# Pigs That Eat Grass Taste Gamey



## ErikaMay (Feb 28, 2013)

I had an interesting discussion with someone who swore up and down that all the years she raised pigs for 4-h and the table any pastured pig that got grass tasted gamey and was tough. The best tasting most tender pork was pork raised on a grain veggie powdered milk diet on a wood floor-no grass.

Thought it was odd. My pork from last year that was both grass and grain fed was outstanding. I didn't cut but didn't have taint either. 

Thoughts on "gamey" flavor?

Then again same person raised sheep and their sheep only ate grass and never touched forbes. Claimed "sheep don't eat brush!" Um, mine do.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I have read all kind of claims on diet and meat quality. I have read where people claim if you want a nutty flavor feed then nuts, if you want a garlic flavor feed them garlic etc. I have a hard time believing this. I really think the "gamey" taste many people talk about is not so much "gamey" but different, and they do not know another way to explain it. I think everyone can agree, farm raised pork (or any animal for that matter) taste different than store bought factory raised meat. I do not think there is any ONE thing, but many different diet and environmental reasons for this. If you put your pigs on a treadmill every day, I could see where this would make them tough. I do not see how leisurely lumbering around a field will do that. I also think this is why it is important as small producers to provide a high quality product, every time, especially the first time, many times one bad experience and people will make a judgement based solely on that one experience, then throw everyone else doing something similar into the same basket.


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## Gravytrain (Mar 2, 2013)

When folks are used to the flavorless, grayish-pink pork that you find in the grocery stores, they don't know how to deal with pork that actually has flavor. My pigs get no grain and I've never had anyone complain that it tasted strong or "gamey". Sometimes my new customers are initially shocked at how red the meat is, but once they taste it they are hooked.

Taste is subjective. Sounds like the lady you were talking to has it in her head that pastured pork is gamey...there's probably nothing you could do to convince her otherwise.


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## Ruff Times (Feb 6, 2013)

ErikaMay said:


> I had an interesting discussion with someone who swore up and down that all the years she raised pigs for 4-h and the table any pastured pig that got grass tasted gamey and was tough. The best tasting most tender pork was pork raised on a grain veggie powdered milk diet on a wood floor-no grass.
> 
> Thought it was odd. My pork from last year that was both grass and grain fed was outstanding. I didn't cut but didn't have taint either.
> 
> ...


In my experience (at it is not that extensive!) the curing also plays in a role in the taste. I've had a couple pigs processed at one particular facility and they have come back with a very odd taste. Only the cured cuts tasted this way. Was it the way the grass/feed interacted with the curing process? I don't know. I'm trying out a new facility this year in hopes in changes.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

I've had places take a gilt and send back boar meat..... they got an earful and I got my money back.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Before getting too concerned about what an animal is eating affecting the flavor of it's meat too much, one must consider that 'possum tastes absolutely nothing like rotting horse bowels. If prepared properly. Things that eat fish seem to be the main exception, but I'm not convinced that a grain fed otter would taste any different than the regular ones.

Now, the consistency of the meat, and the amount of fat, that can be affected by diet. Stress and things like that are more likely to cause strong flavors.

Maybe when she had pigs on grass, she had to chase them for half the day to catch them and take them to the butcher, when she keeps them in a wooden crate, she doesn't have to chase them to take them to the butcher. And the meat from the ones that were chased, or forced into confinement without being used to it, taste gamey and are tough.


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## AlienChick (Feb 13, 2012)

I only raise one pig each year for my own freezer and I have not noticed a 'gamey' flavor. I did notice the meat is red and not grayish like in the store. That surprised me. The cured meat will taste different depending on how it is cured. And the amount of fat on the pig will vary depending on what it eats.

And there are those people who look for a difference ... even when there is none. I know someone who swears that brown eggs taste different than white eggs from the same farm where all the chickens free range together. :shrug:


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

ErikaMay said:


> I had an interesting discussion with someone who swore up and down that all the years she raised pigs for 4-h and the table any pastured pig that got grass tasted gamey and was tough.


Then she's doing it wrong. We have about 400 pigs on pasture. Grass, which is part of pasture along with legumes and such, is the vast majority of our pigs's diet. The meat is delicious, sweet tasting and in very high demand. We have standing orders year round from area stores and restaurants where we deliver weekly.



ErikaMay said:


> The best tasting most tender pork was pork raised on a grain veggie powdered milk diet on a wood floor-no grass.


I've done double-blind taste testing that says the exact opposite. The best tasting pork is pastured+dairy fed.



ErikaMay said:


> Thoughts on "gamey" flavor?


1) Maybe she's doing it wrong - hard to do wrong but you know there is always someone who figures out a way to do even the simplest things wrong.

2) Maybe she's trying to market her product which is a grain fed 4H type confinement pig. Likely. She's got a mindset and can't taste outside of it.

She is, of course, welcome to her opinion. What matters to me is my customer's opinions. They love our pastured pork.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I have to agree with the brown egg thing. I will choose brown eggs over white eggs any day. Do they really taste different or is my brain just playing tricks on my tongue??? We may never know, our senses are all wired together up there in that big pumpkin we call a head, so maybe they are not really different, but our eyes influence our taste greatly, just like our sense of smell influences our taste. 
But I still stand by my brown egg theory, They are just better!!! So see, that goes to prove once someone has made up their mind on how something taste, no amount of truth can change it. Not that I am admitting I may be wrong!!! Just saying??:gaptooth:


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Muleman, time for a double-blind taste testing! 

We do this nearly weekly with our meats. I keep track of the animals's genetics, what they've been eating, seasons, ages, etc and this has let us learn a lot about how various things effect flavor, texture and tenderness.

You could setup a double blind trial with the eggs. I know there's a difference between the store bought vs our own farm's but suspect that is mostly the feed they're getting. I see some difference between winter and summer - no bugs in the winter.

For those who aren't familiar with single and double blind testing check out this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_blind#Double-blind_trials

Great homeschool projects. Double blind testing takes the personal bias out of the trial. Good science.

Cheers,

-Walter


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## HerseyMI (Jul 22, 2012)

I can't wait to have one of our herefords. To me they smell like a country breakfast with pancakes and syrup... my Nephew says our herefords smell like maple syrup! Either way... they smell gooood! :bowtie: Our hamps have no odor nor gaminess or taint in the meat.


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## tommyanunnaki (Apr 30, 2014)

I think that the feed companies make these things up.

Maybe they thought it tasted gamey because it didn't taste like bland corn fed garbage? LOL.


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## ErikaMay (Feb 28, 2013)

Could be one of those folks who wants to eat meat but just doesn't like the actual TASTE of meat. I work with someone who said "I like meat! I just can't stand the meat from whole foods or stores like that! tastes nasty! meat should just taste like what you season it with!" 

"Um, then you don't like the taste of meat...'

"No, I like the taste of meat. I just want it to taste like salt and garlic or whatever."

She'd probably think my meat was "gamey" too. I call it "flavor." 

I'm hoping to set up a taste test with someone who bought my pigs but is raising them in confinement. It would be interesting to use the same genetics, even if possible the same litter, grown under different circumstances. He commented that they are growing great, but they have the biggest ears he's ever seen! Old Spot X Yorks do have amazing ears. 

At least in the conversation she gave me some advice about my runt piglet and 4-h advice. :thumbs:


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## PasturedPork (Jan 22, 2014)

I apple finish my pigs and my opinion and the opinion of my clients is that you can taste the sweet apple flavor in the meat.

I believe that if improperly fed and finished on poor pasture (think a lot of wild onion) an animal could taste strong. It's believable to me but unlikely.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

PasturedPork said:


> I apple finish my pigs and my opinion and the opinion of my clients is that you can taste the sweet apple flavor in the meat.
> 
> I believe that if improperly fed and finished on poor pasture (think a lot of wild onion) an animal could taste strong. It's believable to me but unlikely.


The piglets may taste the onion in the milk but i don't think they would mind


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## palm farmer (Jan 3, 2014)

hmmm, most of the wild ones I have ever eaten had ZERO game taste to them, and mostly all they ever got was roots,grass,bugs, etc, a mouthful of corn here or there but no soybeans for sure!!


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## PasturedPork (Jan 22, 2014)

palm farmer said:


> hmmm, most of the wild ones I have ever eaten had ZERO game taste to them, and mostly all they ever got was roots,grass,bugs, etc, a mouthful of corn here or there but no soybeans for sure!!



Good point. The wild ones I are we're good too


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## Philosaw (Mar 3, 2014)

Remember the old saying: You are what you eat!


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I'm thinking that person simply did not process the meat adequately. 

I know processing "goat" meat was a learning experience for me. My goat herd always free-range on endophyte free grass with all kinds of other types of vegetation in and around it, i.e. their favorite is the clover, peas, chicory and lespedeza shrubs. They also enjoy leaves all year round. However, when the kids are age/weight appropriate, I pen them up in a 16' x 16' for 1-2 months. They have the best "dried" grass in their feeders at all times and get a daily ration of grain for the 1st few weeks, then they get this same amount of grain twice daily until near slaughter time. The purpose of this is because of what I learned, i.e. when a goat is "gaining" weight, it is tender; when its weight is standing still or it is losing weight, it can be quite tough. Thus, for the past 5+ years my processed goat meat is ALWAYS nice and tender no matter how I choose to cook it.

Also, there is a definate difference in the taste of the meat due to the manner in which the goat was slaughtered. I had a stranger come in and slaughter them ONE year and it became obvious he did not know to do so in a calming manner. (They were literally running all around the holding pen trying to get away from the loud shots.) If you've ever eaten venison from a deer that had been shot but not killed and permitted to run for awhile in that condition, you know the meat does taste different. When David started shooting the goats, he did so while they were calm. This made a big difference in the taste of the meat.

I know I've been talking about goats; however, I suspect the same applies to hogs.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Before i process a hog i pen it up for 60 days. Feed it just a corn mix and water and slop all it can eat. When i was young this is the way most people fatten a hog before processing it in this part of the country. Corn fed Pork is what they called it. I do the same now. Very good taste and lots of flavor. No GMO soybean feed on this farm.

Best,
Gerold.


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## HerseyMI (Jul 22, 2012)

gerold said:


> Before i process a hog i pen it up for 60 days. Feed it just a corn mix and water and slop all it can eat. When i was young this is the way most people fatten a hog before processing it in this part of the country. Corn fed Pork is what they called it. I do the same now. Very good taste and lots of flavor. No GMO soybean feed on this farm.
> 
> Best,
> Gerold.


Corn has been genetically modified also Gerold. Thats why I started the thread Name Game. Non GMO grains aren't heavy producers, are more susceptible to diseases, droughts AND insecticides. Very few growers and its pricey.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

That's the party line, that GMO's are more productive. However, recent studies are saying this isn't so and the GMO seed plus herbicides, etc are more expensive than the traditional rotational planting with non-GMO crops. I don't follow this too closely as I don't use GMO seed, pesticides or herbicides however I've seen articles in the last two years along these lines. Some said the productivity of the GMOs was was never as much as claimed and others talked about the productivity dropping. Time and the markets will be the final judge so we'll see what happens.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

HerseyMI said:


> Corn has been genetically modified also Gerold. Thats why I started the thread Name Game. Non GMO grains aren't heavy producers, are more susceptible to diseases, droughts AND insecticides. Very few growers and its pricey.


I grow my own Non gmo corn. 
Available energy (ERGS)
Non-Gmo corn 340,000., Gmo corn 100.

Best,
Gerold.


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## HerseyMI (Jul 22, 2012)

If the corn has been manipulated to grow extra ears per stalk, rows per ear, kernal size, to be drought resistant, etc, then it is genetically modified. Just as breeding any livestock to have certain markings, behavior, digestive system, ear stance, lean or lardy... it Is a genetic manipulation. Plant or animal... if mankind has domesticated it... it has been genetically modified. Ie; breed the best and eat the rest, is manipulating toward desired traits.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Everyone has different tastes, what they like or think they like. Feed does make a difference in taste, it carries through the meat and fat. The amount of fat changes flavor. Many things change the flavor. I like a grain/milk diet for my pigs. Long and lean. As long as they are "on the gain" many feeds work for different people. "Best" is what they have become accustomed to. Availability of feed stuffs or the money to provide said feed stuffs. If using good pasture, meat shouldn't have a "gamey" taste, different, sure. Many people don't know what GOOD pork should taste like. I don't think anyone could tell the difference of GMO and non GMO fed pork, same litter, fed side by side, same environment....James


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## Gravytrain (Mar 2, 2013)

HerseyMI said:


> If the corn has been manipulated to grow extra ears per stalk, rows per ear, kernal size, to be drought resistant, etc, then it is genetically modified. Just as breeding any livestock to have certain markings, behavior, digestive system, ear stance, lean or lardy... it Is a genetic manipulation. Plant or animal... if mankind has domesticated it... it has been genetically modified. Ie; breed the best and eat the rest, is manipulating toward desired traits.


No offense, but genetically modifying and trait selection are completely different things. 

When you remove a gene from plant or animal and physically or chemically replace it or splice it with a gene from another animal, plant, bacteria, or yeast to gain desirable traits, that is genetic modification. This results in a genetically modified organism or GMO.

Breeding for characteristics that are beneficial is something that happens in nature. It is called natural selection. A farmer that selects cows for udder size, or birthing weight, or pigs for temperament or weight gain, or peas for tender pods is a matter of breeding one desirable individual to another. No chemistry sets required. :spinsmiley: 

I'm not a GMO basher, but to equate these two things is misleading at best.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Why does a grass fed thread have to go to GMO. Can't we stay on the subject? If you want to talk GMO start a thread, just like the OP did....James


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Someone mentioned they grow non-GMO corn. Someone else then made a statement about GMOs. The thread evolved a bit. Agreed. Let's keep it to the original topic. For GMO discussion, please start a new thread.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

ErikaMay said:


> I had an interesting discussion with someone who swore up and down that all the years she raised pigs for 4-h and the table any pastured pig that got grass tasted gamey and was tough. The best tasting most tender pork was pork raised on a grain veggie powdered milk diet on a wood floor-no grass.
> 
> Thought it was odd. My pork from last year that was both grass and grain fed was outstanding. I didn't cut but didn't have taint either.
> 
> ...


I have never had pork that taste gamey. From the market or from the pork i raise. I have had deer meat sometimes that wasn't butchered right that had a gamey taste. Still looking for a boar that has taint also.


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## Philosaw (Mar 3, 2014)

I've never tasted a piece of gamey pork. I've eaten dozens of feral hogs with never a hint of gameyness. They're the ultimate pasture raised pork, aren't they? I agree with several posts that surmise the real culprit was a lifetime of eating tasteless factory pork.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

My opinion: of all the domestic livestock, pork is the meat that is affected the most by the diet. What your pig is eating is going to affect the taste of the meat.

I've never fed a pig grass. My pigs get apples and dry COB and calf Manna, but I can't think of any reason why grass would make a pig gamey and tough.

Maybe her pasture pig got chased around and terrified at slaughter time. That has an affect on the meat. Maybe she had a pig that had boar taint. That can be nasty.

I do have experience with grass raised cattle and I hear people say that grass fed beef is lean, tough, and stronger flavor. Bull pucky. Properly raised cattle on good pasture are fat as lard hogs. They are not lean. The meat is not tough, and if the meat has been properly aged and properly processed, the flavor is excellent.

However, there is a lot of "grass fed" beef out there that is just nasty. It has not been properly fed or properly processed. So, I am sure you could ruin a pig on pasture by feeding poor quality pasture, over-exercising, terrorizing, and not processing well,


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## WadeFisher (Sep 26, 2013)

Philosaw said:


> I've never tasted a piece of gamey pork. I've eaten dozens of feral hogs with never a hint of gameyness. They're the ultimate pasture raised pork, aren't they? I agree with several posts that surmise the real culprit was a lifetime of eating tasteless factory pork.


I agree 100%
I have eaten dozens of feral hogs, NOT gamey.
Some we caught too small and then we fattened them on good old GMO corn. Still not gamey.
Gamey pork is bad processing!
IMO
:gaptooth:

Also, on a side note. If I eat roses, what will my *farts* smell like?
If feeding an animal a certain item could get that taste to follow through to the finished product I would be a multimillionaire with some good marketing.


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## Twobottom (Sep 29, 2013)

Might have something to do with whats in the pasture that these supposedly gamey pigs ate. There's lots of different things in different pastures and rarely does a pasture just have "grass".

Might be the pig she ate came from a pasture that had some odd weed in it that gave the meat an off flavor. Like eating a deer thats been living off pine needles...it taints the meat.


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