Food

One other source would be to google your question. Information is there.

I think that jalapenos and garlic will grow most anywhere.

Do NOT jerk pork. Pork must be COOKED thoroughly at high temperature due to the possibility of trichinosis, swine brucellosis, and other diseases/parasites they can carry. I preserve hog meat in a freezer. I've read about packing the meat in fat, some such, really have to rely on others here for any other preserving methods. Bound to be a way since folks were eating pigs well before refrigeration, but the only thing I trust with pig meat is the freezer.

MCgunner said:

Do NOT jerk pork. Pork must be COOKED thoroughly at high temperature due to the possibility of trichinosis, swine brucellosis, and other diseases/parasites they can carry. I preserve hog meat in a freezer. I've read about packing the meat in fat, some such, really have to rely on others here for any other preserving methods. Bound to be a way since folks were eating pigs well before refrigeration, but the only thing I trust with pig meat is the freezer.

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High temp is a bad idea for taste later. Slow and low will kill the possible pests also and help with flavor retention. Even with preservation meats. I smoke pork in strips at 170 until I get the "pull" I want.

Just as a side note....we have virtually eliminated trichinosis in our commercial pork supply. Used to be a real problem but no longer. Still can be an issue with wild hogs.

Folks have been doing the smoked ham thing since before I was born.

You should remove fat. Fat will go rancid.

Tastes like your local BBQ but no sauce or rub. That's all they do is smoke it for about 12-15 hours.

OH! I forgot, Texans don't eat real BBQ; they use cows instead.

High temp is a bad idea for taste later. Slow and low will kill the possible pests also and help with flavor retention. Even with preservation meats. I smoke pork in strips at 170 until I get the "pull" I want.

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170 degrees IS high enough. 180 or above is recommended most places I've seen it. I generally smoke hams for 8-10 hours. I just cook it till it's done and tender. Pork is easy to cook tender due to all the fat in it, even in wild pigs. That's what I like about it. I've tried venison, too lean.

I'm no BBQ master, but I do appreciate a tender, mesquite smoked brisket. Guess that's the Texan in me. I won't turn down a chunk of well smoked wild pork, though. Heck, I'll even eat it with Kansas City sweet sauce.

HOWEVER, the question, I believe, is how to PRESERVE the meat without refrigeration? I don't leave left over BBQ out of the refrigerator, myself. I would NOT jerk the meat as I do with venison. Proper jerking is done at very low temp with wood smoke for 24 hours +. Basically, you're drying out the meat more so than cooking it.

MCgunner said:

170 degrees IS high enough. 180 or above is recommended most places I've seen it. I generally smoke hams for 8-10 hours. I just cook it till it's done and tender. Pork is easy to cook tender due to all the fat in it, even in wild pigs. That's what I like about it. I've tried venison, too lean.

I'm no BBQ master, but I do appreciate a tender, mesquite smoked brisket. Guess that's the Texan in me. I won't turn down a chunk of well smoked wild pork, though. Heck, I'll even eat it with Kansas City sweet sauce.

HOWEVER, the question, I believe, is how to PRESERVE the meat without refrigeration? I don't leave left over BBQ out of the refrigerator, myself. I would NOT jerk the meat as I do with venison. Proper jerking is done at very low temp with wood smoke for 24 hours +. Basically, you're drying out the meat more so than cooking it.

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Yeah when I do vensison sticks/jerky it is a lot lower heat (125-140ish) for about 12-16 hours depending on the "pull" again. I do wild pork that way also but at 170 instead. I didn't type that out real clear.

xxjumbojimboxx said:

You boston bred? I am, Miss it...

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Nope, OH farm boy. It is a play on my last name and a nickname from my "Al Bundy" days.

"OH! I forgot, Texans don't eat real BBQ; they use cows instead."

Huh? Barbecue is a style of cooking. Cow, goat, hog, cougar, javelina...

We smoke our (pork) bacon and hams for about 5 days using a mix of wood species basically hickory. We strive for a constant temp of 110 to 130 degrees. The idea is to infuse the meat with acidic compounds in the smoke that retard bacteria growth. For hams (both pork and venison) I use a strong brine mixed with blackstrap molasses, pulverized sage and a small amount of sodium nitrate. (The last discourages the growth of botulism) As well as a few other herbs and spices I don't care to share on the internet. For hams I use a IV line with the needle clamped into the femoral artery and inject the described mixture directly into the ham then clamp anything that leaks before putting in the smokehouse. My molasses cured venison ham actually converted my staunchly anti-hunter in-laws into frequent dinner guests during hunting season.

(The rumor that I include dark Jamaican rum in my mixture has been greatly exaggerated. )

Smoking for preservation will not completely kill the roundworm larvae that cause Trichinosis! Any pork product must be cooked thoroughly to prevent ingestion.

I have never heard of a way to preserve pork quickly in the texas heat. I think smoked hams and bacon is a drawn out process done in colder temps. Hogs are normally killed in the fall because of this. It's also normally cured which is a brining process.

Tell me a Texan can't bbq a pork butt that will blow you I'll invite ya over and prove you a liar Of course I was taught by a friend from Mississippi

Im talking about smoking it for preserve it... In a medium term storage role. You know like a month or two. Its easily done with beef and venison.. But im still not sure about hog.

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To be honest, if I were looking to have a supply of dried or jerked meat for survival, I would probably not look at the hogs. Just WAY to easy to pick up something that don't want to leave.

If in a survival type situation, I would probably not be overly concerned with what was in season, as much as what was going to be for dinner. I think I would look more towards venison or fish to cure out, or smaller critters to use on a more regular basis.

When you take a "ham ham" or a deer ham off the heat of the barbecue pit, remember that heat will still travel to the center. Sure, the exterior begins to cool by radiation, but the residual heat still goes inward.

If your target temperature for the center is 160, taking it away from the heat at a center temp of around 150 to 155 will work.

Less drying...

Beentown said:

Just as a side note....we have virtually eliminated trichinosis in our commercial pork supply. Used to be a real problem but no longer. Still can be an issue with wild hogs.

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Yep. To quote the CDC:

Although trichinellosis was associated historically with eating Trichinella-infected pork from domesticated sources, wild game meat was the most common source of infection during 1997--2001. During this 5-year period, 72 cases were reported to CDC. Of these, 31 (43%) cases were associated with eating wild game: 29 with bear meat, one with cougar meat, and one with wild boar meat. In comparison, only 12 (17%) cases were associated with eating commercial pork products, including four cases traced to a foreign source. Nine (13%) cases were associated with eating noncommercial pork from home-raised or direct-from-farm swine where U.S. commercial pork production industry standards and regulations do not apply.

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I have dry cured quite a few commercial pork shoulders with a salt mixture and long term (multi-day) low temperature (under 120) smoking. I used instructions found with a Google search for diy dry cure bacon, and ingredients (esp. the pink salt) from Asian grocery stores. I then kept it in my cupboard (not refrigerated) and cut off chunks to use to flavor soup, which it did awesomely well. Better than any commercial dry cure bacon I have bought. Intensely flavorful and I won't testify how long it stays safe but I kept some in my cupboard for months and I didn't die. It looked/smelled fine after a year.

Would I do that with wild pig? No. Wild bear? Apparently *bleep* no. But personally I don't think commercial pork is a big threat and medium-cooked pork tastes wonderful compared to what happens to it at 160.

I cook my commerical pork to 165. But wild bore i take up to at least 180. Ive made jerky but was told to not do it at low temps. Turn the smoker right up to about 225 right out of the gate. Also make sure anytime your making jerky out of pork to use a cure like quick cure. it goes along way toward killing the bad stuff. I use it even when i make venison jerky.

if i was in a survival situation and all i had was a hog and had to smoke it on a rack of green twigs.i would use lean meat and basically cook it and then smoke it till it was hard and dry as a old boot.the cooking would kill the bad stuff and the smokeing would repel any new bad stuff. it wont be tasty but mite get you a few days to the next kill.

if your talking backyard smokeing then thers plenty of info and 1000 diff methods on the net.

one thing native americans did was gorge themselves on what they could before it spoiled and dry the rest while doing it.after a few 1000 yrs of doing it, their metabolism adjusted to it.