# Is wild hog healthy meat?



## SerenityNetworks (Apr 9, 2013)

I'm aware of the safety aspects concerning the preparation and cooking of wild hog. That's not what I'm asking about here. I'm wondering if there are any well documented articles on the health aspects of the meat; that is, is it good for you.

A number of people have been telling my wife not to eat the meat. They say it is diseased, they are scavengers, etc., and thus the meat is not healthy. I'm thinking it hasn't been kept in a confinement, hasn't been pumped full of antibiotics and hormones, hasn't been injected with flavor enhancers, and any disease will be taken care of with proper cooking. In short, if anything I'm thinking it may be better/healthier meat than store bought.

Can anyone point me to any peer reviewed or authoritative articles on the issue?

Thanks,
Andrew

Appleseed Rifleman | NRA Life Member | TSRA Life Member
My personal outdoorsman site: http://www.fshrmen.net


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

I've never heard of anything bad about wild hogs...you may need to brine it.


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## 22magnum (Feb 10, 2013)

I am still alive if that counts. I have been eating em since I was a kid.

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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

22mag does he need to soak it in something?


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## 22magnum (Feb 10, 2013)

We normally ice the meat for three days, draining the water daily. My favorite way to eat it is made into carnitas. We boil lard (pig fat) in a cazo (mexican version of a wok) then put cubed wild pork in for 4hrs or so. Then make tacos or tortas with meat.

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## fr3db3ar (Aug 6, 2011)

You can't get more "scavanger" than a oppossum and people eat those with no ill results.


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## Scotty D. (Feb 23, 2012)

Don't know about the health value, but it's darn tasty.... Reason enough for me... LOL


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## 220swift (Mar 2, 2011)

I've also eaten it prepared several different ways and I think I'm still here, maybe a little crazier, but I'm still here.


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## Rediculous (Oct 16, 2013)

Just from a nutritional stand point, hogs produced for mass market, like cattle, that are in most stores are fed an entire diet of things they would never eat under natural conditions. My family butchers a cow once a year and splits the meat, and I can tell you it is alot more tasty and doesn't cook down like meat from the store. Wild hogs eat roots, fungi, and even a little meat when they find it, but i'd take that over a hog eating last weeks gourmet meals from ruth's crisp....I eat them and the males are pretty gamey but the females cook up nice


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

ive had wild boar at a high end restaurant that used to be in my home town

the guy that owned the retaurant was a hunter and he would kill and bring the meat to his chef

they had,wild boar, and elk,and bear,and moose etc

all depended on the hunting season at the time


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## 220swift (Mar 2, 2011)

I'll bet the health department loved that guy..........lol


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

220swift said:


> I'll bet the health department loved that guy..........lol


 HA !! Was thinking the same thing.


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

220swift said:


> I'll bet the health department loved that guy..........lol


well it always passed inspection

and was always tasty too

we researched the restaurant and he never had any health violations or fines.

retaurant always passed inspections and never had a bad review.

i just wish the collapse of the economy didnt make him shut it down.

even the rich got hit when that happened.

thqt was the best restuarant in town.expensive but worth every dime.

we only went for special occasions i.e. anniversery and the like.


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## birdginski (Mar 19, 2010)

Just stop and think what a bear eats. Any dam thing he wants to.


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## Glen (Jan 3, 2013)

Wild hog is great eating. I was raised in Arkansas and we had wild hog once in a while. It was the best meat I have ever had in my life. I talk to people about it all the time. Some may think I am nuts but once you have had it, you will understand.

The very best was cooked over an open Hickory fire out in my yard. We just turned the spit around all day to get it totally cooked. It took about a case of beer to get it cooked all the way and it was wonderful.

I wish I had access to some right now. Just thinking about this makes me hungry.


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## jimmy shutt (Jun 2, 2013)

Down here they eat the heck out of em. Myself, I don't care for it too much just a little gamey for me. The Guy's brine it in ice as mentioned by 22mag with citrus "grapefruit, orange, mango" change ice for a few days, the brine cleans the meat out pretty good.

Remember they are like chickens, they eat everything including their dead.


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## Bait washer (Feb 26, 2013)

I'm not sure about the quality of hog meat from other parts of the country but, central Fl. hog is great. If I ate any more I would start to oink. As I type I have 20 llbs of ground hog thawing out. Tomorrow one of my buddies is coming over and we are going to make kielbasa, trail bologna and snacks sticks. Takes a little practice preparing hog because it is so lean and you can easily over cook it and make it tuff.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

For me the biggest drawback was it was so dry. I would like to find a good method of cooking that imparts more moisture. Good gravy perhaps. Flavor was great, not gamy at all. The boar we had was well over 200lbs and was very rank on the ground. Just took our time making sure he was well washed of before dressing out. Cooled him fast and kept it all clean, no cross contamination from outside to meat. Did not even soak in brine though that may have helped tenderize it a bit.

Now I need to get back out and bring home a few more to try.. Can't wait.


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## OHIOOutdoors2 (May 1, 2013)

Maybe try a crockpot to keep it moist.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Did a low and slow with broth but it was still dry. Used the treager. Need to find the right combination of fat and moisture (water, broth or the like). Just need more meat to practice with.

I did do fire roasted cave man style. Marinated it in different marinades, italian dressing and yoshidas, now that was incredible. Just stuck it on a stick and roasted it over the fire.


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## SerenityNetworks (Apr 9, 2013)

Well, we've deviated from my original question. I still haven't found any authoritative literature on the matter. However regarding safe and good cooking I've learned more.

1. My son-in-law is a cook. Apparently the temperature standards have changed. It used to be 160 degrees for 30 seconds (to kill tric'). Now restaurants are going with 140 for 10 minutes. It doesn't make sense to me and I haven't seen any literature on it, but that's what at least one huge facility (a casino) in Iowa is doing. That would certainly help keep the pork moist. 
2. My wife has been adding enough apple cider vinegar in the Ziploc to cover the meat. She lets it soak for two days. She cooks it all in the crock pot with lots of sauce, but (very quickly) sears the meat prior. If it is for BBQ then she also adds a little of the vinegar to the crock pot. Since she had been doing this the meat has been moist, tender, and flavorful.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

If you are looking for diseases chexk out the tx dept of fish and game. They go over all the possible swine transmitted pathogens. However if the meat is cooked to fda standards there are no transmittable diseases that I am aware of. The meat is healthier than domesticated hog. I have also been told there has not been a documented case of tricinosis transmitted by hogs for many years in tx. So get out there a kill a few and fill up your freezer.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

The new USDA guidelines say you should cook pork to an *internal* temp of 145*f and rest it for 3 minute rest time. This not onlt kills Tric but also any bacteria.


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## Beta (Mar 3, 2014)

I'd eat wild hog over anything purchased at the meat section of Walmart any day of the week.

I think the cooking temp change from 160 to 140 is just because today's commercial pork isn't what it used to be and is considered to be safer. Sorry, I don't have documentation either. Vinegar, or any acid will 'cook/cure', food as well. Most commonly called ceviche. Not sure how deep that cure would penetrate over the course of a couple of days but it can't hurt.

My favorite way to prepare pork is brine it in salt water overnight. Oh that's juicy!


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## HillSlick (May 25, 2014)

sneakygroundbuzzard said:


> ive had wild boar at a high end restaurant that used to be in my home town
> 
> the guy that owned the retaurant was a hunter and he would kill and bring the meat to his chef
> they had,wild boar, and elk,and bear,and moose etc
> all depended on the hunting season at the time


I think that's probably one of the coolest things I've ever heard...


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## JTKillough (May 4, 2010)

All this talk of eating wild game is making me so hungry, I could eat the ass end of a dead skunk........ No ill effects, at least not yet. Oh my, not to self, don't belch.


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