Off to kill a boar...

[denty632]

So, it's been a while since I was on here, but I am not only a purveyor of sausages but also the owner of a gun or two... Relax, I am also an officer of the law so quite safe!

So, my ownership of guns has meant that a local farmer has asked me to come to his farm and help kill a boar, for this he has offered me a quarter of the pig and as much offal etc as I like!!

He tells me that the boar is old and will only really be fit for sausages and/or pork pies....

So, some help and guidance...

Lots of recipes for black pudding on here, I will give it a go, not sure about stirring the blood but will se how we go... Any suggestions on collecting and storing the blood would be gratefully received, or links to good sites...

Will the meat be good for only sausages? Or will it be any good for other recipes.

I hope to prepare the intestines for casings, I have found some good links but any suggestions or good links would be appreciated.

I also hope to get as much of the fat as possible, any suggestions? I use the fat for goose sausages, but is all fat good fat?

So, lots of questions! I would be grateful for any guidance..especially on the offal, I do not have a clue where to start!

Cheers

Steve

[yotmon]

Hi Denty - good to hear from you. Although I've never been involved in a pig slaughter I do know that there is a lot of work involved and normally takes a team of workers to sort everything out. The blood needs to be stirred to prevent it from turning into a black gooey mass of clots, so someone should be allocated that job straight away. Cleaning the guts is another lengthy chore and originally would have been washed in a nearby stream and turned inside out with a brush steel (handle). Then there is the scalding or singing of the hair, plus scraping the whole carcass down. All this before you even start to get to the meat !

You say its 'an old Boar'. How old ? Ex-dairy cows can be slaughtered at 8 - 10 years of age depending on when their milk dries up. They were sold as 'Manufacturing beef' and would be used up in commercial steak pies or tinned stewing steak, probably cooked under steam pressure to make it tender. Boar meat can be tainted with a urine flavour especially if its recently been used for breeding purposes or running with sows. Even young males can have this flavour which I have experienced from commercially bought meat ('pissy pork' - not nice). I suppose if the Boar has come to the end of its working life and is to be slaughtered anyway, then It will be a good experience for you and as long as the meat is wholesome then that can only be looked upon as a bonus. Good luck and keep us all updated - don't forget the photos !!

Yotmon.

[saucisson]

It may be worth doing a search on "boar taint" using the forum search function as this has been discussed a few times previously.

PS just sent you a PM regarding your email addy denty.

[denty632]

Thanks both for the tips, I have had a good look at the various boat taint articles and will take a soldering iron with me to assess if the far is tainted or not... Very much intend to get photos so will post these as and when I have the time...

Thanks for the tip off on the email saucisson, all sorted now

Cheers

Denty