# Wild Boar Bacon - Issues



## WildMeatViking (Feb 19, 2022)

I just pulled 4 wild boar bellies from the fridge today which had been dry curing for 13 days (my first attempt at curing) with a simple cure using maple syrup and swedish nitrite salt (I used enough nitrite salt to be at 130ppm with the nitrites).

I flipped the bags daily. There was no liquid in the zip locks when I pulled them (but there was a little after about 4-5 days so my guess is this was re-absorbed) but the bellies were firm when bent.

I put the bellies in my Bradley smoker with 3 hours worth of maple pucks and cooked at 210f until internal temps of the bellies was 160f - this took about 6 hours (it is -2C outside so the smoker is a little slower).

I immediately noticed a somewhat sour (yeasty) smell when I took them out of the smoker - I figured maybe I had used too much smoke.  Cut a couple of slices and fried it up and it tasted sour as well, so I have thrown the entire batch away.

This is my first time making bacon (and my first time working with wild boar bellies - although I have done quite a lot of smoking with wild boar shoulders with no issues) - so I was wondering what I did wrong?

My first thought is maybe I cured for too long and the maple syrup fermented. The bellies were only about 1/3rd the thickness of farmed pig bellies - so I am thinking maybe I cured for too long - maybe they were ready after 5-6 days and me leaving them in for 13 days spoiled them and fermented the sugars.

So I was wondering if anyone has tried to make wild boar bacon before and what level of success you have had - how would you recommend I change my process?

I really try to source wild game as much as possible rather than buying farmed meat and being in Sweden it is relatively easy to source (albeit expensive) and have had great success with my moose/deer jerky and wild boar pulled shoulder, but this bacon was an expensive failure ($35 USD per kg and I just threw away 4kg) - I was hoping it would end up being something a bit special over regular bacon.  I think for my next bacon attempt I will have to use pig belly to refine the process first...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help.


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## TNJAKE (Feb 19, 2022)

indaswamp
 is gonna be your guy on this. He messes around with alot of wild hog meat


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 19, 2022)

You are using a product like Colorazo or Peklosol salt as a curing agent, these contain 0.6% nitrite. So applying enough to reach 130ppm nitrite, your salt is in the safe zone.
So I will ask, what temperature is the refrigerator at? It needs to be below 40*F. Also how fresh was the meat when purchased? It seems to me the meat was on its way to spoiling when you bought it, or your fridge temp is too high. The sugars will not ferment in 13 days below 40*F.


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## indaswamp (Feb 19, 2022)

I am not familiar with swedish nitrite salt. I'll defer to smokinedge on that, looks like he has you covered. However, on the syrup....how much did you use? As a percentage, you want the sugar to be no more than 2/3rds the percentage of salt or you risk wild fermentation....which sounds like happened to your bellies. Wild hog bellies introduce some unknowns....bacterial load can be high if not properly handled and cared for after the kill. That bacteria will start comsuming the sugars in the cure if you use too much.....


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## daveomak (Feb 19, 2022)

When curing meat, it's important to use ingredients that are pure to eliminate any bacterial problems....
May I suggest White processed sugar, Kosher salt and cure#1 or equivalent..
Maple syrup can be filthy as well as brown sugar..
Usually, Kosher salt is added at a rate of 1.5%-2.75% to help with the bacteria...
Temp is very important as others have noted..  34-38F is recommended.
It could be the wild pig was contaminated.. They are an animal that scrounges in the wild..  I think they even consume dead animals which could pose a serious health threat...
When I dry cure my bellies, I do not bag them...  They are placed on a wire rack in a sheet pan..   12-14 days..







Then the smoker at <70F to cold smoke..  either hung or on shelves..












2 each 6 hour cold smoke sessions about 6 hours in-between up to 36 hours in-between smoke additions...


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 19, 2022)

If he used a Peklosol style European cure salt and applied enough to be 130ppm nitrite, the salt content is about 2.2% salt. Just so that’s out there.


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## WildMeatViking (Feb 20, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> You are using a product like Colorazo or Peklosol salt as a curing agent, these contain 0.6% nitrite. So applying enough to reach 130ppm nitrite, your salt is in the safe zone.
> So I will ask, what temperature is the refrigerator at? It needs to be below 40*F. Also how fresh was the meat when purchased? It seems to me the meat was on its way to spoiling when you bought it, or your fridge temp is too high. The sugars will not ferment in 13 days below 40*F.



The bellies were frozen when I got them from the supplier - I defrosted them slowly over 4 days in the fridge.  Fridge temp was 4C (39.2f).


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## WildMeatViking (Feb 20, 2022)

daveomak said:


> When curing meat, it's important to use ingredients that are pure to eliminate any bacterial problems....
> May I suggest White processed sugar, Kosher salt and cure#1 or equivalent..
> Maple syrup can be filthy as well as brown sugar..
> Usually, Kosher salt is added at a rate of 1.5%-2.75% to help with the bacteria...
> ...


Your bellies are much thicker than the ones I had - mine were only 2-3cm (about an inch) thick.  Yours look fantastic - that is exactly the type of result I would like to get :)


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## WildMeatViking (Feb 20, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> If he used a Peklosol style European cure salt and applied enough to be 130ppm nitrite, the salt content is about 2.2% salt. Just so that’s out there.


Yeah I have Swedish nitrite salt here which is 0.6% sodium nitrate and 99.4% regular salt.  Can't really get Prague Powder here without paying massive shipping fees from the UK.


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## daveomak (Feb 20, 2022)

What is the "REAL" name of the curing salt you are using so I can look it up on the web...  
Is it NitrAte or NitrIte.....???


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## daveomak (Feb 20, 2022)

WildMeatViking said:


> Your bellies are much thicker than the ones I had - mine were only 2-3cm (about an inch) thick.  Yours look fantastic - that is exactly the type of result I would like to get :)



I've watched videos where folks trap wild hogs then feed them and fatten them up...  
I think you would be ahead if you bought a feeder pig, of heritage, that would fatten easier than a wild pig..  
The pigs here in the US have had the fat bred out of them, due to consumer demand, somewhere around the 1960's because they thought fat was bad for you....  So, the pork commission thought they would make "The Other White Meat", to up sales of pork to consumers...


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 20, 2022)

daveomak

This is per Marianski.


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## indaswamp (Feb 20, 2022)

Here is the thread on Wild Hog Bacon I made this season...
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cold-smoked-wild-hog-bacon.312345/


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## indaswamp (Feb 20, 2022)

daveomak said:


> I've watched videos where folks trap wild hogs then feed them and fatten them up...


Sure wish I could do that here, but it is against the law to transport a live wild hog. If I caught them on land I own it would be different. I could then havre them in a pen and feed them out for a couple months to fatten them up and get the consistency of the fat right.


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## Bearcarver (Feb 20, 2022)

Viking,
I wish I could help you, but I see you already have some of the Best we have here on this subject, plus the Only Wild Hogs we have around SouthEast PA are of the 2 legged variety.

Bear


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## WildMeatViking (Feb 21, 2022)

daveomak said:


> What is the "REAL" name of the curing salt you are using so I can look it up on the web...
> Is it NitrAte or NitrIte.....???


It is literally just called Nitrite salt - 99.4% salt, 0.6% sodium nitrite - we don't use nitrates in Sweden.


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## WildMeatViking (Feb 21, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> daveomak
> 
> This is per Marianski.
> View attachment 526338
> ...


Yes I try to keep mine between 120-130ppm to be extra cautious (I eat a mostly meat diet for about 6 months of the year to stay in ketosis so I try to keep my nitrite levels below the max) and I use this cure calculator specifically because it has a calculator for the Polish nitrite salt (essentially the same as the Swedish one) - https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/cure-calculator


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## WildMeatViking (Feb 21, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> Here is the thread on Wild Hog Bacon I made this season...
> https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cold-smoked-wild-hog-bacon.312345/


So the colour I got from the cure was very similar to the colour in your picture (see attached) but yeah mine definitely had a smell to the fat before I put it in to smoke (it wasn't strong but it did smell different to what I was expecting - it wasn't rancid or anything - just unusual, something I haven't smelled before).  You can see the colour better when it is in the frying pan.


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## indaswamp (Feb 21, 2022)

Wild hog definitely has a stronger 'porkier' smell and taste. But it all depends on what the hog has been eating.


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## indaswamp (Feb 28, 2022)

You can spray potassium sorbate on the bellies while they are curing to prevent wild fermentation during cold smoking. Good plan - especially with wild hog bellies...


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