# Eating a boar hog?



## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

We have a boar hog that is less than a year old. He'll be a year old this spring. At any rate, we've used him for one breeding and we were thinking about going ahead and butchering him, but wonder, will eating a hog that's been left whole like that, will it make the meat taste bad or anything? How would boar hog meat differ had we had him cut?


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Most boars don't have taint. Some do. Do a search through the site to find out the can of worms you're opening through asking this question. There are some strong opinions.

Issues that influence boar taint are sex (male or female, both can have taint), breed, management, diet, environment, arousal and more. About 25% of people can not detect taint which further complicates it. I can taste it - relevant below.

We don't routinely castrate. We raise boars to market size. We carefully tested our herds over a long period by eating older and older boars to establish that we don't have boar taint in our herds. We tested up to 30 months of age, the oldest boar we've ever slaughtered, with no sign of taint. We sell thousands of pounds of boar meat to restaurants, stores, consumers and eat it ourselves. 

See this for more than you probably wanted to know:

http://noboartaint.com

The 'safe' thing is to castrate the boar. A year old boar may not be cooperative. I would suggest a vet if you choose to go that way. I've read of people getting seriously hurt - boars are strong. I would not try this.

You can do a biopsy and test that to find out if he is tainted. Taint is primarily in the fat. Take a biopsy, there's a tool for this, from his back fat. Fry it up in a pan. Smell it. Get your friends, especially female friends, together to smell it incase you can't detect it yourself. If he smells good then he is probably taint free.

Have fun!

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

Hmm....thanks.
Sounds like it may be more productive to haul him to the sale and use that to buy an already castrated pig that's about butcher size. :1pig:


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## mullberry (May 3, 2009)

We have ferral hogs here .I shot a 450+ lb one on night . What we do is.I Take my knife & cut a nice big piece of meat off those BIGGER BOARS I take it & put it in the skillet as soon as It starts to cook YOU WILL know right away if it is tainred or not. (BAD SMELL)


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## FL.Boy (Dec 17, 2007)

6e said:


> Hmm....thanks.
> Sounds like it may be more productive to haul him to the sale and use that to buy an already castrated pig that's about butcher size. :1pig:


Around here a 400 lbs boar will only bring about $20 at the sale barn.


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

Yeah, I doubt they're bringing much here either, but sure hate to kill him for nothing. He's only about 250 pounds or so.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

250 lbs is not a very big boar. I'm surprised he's that small after a year. The sales / auctions are the best way to get the lowest price for your livestock. Given what little they'll pay I would not think it worth the hauling or time. Slaughter him at home, test the meat in the frying pan and you may be in for a delightful surprise. Most boars don't have taint. Either way, report back along with letting us know his breeds, feeds, management and other details. It is always interesting.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Smoking the meat will help camaflouge a strong flavor.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Good point, Linn. Another traditional trick with strongly flavored meats is to take the lean meat and mix it with sweet fat (beef, barrow, gilt, non-tainted boar) and make sausage. Spicing also helps cover and change flavors. Waste not want not...


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

He is a Hereford cross. Not sure the cross though. We give him about 20 pounds of sweet feed a day. He's not quite a year old. He won't be a year old till April. He may be more than 250, but that's about what he looks like. He's not real real big. 

I don't think we'll be processing him ourselves as we have never processed a hog before and don't have the slightest clue what we're doing and no way to cure the hams or bacon.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Home butchering of a hog is pretty easy. Hired processing is expensive. I would give it a try if you're not to adverse. This is your opportunity with multiple reasons. If you have a friend who knows how to do it and can come share their knowledge all the better.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Here are some websites with illustrations on butchering. The main thing is not to stress out the hog any more than possible when killing him. We usually put some feed down and DH shoots the hog behind the ear when he is eating. You also need to bleed the hog well.


http://www.eiu.edu/~history/ha/exhibits/2004/butchering.htm

http://www.askthemeatman.com/hog_cuts_interactive_chart.htm

http://www.askthemeatman.com/images/Porkcuts10kb122403.gif

http://www.askthemeatman.com/images/PorkSkeletonpix.gif


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

I just butchered a boar. JuanPiggie the AHH. I couldn't really smell or taste the boar-ness until I walked out of the kitchen and then back in. Kind of salty/gamey. 

Anyway. I deboned the entire Juan. (*snicker*) Then ground him twice (Demon Barber of Fleet Street) with lots of paprika, poultry seasoning, sage, red pepper flakes, fennel, powdered GARLIC (lots) and onion powder (lots) and some Kosher flake salt... By the time I got done? I was impressed. 

I fried up a bit to check the seasonings... Juuuuuuust about right. I intend to either grill the sausage outside over an open fire or add a bit of smoke flavoring to further off-set any boar taint flavor. To be honest? 25# of EXTREMELY lean highly-seasoned boar ain't that bad at all. Not bad at all.


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