Boar Taint, Acrid Pork

[Prawncrackers]

Has anyone heard of this term? I ask because last weekend I bought a cheap piece of pork shoulder from a butcher’s that I’ve never used before. It was an impulse pork purchase (oh yes); I was at the market buying fish and thought the shoulder looked nice and fatty… and cheap. I took the pork home unwrapped it and that’s when I smelt there was something off. The meat looked and felt fine but there was a definite whiff of something else. Not of regular bad meat as such but as if it had done an hours worth of circuit training. This pork had BO!! It was a smell I’ve never encountered before in pork but it was unmistakably BO-like.

I braised it anyway in some strong spices hoping that the smell might cook out but I kinda knew it wouldn’t work and it didn’t.

The golden rule was broken I suppose; I didn’t use my regular butchers who I know will look after me. Don’t worry I won’t be tempted by the lure of discount swine again – okay at least not until the next time!

But it got me thinking about this term ‘Pissy Pork’, I remember hearing years ago in relation to male pigs and their hormones tainting the meat. Tried to Google the term but got nothing. Is ‘Pissy Pork’ what I encountered, have I dreamt this term up or did I just buy a crap piece of meat?

[JEL]

boar odor comes from an aldosterone hormone, (sorry can't remember the exact name of the hormone). it is present in sexually mature male swine.

it is the reason we don't feed intact male pigs for slaughter in this country.

in other places intact males are fed but are slaughtered at a younger age to skirt around the issue of boar taint. the term pissy pork comes from the fact that the hormone is stored in a pouch or gland called the preputial diverticulum, which is loacated at the boars sheath, the hormone is excreted with the urine, which often times squirts all over the boar's belly, as when he pees he can shake his sheath to achieve this most desired result.

boars want to stink because sows like it.

most boar meat ends up in a blended state and is used in making lunch meats which are rarely cooked in the home. if you purchase some cold meats and heat them on the stove or in the m wave, you can smell the boar taint....

see the cool stuff you know by being a pig farmer....

[Prawncrackers]

see the cool stuff you know by being a pig farmer....

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Wow thanks, i want to be a pig farmer too!! Lots of info on 'Boar Taint' on the web, ta.

Edited November 1, 2007 by Prawncrackers (log)

[Lindacakes]

Jesus Christ she said, opening a can of beans.

[Joisey]

I used to get bacon that had a definite urine odor and I got a similar explanation.

[Adam Balic]

Another factor in boar taint apart from androstenone is skatole. Skatole is a bacterial break down product that smells stinky and accumulates in fat like androstenone. Skatole levels are usually higher in un-castrated, compared to castrated male pigs.

Only about 50% of the population (in the USA) can perceive androstenone, which depends on the OR7D4 receptor. Depending on how many copies of the gene you have and what form of the receptor you have changes your ability to perceive androstenone. That's why people describe with such a wide range of descriptions (unpleasant BO, pissy, sweaty, a woody leaf litter smell, or even a nice floral smell

Androstenone is also what makes truffles smell like sex, so about 50% of people that try truffles will not smell much at all, some will hate the smell and some will love it.

[SuzySushi]

Another factor in boar taint apart from androstenone is skatole. Skatole is a bacterial break down product that smells stinky and accumulates in fat like androstenone. Skatole levels are usually higher in un-castrated, compared to castrated male pigs.

Only about 50% of the population (in the USA) can perceive androstenone, which depends on the OR7D4 receptor. Depending on how many copies of the gene you have and what form of the receptor you have changes your ability to perceive androstenone. That's why people describe with such a wide range of descriptions (unpleasant BO, pissy, sweaty, a woody leaf litter smell, or even a nice floral smell

Androstenone is also what makes truffles smell like sex, so about 50% of people that try truffles will not smell much at all, some will hate the smell and some will love it.

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Wow! The interesting things one learns by reading on eGullet!

[MarkinHouston]

As a hunter I can verify the comments about the "pissy boar". That 300-pound boar makes a good picture only; the meat is beyond repair. I was informed on my first pig hunt to look for a small one which would more likely be a young female. After following that advice, I've not had to endure the bad stuff; we leave it for the coyotes.