First time wild pig on pellet smoker. Advice?

[IALoder]

Today I broke in my new pellet grill/smoker with a wild pig ham from our yearly pig hunt about a month ago. Here's what I did:

Shot this little sow about a half hour into my first sit in the evening.


Made a simple kosher salt and sugar brine, and brined one ham for 38 hours. Pulled it out and wiped it down, injected apple juice with a little Worcestershire sauce all around, then rubbed it with some fire and smoke "pork perfect" rub that was given to me.



Smoked it on the "smoke " setting for an hour, which ran at 180°, then turned it to 225° until I went out and internal temp was 144°, which took about 3.5 hours.




Then wrapped it in foil and kept the grill at 225° for another 3.5 hours, for a total of 7 hrs on the grill. Internal temp was 192° when pulled off the grill. I let it rest while cooking up the side dishes.





The wife and I ate our fill for dinner tonight. Taste was great! Good smoke ring, and we really like the rub, only thing was it wasn't as tender as expected. Definitely not tough, but not tender either.

Now my question for you guys. Is there anything I can do on the next one to have it come out more tender? Longer or different brine, different injection, lower and slower or longer on the grill?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bubblehide]

I quarter and debone mine, and put them in an ice chest of slushy (ice and water) brine for a week before butchering; often adding spices to the brine. Once butchered, I add spices wrap, seal and put them in the freezer until its time to smoke them. I have yet to experience any feral pig, young to old, sow or boar, that has been anything but tender and moist. Oh, almost forgot, I always smoke with a can of water in the smoker, toping off as needed. It keeps you meet moist.

 

[MJB]

Less cooking time inject bacon drippings!
Maybe less time in the brine. I like to get the blood out in the brine then marinade add fat and spices.
192 is the biggest problem

 

[LCsmith]

Cook it longer and to a higher temp. I smoke my pork butts overnight on a traeger.
- Put in at 7 p.m. @180
- Wrap in foil or butcher paper at 7 a.m. the next morning
- Bump temp up to 250-275 to render fat and it'll be done around 11 a.m.-12 p.m. with an internal temp around 203.
- Let it rest in a warm cooler or oven until dinner time.

 

[MJB]

^^^^^^
Feral pig is not domestic......there is little fat and if there is any it doesn't taste like domestic fat.

 

[LCsmith]

^^^^^^
Feral pig is not domestic......there is little fat and if there is any it doesn't taste like domestic fat.

Then as you said, add pork fat, bacon, etc.

Either way OP pulled too early at 192 and if you want to have texas style bbq bark on a pellet smoker, it needs to be on unwrapped longer than 3.5 hours.

 

[Team4LongGun]

Always go to 203-205 IT

 

[Bubblehide]

Feral pigs can carrt trichinosis, so you may want to get the internal temp up to 160 degrees to be safe.

 

[IALoder]

I was worried I pulled it too late, not too early. So just an overnight in the brine, inject some bacon drippings, and pull at 203-205. Not super worried about the hard barbeque crust, but is wrapping it necessary?

 

[JFK]

I’ve cooked a lot of wild pork and and also smoke domestic pork. The meat is entirely different and I’ve yet to have any wild pork that resembles pulled pork without braising it. Putting it a braising liquid will really break it down. You could try smoking it, then putting it in a deep pan with apple juice and wrapping the top tightly with foil for a few hours. Longer smoke times or lots of dry heat will just dry wild pork out since it doesn’t have the fat that domestic pork has.

 

[LostArra]

I've never had much luck with injecting low fat meat like wild pork. Domestic pork? yes.

My best for wild pork is smoke for flavor then braise. Hank Shaw's barbacoa recipe works well. Of course, this recipe could make a boot taste good.

Venison Barbacoa Recipe - Hank Shaw's Venison Barbacoa

A Mexican venison barbacoa recipe using shoulder, or lamb or goat. Barbacoa is braised with spices, pulled and tossed with a oil to keep it moist.

honest-food.net

 

[MallardSX2]

Eveone talks about how good wild pig is. I never found it to be very good and I have tried to cook them 20 different ways.

When I cook a wild hog, I can't get that smell of the butchering process out of my mind. I will likely never bring another one out of the woods unless someone else wants it.

 

[hiker270]

Feral pigs carry many parasites and pathogens, cook to at least 160 degrees and higher would be even better.

 

[IALoder]

Feral pigs carry many parasites and pathogens, cook to at least 160 degrees and higher would be even better.

It was cooked to 190°+.

I do have a braising pan I can use on the next one. That's probably the way I'll go with it.

@LostArra that recipe looks great and super easy. Gonna have to give it a try!

The guys here at work have really liked the flavor, and a few have said it's decently tender, a few likened it to a well done steak. Still very good though, and the meat I brought for them to try was eaten up in less than an hour!

 

[LostArra]

Eveone talks about how good wild pig is. I never found it to be very good and I have tried to cook them 20 different ways.

When I cook a wild hog, I can't get that smell of the butchering process out of my mind. I will likely never bring another one out of the woods unless someone else wants it.

At least for me, not every hog is table fare. Under a 100# killed in cold weather helps. Gutless is a necessity.

I currently have a single rogue hog on my home property that is finally showing on a trail camera before sunset. I really want to kill it before the wild turkeys start nesting but I'm not in the mood to deal with the carcass. I have hung a treestand in a good spot that is well hidden. I'm hoping a few days of crappie fishing will change my mind and the weather will still be cool.

 

[z987k]

Feral pigs can carrt trichinosis, so you may want to get the internal temp up to 160 degrees to be safe.

Feral pigs carry many parasites and pathogens, cook to at least 160 degrees and higher would be even better.

Help me out here, is the only thing you read wild pig?
Missing the title where he's clearly smoking, missing everything he wrote where it's over 190 and missing where people recommended cooking to an even higher temp with a longer smoke?

 

[Life_Feeds_On_Life]

Feral pigs carry many parasites and pathogens, cook to at least 160 degrees and higher would be even better.

I believe a lower internal temp but for a longer time will also do the trick

 

[wapitibob]

Taste was fine but like yours, a little tougher than restaurant pulled pork.

 

[Bubblehide]

Help me out here, is the only thing you read wild pig?
Missing the title where he's clearly smoking, missing everything he wrote where it's over 190 and missing where people recommended cooking to an even higher temp with a longer smoke?

is that a genuine question?

 

[z987k]

is that a genuine question?

Yes, I'm just trying to figure out how someone reads "I cooked it to 192F" and then responds with "you may want to get the internal temp up to 160 degrees to be safe."

Did they not read it? Do they not know that 192 is greater than 160? Who smokes a ham to only 160 internal?

It's a bizarre reply and it was done twice.