Boar Taint

[PandaBear]

Previously I mentioned that US pork has a weird smell that isn’t common in Asia. I recently found out that it is called boar taint and is actually due to the lack of castration of young male at the early age that is common in Asian pig farms.

So far the only recommendation on getting rid of it after the fact is to soak the pork in water for 10 mins, extra ginger, cut out as much fat as you can, parboil, and maybe buying pork from Yorkshire and Hampshire breed if possible.

Any other suggestion you guys have?

 

[KGMtech]

Well this topic is reminding me of a joke that I won't type here.

 

[The Critic]

Previously I mentioned that US pork has a weird smell that isn’t common in Asia. I recently found out that it is called boar taint and is actually due to the lack of castration of young male at the early age that is common in Asian pig farms.

So far the only recommendation on getting rid of it after the fact is to soak the pork in water for 10 mins, extra ginger, cut out as much fat as you can, parboil, and maybe buying pork from Yorkshire and Hampshire breed if possible.

Any other suggestion you guys have?

Maybe I am used to it, but I find it to be a non-issue.

Do you not season your meat?

 

[PandaBear]

Maybe I am used to it, but I find it to be a non-issue.

Do you not season your meat?

According to the web some people can smell it but some cannot, so if you grew up with it probably you can’t tell.

I grew up with a family of fish sauce users (no chilies, no sugar, no boiling, just raw fish sauce for dipping), so when I bring friends home for dinner they couldn’t eat my grandma’s cooking.

Spicy seasoning sometimes cover it but not all food is heavily seasoned. I think chili sauce, wine, ginger helps but then you can’t expect that in everything you cook.

 

[PandaBear]

What’s between a boar’s butt and its balls?

Haha.

Pork butt the cut or the pork’s @55?

 

[The Critic]

According to the web some people can smell it but some cannot, so if you grew up with it probably you can’t tell.

I grew up with a family of fish sauce users (no chilies, no sugar, no boiling, just raw fish sauce for dipping), so when I bring friends home for dinner they couldn’t eat my grandma’s cooking.

Probably true.

Personally I find the direct taste of fish sauce to be pretty disgusting - not to mention the process of production. If it's in my food, I would rather not know.

 

[Cujet]

Previously I mentioned that US pork has a weird smell that isn’t common in Asia. I recently found out that it is called boar taint and is actually due to the lack of castration of young male at the early age that is common in Asian pig farms.

So far the only recommendation on getting rid of it after the fact is to soak the pork in water for 10 mins, extra ginger, cut out as much fat as you can, parboil, and maybe buying pork from Yorkshire and Hampshire breed if possible.

Any other suggestion you guys have?

I absolutely cannot stand the boar taint taste/smell. When I was young, pork tasted correct, and could be used in anything from meatballs to pulled pork BBQ sandwiches. Today, even the smallest amount of pork taint can destroy a meal. I'm not at all convinced soaking or ginger addresses the issue. The meat is bad, period, end of story.

When I travel overseas, the pork has no such disgusting taste.

I'm not 100% convinced it is just from the male either. We'd get 50-50, sometimes good, sometimes not meat. I'm not seeing that. I have a sneaking suspicion it is what they are being fed, injected with or who knows?

 

[vavavroom]

The problem is once again penny pinching. You can buy pork without the funk from female pigs or rather from the butcher but it costs more. The hormone and ABX-riddled mass-produced pork you get at the average market is lousy. But at least it's cheap. Bon appétit!

 

[PandaBear]

I absolutely cannot stand the boar taint taste/smell. When I was young, pork tasted correct, and could be used in anything from meatballs to pulled pork BBQ sandwiches. Today, even the smallest amount of pork taint can destroy a meal. I'm not at all convinced soaking or ginger addresses the issue. The meat is bad, period, end of story.

When I travel overseas, the pork has no such disgusting taste.

I'm not 100% convinced it is just from the male either. We'd get 50-50, sometimes good, sometimes not meat. I'm not seeing that. I have a sneaking suspicion it is what they are being fed, injected with or who knows?

I also don’t know for sure if it is male only, but rather the breed and fed as well. Look at today’s broiler chicken vs the heirloom breed you can tell even the color is different and obviously the taste.

I guess I will try buying the Yorkshire stuff and see if it helps. I basically gave up on some Trader Joe’s freezer food and I returned a carnitas from Costco because of boar taint. What a shame.

 

[vavavroom]

I think you got proper meat markets in Silicon Valley. Just follow the flies.

 

[jhellwig]

Pork hasn't tasted right to me since 1996 when the market dropped out of them and dad sold his hogs. Pigs raised on pasture taste way better than confinement raised ones granted we only ever ate barrows though the last few dad didn't castrate till they were larger.

 

[The Critic]

I think you got proper meat markets in Silicon Valley. Just follow the flies.

Boutique*

 

[Jdeere562]

Last pig we butchered, did it ourselves. Local farmer raises quite a few. They are not confinement hogs. He lets you walk around and pick out what you want. All sizes walking around. We were having a Labor Day party.

We picked out about a 150 LB hog. (not a boar) Shot it right there and threw in back of a pickup. Drove to friend's house and strung it up with his loader. Gutted and skinned it in his pasture. Cut the hog into halves. Put it in his smoker, big smoker with rotating baskets.

Everybody brings side dishes and we had a feast.

NO BOAR TAINT!

 

[Oro_O]

Isn’t anyone else a bit suspicious that a user with “Bear” in their name is bad-mouthing pigs?

There’s probably another agenda going on here, some kind of inter-species thing going on. Though I admit I haven’t figured it out yet.

 

[PandaBear]

Isn’t anyone else a bit suspicious that a user with “Bear” in their name is bad-mouthing pigs?

There’s probably another agenda going on here, some kind of inter-species thing going on. Though I admit I haven’t figured it out yet.

 

[Cujet]

Last pig we butchered, did it ourselves.

NO BOAR TAINT!

Same with the smaller wild ones hunted here in FL. Maybe a little tough, but taste is just right. Cook it well, slice it ultra thin and it is just as I remember.

 

[Jdeere562]

Same with the smaller wild ones hunted here in FL. Maybe a little tough, but taste is just right. Cook it well, slice it ultra thin and it is just as I remember.

Never ate wild pigs. We do not have them in Iowa, thank God! Had a few get loose some years ago from a fenced in "game farm"
Iowa said to shoot them all with no restrictions. I did however hear a pig snorting while fishing back then, in a remote area. Unholstered my 9MM while in the boat, but never saw a pig come out of the brush. Closest farm was a mile away. Guess a few old country boys had the problem solved shortly. Sad to say, I was not one of them.

 

[Oro_O]

…

Just learned it is officially “Fat Bear” week right now.

Now I see why the OP is obsessing about food sources.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/fat-bear-week-contestants-katmai-alaska-2023/index.html

 

[dnewton3]

Enough of the crude jokes.
Keep it above board; some of you are close to getting a vacation.

 

[y_p_w]

I remember once my wife found a source (relatively cheap) of Berkshire pork. I couldn't really tell. But it's apparently a heritage breed that's not as inherently lean as modern breeds.

Berkshire pig - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Have done the live poultry thing a few times. I didn't get to kill the chicken, but they were supposedly killed on site although they closed the door where they were slaughtering and defeathering the birds. I think it was more like an assembly line, but one time it was still warm when I got it. And if they were running some kind of scam, then those hundreds of live chickens, turkeys, lambs, ducks, etc. in cages were an expensive way to do it.

I've tried some Asian heritage breed chickens. They look very different with yellowish skin and with shorter drumsticks and less breast meat. But yeah there's actual chicken flavor as opposed to the typical white broiler that one might find in a supermarket. Still - the live poultry place I went to seemed to have chickens with orangish feathers.