By: Horace Gore
So, you’ve killed a wild hog. If you know what to do with it, turn the page. If you’re wondering what to do with it, keep reading. I’m going to help you with your decision, especially if the hog is young and tender.
First, let’s think about a big hog, over 150 pounds. If it’s a boar, your options are few, but you can still get some good meat. The back straps will be good, and I would take both shoulders. They will be good cooked in Classic Coke. The rest of the hog is questionable and would probably be best made into sausage. It’s a judgment call.
If the big hog is a sow, in all likelihood, she will be good eating. Any hog less than 100 pounds is good eating, regardless of sex, using good recipes. Use shoulders for cooking in Classic Coke, back straps for frying or grilling, and hind quarters for roast or sausage. Plain recipes work just fine, depending on how you cut the hog up, and the size of the pieces of pork you have.
Big chunks of hog hind make good pork roasts. De-bone the meat and cut in 3-pound or similar size chunks. Cook the hog roast (no bones) as you would any port roast. Cavender’s Greek seasoning is a good sprinkle. Plenty of potatoes, carrots, celery and quartered onions make it better.
If you grind up a hind quarter, the ground meat makes good sausage balls. Just spread the meat thin and flat on a surface and sprinkle with sausage mix as directed. Work up the meat with your hands, mixing the meat and sausage mix well. Then take small pieces of meat and roll in your hands to the size of golf ball or slightly bigger.
Over a hot fire, use a flat iron fryer or big skillet and small amount of oil to fry the sausage balls on two sides. Place each on the hot surface and mash down slightly. When brown, turn to the other side and press slightly. Cook until done and serve with breakfast eggs, or cream gravy and biscuits are good.
Wild hog shoulders are very good cooked in a roaster in Classic Coke—no Diet Coke, please. If shoulders are large, cook one in a big roaster. If shoulders are small—50–60-pound hog—you could cook two in a big roaster pan.
Wash shoulders, pat dry and place meat side down in the roaster. Spread the two shoulders as much as possible. Salt and pepper to taste and cover up to the top of the meat with Classic Coke. It’s best to buy a 3-liter bottle and use as needed. Heat oven to 325, cover roaster with lid or tightly with foil. Place in the center of the oven and cook for 2 ½ hours—without looking.
Remove all meat from the bone and use as sandwiches, in BBQ sauce, chipped in cream gravy over toast, rolls, or hot biscuits.
The full rack of ribs can be seasoned with your favorite seasoning, salt and pepper, BBQ sauce, and wrapped in foil, placed on a flat pan and cooked in the oven at 325 for just over an hour. Open the foil and cook another 20-30 minutes to dry meat a bit.
If you do all of this just right, you may be looking for another wild hog!
