After field dressing and quartering a whild hog how do you prep the meat. I have hurd of everything from paying a butcher to hang it in a meat locker and drain it to soaking it in ice watter to leach out all the blood. What do you do. I am also planning on attempting to cure the hind quarters to make hams after an upcomming hunt. I usually put them on ice and soak for a couple of days until all the blood is leached out but i dont know if this is the right way or if there is an easier way

Treat it just like the pork you buy at the store - cook it the same way.

You can boil the hams or bake them. Never heard of anyone soaking out the blood from any of it. Just make sure it is well done and according to the meat thermometer.

If you salt it pretty heavily while soaking it in water, that will get a lot of blood out. It does come milder that way, but should be good no matter what.

Grind the shoulders, neck, belly, and scraps for sausage, plus whatever leftover deer meat you have (if any).

Hams - I like to cure these. Look up curing procedures. It's easy with Morton Tender Quick, or Morton Sugar cure.

You can also bone out the hams to make roasts.

The backstraps and tenderloins are for the grill.

It's all good!!!!!!! :D

So should I just killit and grillit? or should I hang it to age. The problem is I live in florida. I dont want to spend the extra money to pay a butcher to process the meat. I might be getting my hands on an old refridgerator I was thinking about makeing it into a make shift meat locker to hang the meat to age.

I take the back straps out, cut them up finally (1/4 inch strips maybe),marinate them in a mix of honey and seeded mustard overnight,them fry them on a hot plate till they turn white. Then eat them straight off the plate,washed down with a cold beer..
Heck, i'm droolin already!!
I also take the rear legs of which i skin and bake them in a webber over hot coals or shave the hair off and salt for the crackling,and bake the same way...
Jason

Am in NW Flah-Dah where it never gets cold(~).

I come home with an ungutted hog if killed at the club. If killed in the river swamp it is gutted in the woods and brought home on the bottom of my boat.

The hog is immediately hung up(by jaw hook) and gutted. Heart is put into freezer bag for later consumption. I take a garden hose and flood the chest cavity with water. This rapidly cools the hog and clenses it of any of the bad stuff you could accidently get on the meat while gutting. At this time I check it over for ticks or other "unwanteds". I hang it back up in my out building/garage. I let it stay there for up to three days if the WX cooperates(temp stays < than 50deg).

If WX is too warm,I skin the hog from just under jaw bone down. I cut the shoulders and hind qtrs. off,put them in a plastic bag and leave them on ice in a 180qt saltwater cooler for up to three days. I take other parts of the hog and treat it the same way.

I cook it the same you would do any other pork. I ensure that the inside of the meat gets to be 170-180deg(per meat thermometer). If I smoke a qtr it is marinated in(whatever is your favorite recipe) and smoked using pecan wood til the inside temp is 170deg.

That's it. No blood leaching for me. Also no butcher needed.

I think the "secret" is water to quick cool and clean,then ice or cold WX to cure. -----pruhdlr