avoid trichinosis?

[H&Hhunter]

Duck fever, failure to duck, duck walking and the dreaded quacks....

 

[jrdolall]

what about wild duck?.. anything you can get from them?

A divorce.

 

[Skoghund]

What results have you had? I am under the impression that trichinosis is non-existent in Europe, even in the wild. Am I wrong?

All the tests i've had done have come back negative and very few samples from boar or bear meat tested in sweden have shown trichinosis. But it costs very little to get the test done and as i give some of the boar meat away it gives me peace of mind. There was an article in one of the hunting mags here that showed a large percentage of boar carried various food poisoning nasties.
Won't stop me eating it

 

[justin22885]

well, i ate some more pig meat.. kind of got past the image that caused me to lose the apetite in first place learning that domestic pigs really dont have it, and chances of finding wild pigs with it is like winning the lottery, even lower chances in warmer climates due to more vegetation for them to eat than here in the north.. if i was to do pig hunting for food i was going to travel to the south with a van packed with chest freezers to fill up before coming back

 

[MCgunner]

I've got pigs showing up at my camera/feeder last couple of nights. They've been on a hiatus for some reason for over a year. I set the trap, nothing this morning, but ya can't catch anything if the trap ain't set.

 

[Malamute]

well, i ate some more pig meat.. kind of got past the image that caused me to lose the apetite in first place learning that domestic pigs really dont have it, and chances of finding wild pigs with it is like winning the lottery, even lower chances in warmer climates due to more vegetation for them to eat than here in the north.. if i was to do pig hunting for food i was going to travel to the south with a van packed with chest freezers to fill up before coming back

Good!

I heard a bit on the radio today that reminded me of this thread and wild pig hunting. They were talking to a guy that ate some, how would you say it, free range pork? It wasnt raised in the normal commercial ways. he said the flesh grows more slowly, and has a finer grain, and vastly better flavor. He likened it to grocery store tomatoes compared to fresh garden raised tomatoes. Made me think about wild pig hunting, something that never really appealed to me in the past.

 

[justin22885]

i havent had wild pig so no idea what they taste like.. but my goal was to supply all my own meat through what i can hunt.. sort of an independence from grocery stores and factory farms type of goal

 

[Stony]

I would worry much more about eating raw fish, and it's become quite a fad. I don't know how many times I have watched live worms squirming as I cleaned a fish.
I read an article one time from the state extension office stating that feral hogs were perfectly safe to eat as long as they were cooked to an internal temp of at least 160 degrees....so anytime I cook up a leg, I always take it to 180, just to be on the safe side.
Watching farm hogs knee deep in whatever it seems to me that feral hogs would have an advantage in the sanitation dept.

 

[Paul7]

Good!

I heard a bit on the radio today that reminded me of this thread and wild pig hunting. They were talking to a guy that ate some, how would you say it, free range pork? It wasnt raised in the normal commercial ways. he said the flesh grows more slowly, and has a finer grain, and vastly better flavor. He likened it to grocery store tomatoes compared to fresh garden raised tomatoes. Made me think about wild pig hunting, something that never really appealed to me in the past.

I'll second that, it is vastly better than store bought, factory pork.

 

[Gun Master]

Wild Boar

I've never hunted them before, but I heard the adult males' meat tastes too strong, because they haven't been "cut" like they do commercially.

 

[TimSr]

I've never hunted them before, but I heard the adult males' meat tastes too strong, because they haven't been "cut" like they do commercially.

Been years since I ate the one I got, but it was a boar, tasted great, like domestic pork, only without all the fat. The roasts were awesome, and interestingly pink in color, when fully cooked.

I would not dismiss a boar outright. Younger animals almost always tatse better. A bigger factor is probably where they come from from and what they eat. I'd imagine the hogs from the southwest might not be as tasty as the midwestern varieties, producing a greater number of boars that are less appetizing, but thats just a guess. I know southern California dessert sage eating cottentails taste nothing like the Ohio ones!

 

[MCgunner]

200 lbs or less, boar are fine. It's the really big ones that can be gamey.

 

[AKElroy]

i was planning to start traveling a bit for some wild hog hunting until i started to learn more about what they may be carrying.. trichinosis being my primary concern, i know if you cook the meat at 180 degrees it'll kill it, but just the thought of eating worm infested meat, despite the larvae being in all likeliness microscopic, absolutely disgusts me..

i know its extremely rare for herbivores, even wild herbivores to carry this so im not too concerned about deer, elk, moose, bison, rabbits, etc, though they do carry various bacterias that can be harmful, that doesnt disgust me as much as the thought of wormy meat, dead or not

so is there any way to be sure if a wild pig has trichinosis or not, or should it just be assumed they all do?

While even this is remote, you should be more concerned of exposure while processing swine rather than eating it. If you are concerned, you can take a few precautions in processing. For starters, skin the animal from the neck downwards. This way when you wash it, the reproductive parts that carry brucellosis will be at the bottom when the water washes downward. Ditto the waist port; not because of any disease in particular, I just don't want pig feces of any amount being washed onto the meat. Some folks that do this frequently wear a plastic poncho that can be rinsed with a bit of Clorox to protect their clothing from pathogens. If you are not going to do that, then it is a good idea to change your clothes and wash up after cleaning these animals. Glove up as well, and wash any cuts briskly and quickly; as in, leave the meat hanging and take care of the cut right then.

The change of clothes is a good idea regardless, since pigs are nearly always covered in fleas and ticks.

As for cooking, just follow the same guidelines as store bought pork and you will be fine.

I

 

[Paul7]

Been years since I ate the one I got, but it was a boar, tasted great, like domestic pork, only without all the fat. The roasts were awesome, and interestingly pink in color, when fully cooked.

I would not dismiss a boar outright. Younger animals almost always tatse better. A bigger factor is probably where they come from from and what they eat. I'd imagine the hogs from the southwest might not be as tasty as the midwestern varieties, producing a greater number of boars that are less appetizing, but thats just a guess. I know southern California dessert sage eating cottentails taste nothing like the Ohio ones!

What has a big bearing on the taste is how soon they are cleaned. The sooner the better.

 

[gspn]

Here's a very interesting piece on trichinosis from Steve Rinella:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5ZKJ0Vozc

 

[alsaqr]

What has a big bearing on the taste is how soon they are cleaned. The sooner the better.

Bingo!!!

Many hog hunters contaminate the meat while skinning/field dressing wild hogs. They allow dirt from the hide to contact the meat, cut the intestines and burst the bladder. They often haul the hog around for hours in the heat before field dressing.

Pork spoils much faster than venison or beef. i know of several cases where wild pork went bad while hanging in meat coolers. One "meat processor" was famous for alowing meat to spoil in his cooler. When the temperature is 80F pork starts to spoil after about four hours.

All the complaints of "strong tasting" hog meat i've investigated proved to be rotten or contaminated hog meat.

Domestic breeding boars sometimes develop something called "boar taint". The fat is actually tainted. It's comes from huge amounts of fat and little exercise. Those boars were sold to the pepperoni makers. Wild boars do not have "boar taint" because they live a hard scrabble life looking for food and have relatively little fat.

 

[AKElroy]

Bingo!!!

Many hog hunters contaminate the meat while skinning/field dressing wild hogs. They allow dirt from the hide to contact the meat, cut the intestines and burst the bladder. They often haul the hog around for hours in the heat before field dressing.

Pork spoils much faster than venison or beef. i know of several cases where wild pork went bad while hanging in meat coolers. One "meat processor" was famous for alowing meat to spoil in his cooler. When the temperature is 80F pork starts to spoil after about four hours.

All the complaints of "strong tasting" hog meat i've investigated proved to be rotten or contaminated hog meat.

Domestic breeding boars sometimes develop something called "boar taint". The fat is actually tainted. It's comes from huge amounts of fat and little exercise. Those boars were sold to the pepperoni makers. Wild boars do not have "boar taint" because they live a hard scrabble life looking for food and have relatively little fat.

Yep. Every boar I've cleanly killed and quickly dressed and washed tasted every bit as good as the sows I've killed, regardless of size. In fact, I cannot tell the difference, except the chops are a bit bigger. This may sound judgemental, but when I hear a hunter say they "left the boar to rot, they taste awful anyway", I generally assume they are basing that opinion on what they have heard rather than what they have directly experienced, or worse, they wanted an excuse to not do the work.

 

[AKElroy]

The majority of the meat i've eaten in the past 15 years is wild pork. Wild hog meat does not contain antibiotics or growth hormones. Wild hogs have not been kept cooped up in concrete floored pens. They get lots of exercise searching for food.

Local wild hog sellers say most of the wild hog meat sold goes to Korea and China.

Chops, ribs and loin on the hoof:



Partially processed:

Not sure of your pic, but this looks like classic South Texas. A dozen pigs on the corn, and a coon raiding the feeder. Thieving bastards.

 

[justin22885]

i dont really see much need to raise pork with the land, space, and costs required for food when hunting them is pretty close to free with no limitations in many states.. besides having freezers inside the van having their own little generator to keep them running when meats inside them,

i was planning on having the back doors open up and have a little processing area come out the back.. something to hang a pig on to gut it, clean it, portion out the meat, vacuum seal it and toss it in the freezer before hosing it down and disinfecting everything before packing it all back up and heading home

though what someone posted above about hogs being knee deep in who knows what while on their factory farm i agree does sound far less sanitary than one freely running around and it would seem to me that the garbage and trash people used to feed domesticated pigs raw before they passed a law requiring that stuff to be cooked is a situation that lead to essentially captive breeding of trichinella, a situation somewhat unique to factory farming prior to 1980 something

also, wouldnt trichinosis be fatal to its carriers after a period of time?.. seeing infected people does show some obvious traits like muscle swelling, red eyes, and other problems

so do you guys agree that wild pigs are probably cleaner than factory farm pigs.. if not today than at least before the 1980s when trichinosis was a major concern?

 

[AKElroy]

I think wild pigs are cleaner than factory pigs. I think factory MEAT is likely cleaner than wild meat simply because of the sanitation /refrigeration practices that are more difficult to achieve in the bush.

 

[justin22885]

so EKElroy ,youre referring to contamination that comes post-execution, not any kind of microbes or parasites but environmental contaminants and spoilage.. as domestic pigs are typically slaughtered, butchered, and packaged in a cold, all stainless steel building?

 

[Skoghund]

I just take care whether skinning a boar or deer. I always brush off boar with a stiff broom just to get the worst of the rubbish from their fur and wearing rubber gloves try and make sure the fur does not come in contact with the meat.
Much better meat than shop bought.
I'm making a roe deer and boar kindney pie for dinner tonight. Its my take on the classic, kate and Sidney, sorry steak and kidney pie. That made the British Empire great ;-)

 

[AKElroy]

so EKElroy ,youre referring to contamination that comes post-execution, not any kind of microbes or parasites but environmental contaminants and spoilage.. as domestic pigs are typically slaughtered, butchered, and packaged in a cold, all stainless steel building?

Yep. With no closed season and really hot summers here, spoilage is the greater threat. Pork simply needs to be dealt with more quickly than deer, and hunters that get sick may not be differentiating between the two, although I have processed pigs in near sterile environments. One game ranch in particular had a professional grade slaughter room, with stainless steal sheeting on all surfaces, large walk in cooler and freezer, ceiling hoists, floor drains, you name it. We kept it clean with a garden hose, soap and Clorox. When processing the pigs, they are always washed in advance with dawn to kill the ticks and fleas, and to get the mud off. They are then hanged by the neck and skinned and quartered, so that when washed the reproductive parts are at the bottom. Large black rubber aprons are also used, and they are sprayed down with Clorox after use.

It is nice to have those amenities, but the majority of my hogs have been taken thusly: hanging from a gambrel under an oak tree, hosed down, gutted and washed with the skin still on to keep the meat fresh, ice packed into the cavity and transported 20 miles to the processor. $80 and 7 days later, my chops, ribs, shoulders and hams are all nicely packaged and frozen.

 

[justin22885]

so then, my idea if building a small, but sterile processing area with freezers on board in the back of a van would be ideal for pig hunting to prevent spoilage.. would work for deer too, my plan would be to build it on a 4wd pickup truck chassy

 

[Gun Master]

Quick clean kill, blood drainage and gutting for fast cool down, cooling (refrigeration preferred), with as much cleanliness as possible seems to be the best recipe.

But to avoid trichinosis:
1. Cook it until it is done (not pink).
2. Or, don't eat meat.