OK, what's the straight poop on hog fat?

O

Old Stony

New member

I anchored this gal the night before last, just basically since she was the biggest one in the herd ( 40 or 50 of them). I always try to harvest some of the meat...at least the hind legs, to pass on to others. As soon as I could get her rolled over on her back, I started to cut the legs off and quickly realized something just wasn't right, the fat was all yellow colored.
I have heard for years that yellow fat was an indication that they would taste really bad. Now I don't know if this if just some backwood peckerwood's idea he dreamed up or actually any truth to it. I don't take any of the meat from the boars over 100 lbs, but I have never really had an issue with sows of any size. I would think it would maybe relate to diet, but acorns and plain old corn are probably a big part of her diet.
Anybody out there know the truth of yellow vs. white fat?
 
The color of the fat is an indication of what is in their diet. I've eaten hogs from the Fl orange groves that had orangeish fat. Even had a faint citrus taste.
 
I had always been told growing up that the yellow was from the tannic acid in the acorns.... However, I am not a medical professional, neither was anybody who told me such things 30 years ago, and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night...
 
I took one to a backwoods processor one time that had opened what looked like a pretty good facility. I call him backwoods because he said stuff like the "cleaned and skint" he put on my receipt when I dropped it off. He told me to watch for the yellow fat on the boars, and that you could eat boars of any size and they were good if the fat wasn't yellow. I think his idea of good eating might be a little different than mine.
I just figured that must have been something that someone else had told him one time. I still leave the boars for the critters, and don't bother checking the fat color. I would assume it must be diet related, but wonder if age might have something to do with it. That sow in the picture was pretty old.
 
I don't know about hogs, but the yellow fat on deer is a good indication they were hitting acorns. I don't if it is tannic acid as mentioned above, but a heavy acorn diet will for sure color deer fat yellow.
 
OK what's the straight poop on hogfat

I had never thought about this subject. As a small child Grand Ma and others let hogs run in the woods to fatten up on acorns and mushrooms and anything they could dig up and eat.
I remember the last hog Dad killed and butchered over 60 years ago. I still remember the absolutely great sausage Grand Ma made, without all the Italian seasonings and wish to someday find some more.
So someone that processes wild hogs jump in here. I want to know too.
They are about ten miles up the road now but only Land Owners can hunt them Legally in Tn. Bird Watchers and street cops run TWRA apparently now.
 
Throw that hind quarter in the smoker and in a few hours report back. I honestly don't think it will be bad. But only one way to know for sure.
 
I actually thought about saving one of those for myself to run in the smoker, but chickened out after seeing fat nearly as yellow as a bananna. I was in that part of the woods this morning again, and there is not a sign it had even been there, other than a few blood spots where I shot it. I guess the coyotes and buzzards don't mind yellow fat.
 
Maybe that's the deal with the yellow Fat...Too much cannibalism for that one. Nasty things. They are like rats here.
 
I see lots of yellow fat in domestic animals, especially birds, I'm thinking it's an indication of rapid fatting, and not a lot of winter fat loss. I've noticed the higher altitude deer and elk have whiter fat than lower altitude, probably because lower altitudes also mean gentler winters and less fat loss. also have shot bear with a lot of yellow to their fat.

perhaps, since she was the largest, she was also the fatest. more fat weight, less loss due to what I'm guessing are mild winters in your region.

personally, that fat in the picture looks pretty white to me. I think you're in the clear.
 
They are rooting up a lot of acorns right now, so maybe the tannic acid has something to do with it. They don't have a lot of interest in the corn right now and lots of it is piling up under feeders. I guess a lot of guys around this part of Texas are seeing the same thing. Taking the pic I posted really didn't show how yellow the fat was, as I took it in the dark and couldn't get it to show up real good. I cut off a lot of hog legs and backstraps, and seldom see anything this yellow, so was just curious if anyone had a reason for it.
 
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