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I am the proud owner of a 250. I have only had it a short time(4 months). I have had Some successes and some failures. I have gained allot of help from folks here. This time I thought I would ask before I cook.
My father and some friends are embarking on a wild hog hunt and have asked me to cook up a few for a large gathering when they return. I am assuming they will be successful. The hogs will be skinned and between 80 and 150 punds dressed weight. I might try a whole one if they are smaller but I doubt it. I am thinking more along the lines of smoking the shoulders and hams together and then doing the ribs and loins. I have looked in the archives some and will do sme more but am open for ideas. Also, do wild hogs cook differently than farm hogs?? Thanks in advance for your comments.
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muleman,
the wild ones will be much tougher and to be honest if they weren't up straight killed they will be even tougher still due to the adrenalin being pumped into the bloodstream and preventing a total bleedout like you get with a farm hog.
that being said i only have one recipe for boar but it worked well enough when i was sous chef at a large bank in florida. i am sure when you look at it that it can be modified for a smoker.
ok here goes

boar loin in mustard and herb

rub
3 T flour
2 T light brown sugar
2 tsp dry mustard USE ONLY COLEMANS!!!!
2 tsp thyme,ground
1 tsp sage,ground
1/8 c white wine vinegar
1/8 c dry white wine
mix the dry and add the liquid to make a paste and set a side

meat
6 lb loin
6 ea garlic,cloves,slivered longways
salt
pepper
take a knife and make pockets in the meat and stuff the garlic slivers well into the loin. salt and pepper the exterior well

mop
2 Tbs dark brown sugar
3 Tbs dry mustard
1 Tbs marjorum,ground
1 tsp rosemary,ground
1/2 c dry white wine
mix and set a side

you will need a full size hotel pan at this point and a rack similar to a french fry rack. grease the rack well
coat the bottom of the loin with some of the rub and put on the rack
use the remaining rub to fully coat the loin

ok at this point we have some deciding to do.
assuming your 260 will hit 400f roast at 400 for 10 mins to set the rub. if it won't not to worry just go max heat and eyeball it but as a point of referrence 350 for 30 mins should do fine.
drop your heat to a smoke setting of 165 for 60 mins
up your heat to 325 and figure about 45 mins per pound (do not forget even though you can take farm raised hog to 155f and be safe wild hogs still carry the risk of tricannosis so they have to be a minimum of 165f finishing temp)
mid way thru use some mop
the balance of the mop can be made up for a sauce.
just add it to a roux and away ya go.
hope this gives you an idea
have fun with the boar and the cook
a nice gratin of macaroni with blue cheese and a sweet potato salad sure sounds good to me
wish i was there
jack
ps. hey thanks for posting that question. it made me go back and look at my sous chef book from 1992. it brought back some really good memories for me
pps. a 50/50 mix of apple and sugar maple would taste great i think
Here is the search from above, listing 8 threads. Wild Hog

Another good resource is

Texas Boars

They are thick down here and are a real nuisance.

They run in packs and ruin golf courses,subdivisions,parks,etc.

Municipalities hire trappers to catch and destroy all they can.

When on a deer or turkey hunt,etc, you carry a sidearm and shoot them like rats.

Most folks don't bother bringing them home.

Like Hippie said they are lean and a product of their environment.

They can thrive on garbage landfills,grow old,exercise to toughness.

Good idea to cook the hams and butts together.

The ribs are usually useless,but the loin makes decent restaurant dining-as prisonchef mentioned.

The Cookshack will do as good a job as can be done on them.

Have fun.
Thanks allot to all of you who answered, this will get me started. The hunt takes place tomorrow, Wednesday. I advised my father to target the smaller hogs and if they killed any of the large 300 plus buggers, to leave them lay. As in most states, there is no waste law on them here, the authorities want them exterminated. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks again.
Update...The initial wild hog hunt flopped but this past Monday my father and friends bagged 4 of them. They each weighed between 72 and 75 pounds. After butchering and hanging overnight to cool, I removed the loins and then quartered up the critters. Not much rib meat so I tossed them out. I smoked all 8 hams and shoulders at one time in the CS. Remember, they were rather small. Turned out great. Even was aasked to cater some reunions and a rehearsal with wild hog BBQ.
Odd, someone told me early on that if you share the product, you will develop a client base whether you want it or not. It's true.
Back to the pigs. I went very basic. CS rib rub. Loaded the smoker and set at 130 for an hour to make sure it was dry. Added hickory and gradually brought the temp up to 225. It only took about 20 minutes to get the oven temp up there by raising in stages rather than jump all at once. The max oven read was 232.
I set the probe for 185 and let her cook for 4 hours. The shoulders were ready. Took them out quickly and put the probe in a ham with the same settings and within an hour the hams were ready. Meat was extremely juicy and tasted great with a nice smoke ring(unexpected)..
By the time we had the shoulders pulled clean the hams were cooled enough to pull. I couldn't believe how well it worked. Beginners luck I guess but with CS rib rub, CS mild sauce and, of course a CS cooker and the forum, it was a snap.
Thanks to all who gave me input.

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