Purge Brine?

Hi all - This past week, I shot a 200 pound boar, and am looking forward to many tasty meals after the meat ages for a bit. While looking up recipes, I came upon a reference to a "purge brine" which seems very similar to normal brining, though the implication was that the purge brine somehow cleans the meat which may be a bit dicey due to the salty life of a wild boar. Has anyone heard of a purge brine? I was just planning to age the pork and then cook on the Green Egg, and pay special attention to temperature. Thanks as always for the input.

I'm not sure about a purge brine, but I do brine almost all my pork. What was special about this brine, as compared to others?

YancyW said:

I'm not sure about a purge brine, but I do brine almost all my pork. What was special about this brine, as compared to others?

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I honestly couldn't figure that out. They brined the pork for about 24 hours, and the guy wrote that the run off from the meat was particularly nasty. When you brine your wild pork, what do you do? Frankly, I've only brined turkey. This is my first wild boar.

As above, I've never heard of a "purge brine". The google does punch up one hit on the Big Green Egg forum. I'm assuming that is where you are getting the purge part of it from.

Personally, I would just go with a 5-6% brine depending on what weight of cut you are using and add whatever spices amuse you.

Do post results whenever you fire the boar up!

Rimbaud said:

I honestly couldn't figure that out. They brined the pork for about 24 hours, and the guy wrote that the run off from the meat was particularly nasty. When you brine your wild pork, what do you do? Frankly, I've only brined turkey. This is my first wild boar.

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For wild pork, I don't do much as far as spice, I just use a fairly heavy salt brine. I use 8oz of salt per gallon of water, then I add some ice, so that lower the salt level a bit. I normally just do an overnight brine, so something in the 12-18 hour range.

We use salt water to purge crawfish in Louisiana.

While working in abattoirs I have on occasion heard the term purge brine. If one butchers a domestic boar hog who has been used to breed extensively we would soak cuts destanded to be cure over night in a solution of baking Soda and water to remove what was called "the taint" from the meat. The continue with brineing as normal.

When we brined pork for sale we traditionally placed a potato on top of the pork in the vats. When the potato is pickelled completely it will float thus telling you the pork is done. Generally 3-5 days.

An Asian cook I know coats cheap cuts of Beef in Baking Soda for 10 mins or so then rinses it off, he says it acts a a tenderizer. I wonder if it does the same to Boar

I don’t know anything about a purge brine..

For wild pig i just ice for about 4-5 days, draining off the water each day, and adding more ice.. that’s always been more than enough to get rid of the gamey taste in any boar I’ve ever shot and make for tasty meat..

Putting venison in brine, is generally, or supposed to be in the season of rut, and mating - mainly for boar, and stags, males only.
For specific "purge brine" I havent heard yet.

Maybe the purge comes from the brine soaking the bad stuff out of the meat.

mdwest said:

I don’t know anything about a purge brine..

For wild pig i just ice for about 4-5 days, draining off the water each day, and adding more ice.. that’s always been more than enough to get rid of the gamey taste in any boar I’ve ever shot and make for tasty meat..

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This is exactly what I do with bear meat as well.

I’m sure the brining would be a good idea. Wild boar needs all the help it can get. Not to pour cold water on the discussion but I’m not a fan.

any other recipes for getting rid of "gaminess?"

Soaking works best then slow cook it till it falls apart. Depending on where this thing was and on what it was eating it can be quite games or not too bad but a slow cooker always works pretty well

I have also always heard of soaking in milk

There is something to be learned when those who are in the know tell you that if you want to eat a wild one to shoot one under 100 pounds

steve white said:

any other recipes for getting rid of "gaminess?"

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Soaking sea ducks in orange crush soda overnight will tenderize the birds as well as remove the fishy mudflat taste.

Any brine will bring some liquid out of the meat before osmosis carries liquid back into the meat. My experience with boar is if it tastes terrible before brine it’ll taste terrible after. Masking is probably more accurate than purging.

If you have a large cut it will take much more than 24 hours to penetrate. The lump of meat also has a sectional density. Think of a roast as a 500 grain 45. A simple salt/sugar brine will work but you may want to use some Instacure #1 to ensure safety during the 4-5 days it usually takes. This will also impart a “hammy” flavor.

A recipe for corned beef will work well for calculating how much Instacure to use. Just substitute pork-appropriate spices like juniper and rosemary.

Be sure to discard the brine from the boar. While corned beef brine is ok to use as a braising liquid, the boars liquid will be pretty pungent.

Baking soda will tenderize and neutralize some bad flavors but will do nothing to a large dense cut. It will not penetrate unless you soak for a very long time. This would turn the whole thing to mush and risk a soapy baking soda flavor. Judicious use of baking soda on thin cuts can be useful but I would exercise caution. Try a small batch first.

Standard Velocity said:

Any brine will bring some liquid out of the meat before osmosis carries liquid back into the meat. My experience with boar is if it tastes terrible before brine it’ll taste terrible after. Masking is probably more accurate than purging.

If you have a large cut it will take much more than 24 hours to penetrate. The lump of meat also has a sectional density. Think of a roast as a 500 grain 45. A simple salt/sugar brine will work but you may want to use some Instacure #1 to ensure safety during the 4-5 days it usually takes. This will also impart a “hammy” flavor.

A recipe for corned beef will work well for calculating how much Instacure to use. Just substitute pork-appropriate spices like juniper and rosemary.

Be sure to discard the brine from the boar. While corned beef brine is ok to use as a braising liquid, the boars liquid will be pretty pungent.

Baking soda will tenderize and neutralize some bad flavors but will do nothing to a large dense cut. It will not penetrate unless you soak for a very long time. This would turn the whole thing to mush and risk a soapy baking soda flavor. Judicious use of baking soda on thin cuts can be useful but I would exercise caution. Try a small batch first.

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In your thread,....I have to ask....Are you trying to get rid of the "gamey " taste associated with "trophy " size hogs? vs meat hogs?.....

TRY THIS:

Regardless of domestic or wild meat...
If the animal is "aired", hung", allowed to "naturally" age for 4-7 days prior to.... then soaked....in a salt water brine (changed every 12 to 24 hours) to remove as much blood as possible...then finished butchering...before cooking or put into the freezer for later use....Then marinades for 1 to 3 days....the meat will be tender and delicious after cooking. Regardless of how cooked.....slow cooker, grill, fried, baked/broiled.

Wild Game is not beef, (domestic) pork, or (domestic) chicken!!.........IT'S NOT GAMEY....IT Just taste different!!! BECAUSE IT IS!!!...

That's not to say circumstances like..rut, age, feed, etc, doesn't influence the taste. IT DOES!!!...But that is the reason we add flavor and spices to any food is to make it more tasty.....Isnt it?....

And YES, the thicker the meat the longer it needs to be marinated....to allow the marinade to fully penetrate the meat.

NOTE:

The more fat removed from the animal during butchering the better the taste later!

Cleaning/cleanliness of the animal is another great factor.....proper and timely removal of scent glands, internals (guts),...washing/hosing away blood and hair..... during and after gutting and skinning.

Rigormortous.....the longer an animal can hang (in whole) to allow the natural process of rigormortous to dissipate will also help improve taste and tenderness.

Of course:

Last (or for some...first or/and only) resort is sausage and burger.....all the meat....(IMO What a waste..(of good steaks, ribs, roasts, etc)....

Just wanted to put out more info on how to improve the taste and quality of wild game meat.