Wild boar shoulder roast (advice requested)

[C. Moore]

A friend killed a 270 lbs. sow about six weeks ago (arrow entered back of neck and came out of throat [a perfect shot]) and he had the processor cut out a whole front shoulder for me (butt and picnic). I am determined to cook it this weekend. I think the whole thing weighs approximately twelve pounds. I am also going to cook two store-bought butts at the same time. I have an 18.5" Weber Smoker.

At this point, I intend to rub all three with Dr. BBQ Spicy Big Time Barbecue rub. I think I will plan to put the two store-boughts on the top rack and put the wild thing on the bottom rack above the water pan (and, yes, I do keep water in the pan). The butts are around 7 pounds each, and at 225 degrees, I plan on the cook taking around 12 hours.

Am I missing anything? What can I expect to happen with the wild roast? If it ends up being significantly gamey, will that mess up the two store-bought roasts on the top rack? Let me know. I am all ears. If I can figure out how to send pictures, I will. Thanks.

Charlie M. in Columbia, SC

 

[S Mitchell]

Hey Charlie. This spring my son and I shot a couple of Russian Boars. They only weighed around 200 pounds, but we should have some similarities here. In my opinion, gaminess will depend on how the meat has been handled. I am fortunate that I have a butcher near by that will do my wild game. They are able to let it hang for a week to ten days and I haven't had any gaminess in my deer or hogs since. The wild hog will be much leaner than store bought. I would recommend a brine for sure. Keep in mind that if you brine, you will want to adjust the salt in your rub. I also injected mine ( I did a fresh ham, the butts I had separated.). Unfortunately, I didn't write down what brine or injection that I used.

I was pleased with my results considering what kind of meat it was. If you expect the fat content of store bought, you may be disappointed. Add a little bit of love to it and you should be fine. Sorry if I am rambling, hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[Dave Russell]

Since it's a sow and not a boar, the meat shouldn't be rank as long as it was handled properly.

The main concern is the lack of fat, but I shot a wild sow once and it was fine. It's been a while, but I believe I made a juice based injection (probably Ray Lampe's recipe from his first book) and wrapped the shoulder in foil with a little apple juice once the meat reached 160.

Be a little more careful about overcooking than with a pork butt as you don't want all the meat's juice to end up in the foil.

 

[Bill S.]

You gotta have knodels with it. One of the best meals I've ever had. I was in Germany and this guy made us Wildschwien mit knodel.

Just a pic I found, not the meal we had...lol.

 

[Gary H. NJ]

Very cool Charlie. I have no experience here, but brining sounds like a very sound idea. Smoking with the commercial butts shouldn't transfer any flavors; I wouldn't worry. Let us know how it turns out!