If you missed Part 1 of Russian Boar, go back. Anyway, Welcome to my butcher shop 🙂
At this property, there have been a few logistical problems when we have a successful hunt. It’s far. So by the time we arrive back to Urban Lyfe, it is late, we are tired, and we throw some ice in the cavity of the animal (we gut the pig in the field for Coyotes) and wait 12 hours before skinning and breaking it down to its usable parts. This time we decided to process it differently. With Tender Loving Care. Because I don’t own a meat-aging room, I can’t hang a 300 pound animal in a cool temperature (somewhere between refrigerator and freezer temps).
So we went with the dry-ice alternative. First, clean the butcher block & hose off the inside of the boar of dirt, mud, guts, blood.
Skin the animal on the butcher block (my truck bed)
pig leg for the neighborhood dog. it’s easier to hoist the animal upward, but we do what we gotta do today.
We don’t want to waste any part of the animal. Cut out the Wild Boar Cheek which will be great in a small braise. I could have done a much cleaner job; on the other side was a clean cut.
it is dark and we are drinking wine and skinning the beast together. Next step is to take the errant pieces of hair off or cut the fatty membrane that doesn’t add much in taste that the few pieces of hair stick to
Machete, boning knife, and paring knife. Cut off the essential pieces: pork cheeks, shoulders, legs, filet mignon (inside loin), outside loin, bacon/belly, spare ribs, used a saw to cut the short ribs and baby back ribs
Next step: Operation ICE was to bring the meat down to temperature in an ice bath and to let the blood come out of the meat since we didn’t have a meat aging room. Some people are concerned water gets into the meat, but here the blood comes out, and since we don’t freeze the meat we are not scared of freezer burn. 30 minutes in the ice bath, drain, pat dry with towels. Step after (unpictured): put Dry ice on the bottom of the cooler and stack lengthwise, two hotel pans on top of the dry ice to separate the dry ice from the meat. Meat on top. Dry ice keeps the cooler at refrigerator temps. The Separation between the bottom and the meat allowed the blood to drip down. Thus the meat was extremely fresh without the “iron” taste that blood has, and we were able to accomplish this without having to “age” it.
The next step involved thinking about what was to be cooked :):) We wanted to taste the natural flavor of this wild boar and there were a few important factors to consider.
- we processed this wild boar very differently than before by icing it and dry-icing the cooler.
- Normal wild boars off this property range from 50-250 pounds. This was above that spectrum, and it was male, which can affect the flavor of the meat and also could be tougher since the males are more active.
- The first ratios for the sausages were ratios used for farmed pigs from the restaurant; we adjusted the ratio as the fennel brought out more saltiness.
- The backfat was procured from Rocker Brothers Meat
- Playing with your food is FUNNN!
Great inspiration…I am going to get a wild boar in a few weeks, so this is very good info.
I’ve read that wild boar contains a lot of parasites, therefore it is recommended to cook thoroughly.
how did the bacon turn out?
Thank you. You know, I haven’t seen any yet. I’ve shot 15 in the last month and half. The bacon is very tasty I make them from the fatter females, as this property they are eating a very rich diet. As you can tell I don’t mind eating them “rare” 🙂
Where will you be going?
Some of the males have nice bacon too, just depends when you field dress and look at the carcass, you evaluate if you will be making bacon.
Warm regards,
Erik
Going to a “canned hunt” as I want some meat. (A place in upstate NY.) Its a bit too cold for a breeding wild boar population in my neck of the woods.
Have you ever done a jamon? Wondering how that might turn out.
Rob