Bush dressing and cooking wild Pork
I have been a meat hunter ever since I started hunting and have been dressing out my own wild pork and game and eating it now for 39 years and would rather eat it any day of the week in preference to the stuff you get in the butcher shop or supermarkets.
Thought I would put this together for the ones that would like to try some of the pork they catch but don’t know where to start.
I utilize pretty well all the pigs I catch now days, yes the younger ones are the best for roasts chops and ect. But the older and larger ones can be used for sausages mince and the like, lasagna and spaghetti bolognese made from wild pork mince takes some beating or try your hand at some pork and apple pies. maybe a good old savoury mince. Then there is all sort’s of casseroles and stews you can do as well.
Don’t be scared to experiment you may be pleasantly surprised not to mention the extra dollars you end
up with in your pocket due to the saving on the weekly meat bill. You never know you might even find the little lady encoring you to go hunting more often LOL.
This is just how I was taught to do it by my father and grandfather. The first think is to kill the animal as quickly as possible the shorter the struggle the less adrenalin pumped through the body which result’s being better tasting meat.
If your shooting make sure you bleed the pig as soon as possible after shooting it by sticking it down in the throat or just cutting across the throat, I normally hang the pig straight after if possible, helps to get a better bleed. If it is a male the next cut after the throat and as soon as possible is the removal of the testicle's which again gives you better quality meat in the end.
The next step after the pig has bled out is to remove the hair or skin, The hair can be removed by scolding, which is a bit hard to do out in the paddock so I normally just skin them now days. Start by doing your opening cuts which are done by sliding the point of your knife between the skin and meat, start at the centre of the throat and run your knife all the way up the centre of the stomach being careful not to cut to deep and puncture the stomach. Keep cutting until you reach the penis on a boar or the vagina of a sow, with the boars make a cut either side of the penis and continue up between the back legs to the bung hole, cut around both sides of the hole to meat at the base of the tail.
With a sow you do the same cutting the skin around both sides of the vagina and bung hole to meet at the base of the tail. Next take your knife and cut a ring around the 4 legs just above the hoof, then run the knife from this ring down the inside of the legs to the belly cut.
Now with the pig hanging from the 2 back legs and the stomach facing you start working the skin away from the meat with your knife. Remembering to keep your blade tight against the skin when cutting.
I normally start from the top of the back legs first then the both sides of the belly flap and work my way down to the front legs and neck.
Try and prevent the outside of the skin from coming in contact with the meat and also the hand that you are holding the skin with. Have some water handy and don’t be shy about washing your hands when you feel the need, at the end of the day the quality of the meat is up to you so be a bit fussy.
After you have eased the skin from the under side around to halfway up the rib cage swing the pig around so the back is facing you. Grab hold of the tail and pull down cut the joint at the base of it with the knife leaving it attached to the skin continue pulling down on the skin and you will find it will tear away from the carcase, you may have to just do a cut here and their if the meat starts to tear away with it.
You should be able to pull it all the way down to the neck where you will have to use the knife to free up the last bit of the neck skin.
With the skin still attached to the head run your knife around the neck cutting all the ways to the bone, grab the head and skin and twist it around until it breaks and falls free of the carcass. With a boar you can now skin the penis off the belly back to the bung.
The next bit takes a bit of patience and practice to avoid cutting the intestines push the point of the knife between the bung and the bone and free it from the carcass until it wants to pull back inside with the intestines, this is called wringing, at this stage you can either just gently push it down in side or tie it off with a piece of twine then let it go down inside to prevent any contimation.
To open the belly cavity you can either use a gut hook or the point of the knife between your fingertips taking extra care not to puncture the gut.
Work your knife all the way down to the rib cage. Take your hands and ease all the intestines out,
Checking the liver to make sure it is clean and healthy looking with no white spots on it and ect
Now take your knife and push it into the chest cavity and split the cavity down the centre all the way to the neck and remove the lungs and heart. While you have the lunges in your hand rub it between your fingers if it feels like it has bits of gravel in it your better off discarding the whole carcass a sign of TB[I haven’t found one yet with it]
If you have access to water give the whole carcase a good scrub inside and out and allow to drain and dry.
With a little practice this whole process will take no time at all to preform. I allow them to hang out in the open over night and break them down in the morning before the sun or flies get up and get them into the fridge or on ice.
The breaking down depends on your choice of cuts, and the size of the pig.
As a rough outline on a small pig I will remove the front legs which is easily done pulling the leg away from the body and using your knife cut close to the rib cage right up to the top of the shoulder next cut along the last rib bone right to the backbone on both sides, give it a bit of a twist to one side and the backbone should snap at the joint allowing you to finish cutting it through with your knife.
Lay the rib cage on a cutting board belly side down and run your knife along both sides of the centre of the back bone cutting all the way to where the rib bones join onto the backbone then turn the whole thing over and spread the ribs until they crack along the backbone, you should then be able to use your knife and free the whole ribcage from the backbone.
On small pigs I leave each half whole and cook them like that with larger ones you can separate each rib into individual chops. Then its just a matter using your knife to cut down beside the pelvis bone until you reach the back leg joint, give it a bit of a twist to open the joint and continue cutting to close to the backbone to remove the back legs.
With small pigs I just cut what I call the back strap saddle out of the backbone whole [ the section where the hips finish and before the ribs start] and trim the belly flaps off which goes to the dogs along with the backbone and neck. On the larger ones you can cut this off the backbone as back strap and fillet. That is the basic cuts from there, you can break it down further eg. Shanks pork chops and steaks from the legs or leave as roasts and ect. The front legs on the larger ones I bone out for casseroles, mince, kebabs and ect., smaller ones I leave whole.
This next section is 3 ways and the recipes that I used to cook a very small pig recently, remember your imagination is the limit and don’t be scared to experiment, you may even discover a hidden talent you never knew you had and you, your mates and family get to enjoy the results.
1 Moist roast done in camp oven
1 or 2 Back leg’s depending on size with the shank removed
Sweet soy and garlic stir fry sauce
Smokey barbecue and sweet chili sauce
Ground ginger powder
2 tsp. Instant onion gravy mix
Add the gravy mix to ½ cup of hot water and then to this add app. ½ cup of the stir fry sauce and a good squirt of the other 2 sauces, then the ginger and a little salt and pepper and give a good stir, Place the meat in your camp oven and pour the gravy mix over the top. Put the lid on oven and place on a bed of coals that are not to hot away from the main fire and a few on the lid and cook slowly for app. 2 hours depending on size. It’s important not to have your coals to hot; you want it to just simmering. Serve with roast veggies done in another camp oven.
2 Grilled smoky ribs
Rack of ribs
¼ cup smoky barbecue
Sweet chili sauce
Soy
Mary max coating mix
Mix a good squirt of the 2 sauces with the smoky barbecue, then coat the racks with it and cook on grill above hot coals or on barby plate, can brush some more of the sauce on as they are cooking. If you want to prevent the hard job of getting the Barbey plate clean after cooking I put a piece of baking paper on the plate then the meat. Serve just as they are with a little more of the smoky barbecue sauce. Bit like the old Cornell sanders, finger licking good.
3 Foil rapped pork packets
No pots or pans for this one just hot coals and alfoil, I used the 2 small front legs and the back strap saddle
Front leg
Honey soy and garlic stir fry sauce
Apple, sliced
Onion sliced
Ground ginger powder
Potato sliced
Smokey barbecue sauce
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Alfoil
Coat the meat in some of the stir-fry sauce and leave in the esky to marinate until your ready to cook. Lay out some pieces of foil and wipe a bit of oil on it where it will be raped around the meat. Lay each piece of meat on a piece of foil, on top of the meat put a layer of sliced apple and a good sprinkle of the ginger next a layer of the onion then a layer of potato, salt pepper and some smoky barbecue sauce on top and roll it all up in the foil. Scrape some hot ash and coals to one side of your fire and cook it straight on top of them, making sure they are not to hot or you will end up with burnt offerings for tea. Will take app. an hour and a bit to cook depending on size and how hot the coals are. This is another area that practice makes perfect.
I hope this helps you on your way to preparing and enjoying your first feed of wild pork. And like me still enjoying it 39 years down the track as much as I ever did. Along with some fond memories of some great meals I have had with mates around the campfire.
Martin