to have him butchered. Hubby says he can eat it, but I don't think i can be around while he does so. Any ideas and suggestions, please? Thanks, Mouse
if you know your boar was in good health (no disease or parasites) you can use it for dog food. IIRC when i was a kid we used to catch wild hogs down in TX. when a large boar was caught and going to be eaten he was castrated & kept for 6-12 wks to clean the hormones out of his meat but they still had a stronger flavor than young barr.
Have a neighbor who butchered a 250 lb boar.. They said the smell while cooking was awful.. They cooked it outdoors on the grill and bar-b-qued it.. He didn't recomend butchering a boar.. Unk
Using vinegar or cooking wine as part of a marinade reduces some of the odor in typically smelly foods like shark, and organ meat. We also cook with wine to further reduce cooking odors for the stronger meats. We just prepared "gandinga" here which is a stew of organ meats including the kidneys. When prepared correctly it is very good, when prepared without marinading in wine it smells like crap (literally smells like CRAP) I've never prepared boar but if I had to prepare it I would do it the same way I do organ meats. Marinade several hours at least or overnight. Let us know if that helps should you decide to try it. Seems like a waste of meat otherwise.
I have'nt slaughtered my first hog yet but my opinion is that if you raised it to have a couple of nice meals and it stinks up the house, toss feed it too the dogs (mentioned earlier) or toss the darn thing out. Who of us as kids weren't forced to eat stuff we didn't want to eat just because we "had too"? As a grown up we can chalk this kind of stuff to lesson learned and if we can afford it, we just try it again. If anyone gives you a hard time about it givem a few pounds and see how they like it. 8) Noel
Well said, "If anyone gives you a hard time about it give them a few pounds and see how they like it" I had to smile about that. I've told Jon all your suggestions for soaking the meat and he seems to not want to do it. I wonder if he's being nice to me and doesn't want me to smell it, or if he really didn't like it either. He's going to smoke the rest of it and give it away while telling the people they can throw it out if they don't like it. Some people might eat it. We even know a couple who can't hold a job (because it's not fun) so we'll give them a bunch. We're not sure about feeding the dogs as I would hate to smell boar in their gas relief, but we just might. Thank you all for you wonderful suggestions. This has definitely been a learning experience. As I said to Jon last night, at least we don't have to dig a huge hole to bury the boar in, that's worth the $60 to me. LOL We'll be loading up our sow who prolapsed this weekend and take her to the slaughterhouse. We've waited a month and from my research I think that's twice as long as recommended for all the meds to leave her system. She should be yummy. Thanks for everything, Mouse
I won't take long to get used to the smell and then it will smell good. I used to love waking up to the smell of my grandma frying ham or sausage that stank like that
What a coincidence, My Grandma smelled that way too. I never got used to it. You were lucky. Her Cooking food never covered the odor. Noel
There's a real easy solution; castrate him. In addition to not having to eat meat that tastes like boar-p*ss, barrows gain better than boars, and you don't need to worry about the barrow becoming aggressive. A 300 lb. boar is big and old enough to breed sows, and bulls, boars, buck sheep etc. can be aggressive. You never go in a lot with a breeding age male without: knowing where he is; knowing how you're going to get out of Dodge in a big hurry, and carrying a stick. Now, I've had boars (esp. Large White and Landrace) that were just as friendly as a lap dog, but I've had Duroc boars that would come after you about every time you were in the lot. Don't be fooled by all these "but he's so cute and gentle and we have him like a pet" arguments; they could take you at any time. When I was 12, a Holstein bull (only about 1200 lbs.) got me down. I grabbed his nose ring and twisted for all I was worth and hollered for Dad. He got our English Shepherd/Border collie and the gun. Good ole' Tip got after the bull, but I got beat up some more by not daring to let go of the ring soon enough. As for the size of boars, I've seen 1000 lb. plus boars, mainly at a State or County fair. Life's too short to eat that meat. I'd give it to someone who was either real hungry or wasn't a very good friend.
Buy some 50 lb. pigs and cook the boar hog meat, as you need it in a 55 gallon drum and feed it to them. Pig will eat anything including Hog meat. Before they get to big finish them out on hog feed.
I'd heard all my life, from my grandpa who was a full time farmer/rancher, and others, that you couldn't eat boar meat. He'd cut them, release them, and in six months, slaughter them and the meat would be fine. Had been told they would run you out of the house when you tried cooking them, and the meat was horrible. Go forward 20 yrs. Try and butcher 3 or 4 hogs each year for personal use. Last year the wild hogs got on the property and I harvested half a freezer full, including one 65 lb baby boar, his testicles weren't big as a pencil. I thought surely he'd be ok. WRONG. Ground most of the meat, and the first time I opened the package and threw it in the skillet, I thought something was wrong with the skillet. A wicked terrible urine gone wrong smell, tried an old cast iron skillet, and the same smell...had to open the windows. Finally remembered, ahh boar meat...Being a frugal person, and having went to the trouble of butchering and processing, I tasted the meat. Was tolerable bad. If I were "hungry", wouldn't hesitate. Still getting surprise packages out of the freezer, but find they make better chicken and dog food. Mind you, I had close to 30 wild hogs rooting up my hay meadow, next to 8000 acres of wild timber holdings. And eating them seem to be the logical cure for the problem. Most folks if they shoot a boar, will take them home for the dogs, or leave them for the coyotes. If I shoot one, will let him lay. Tried to give boars away to 'poor folks' who were on food stamps, no proverbial toilet to **** in, and they thumbed their noses...guess they aren't too hungry.
