Mastering the Whole Hog (Part 5 of 9)

Keep Moving Forward, It's an OOEE Well Worth It!

Photo by Evan Wise on Unsplash

Marinating Strategies

When it comes to marinating a whole hog prior to cooking, there are many different techniques and opinions. I like to use a meat injector kit which are often used for injecting brine into a fresh ham when making a country ham.[1] I have used simple brines with only water, sugar and salt and I have also used Cajun-spiced brines. They are both good. If you want to flavor the brine with herbs and garlic and other powder-based spices, you need to prepare the brine several days in advance so that you can strain out any undissolved salt or powder crystals along with large items such as garlic cloves. Then, you can get a lot of herb and spice and garlic flavors into the brine without clogging the needle of the injector.

One of the most important lessons is to NEVER let your brine flavor additions over-power the natural taste of the pork!!! It is better not to use any brine additions at all than to break this cardinal rule. Remember, you may also want to use a dry rub and sauce, so you do not need to go overboard on the marinating flavors.