My neighbor just brought back a couple hogs from Texas and I will be processing them.  

I understand they are lean, so I have some Manteca lard.  How much per pound?  

Got any spice recipes?  We are interested in breakfast sausage and summer sausage.  I am going to experiment with a small batch of an Alton Brown recipe.

As far as a shoulder or a ham, are they too lean to smoke to make pulled pork or a ham?  

Thx.

I tried one in crock pot for pulled pork. Thing was tough as a 2x4 lol. Made sure it was covered in fluid a 2nd time and same result. If you can figure it out let me know.

Is it really that difficult to make pulled pork from them?  I have a hog at a processer and he is going to keep 2 intact for me to make pulled pork.  I am keeping the ribs which he is cleaning up, he is vacuum packing the back straps and I currently have the tenderloins marinating to be cooked on Monday night.  Rest he is making into Italian sausage. Got the boar on Saturday morning.

The ones I have are as lean as venison.  No way I am gonna try to make a ham or pulled pork.  An electric pressure cooker is probably the only way you will be able to make it tender.  

If you can, ask the butcher if he added pork fat to the sausage and post the answer.  I bet he did, probably 50/50 mix.  

The lard worked OK, but it was obviously the wrong thing.  My usual sources were out of pork fat, so I bought pork belly at Costco.  That worked just fine.  

I also made some Texas style sausage with 50-50 beef brisket to wild pig.  I used the point and all of the fat cap.  A chunk of the fatcap actually stalled my grinder on slow speed.  It ran through fine on fast speed.  
Sausage had excellent flavor.

Neighbor also hit the Reo spice company and brought back a bunch of sausage spices.   It wasn't clear what types each recipe made, as some only had numbers like "old number 3", so I have been making small batches to see what is good.  I have made Italian and summer sausage too.  The Alton Brown recipe was quite good.  The lard cooked out quickly, so the sausage patties were very fragile, but lean and tasty!

Tonight I will process a hind quarter and make German sausage with a Reo spice pack.  The spice packs are "dump into 50 lbs of pig" type of thing, so I had to buy a scale from Amazon.  I also bought cut proof gloves and more casings from them.  The scale weighs to hundredths of an once and up to 12 pounds, so it is quite handy to break down the spice packs into ounces per pound, and to also weigh the meat before mixing.  

I will have to call him up and ask him what he used in the italian sausage. I have yet to try any but the tenderloins were great.  I have the backstrap, 10 lbs of italian sausage and 2 hams.  Trying to decide how to cook the 2 hams.

I cook them all the time in the smoker, slow cooker, pressure cooker, etc. For the most part, they're only tough if you mess up or you're trying to cook a big boar. I've even had pulled pork from a big boar that wasn't tough.

A lot of the time the packages of seasoning are really light on taste if you go by their ratio. It's better to back the meat down or increase the seasoning. For instance, I use Leggs seasoning a good bit. Those packs are for 50lbs of meat. If you use 50lbs of meat to a pack, the sausage doesn't have much taste. I'll usually use 40-45lbs of meat per package. The seasonings from Bass Pro are the same way. You'll have to play with the ratios to get it where you want it.

Ytka what's your technique for slow cooker and electric smoker? Mine come out tough.

Low and slow. Sometimes I inject them and sometimes not. It's normal for us to cook a pork roast for 12 hours in the slow cooker. I cook them in the smoker with a rub around 200-225, closer to 200. If the temp gets up to 225, I start backing it down.

How big was the hog and was it a boar or a sow? I should have mentioned that there's a size cutoff for me. If it's 100lbs or less, I cut them into roasts whether it's a boar or sow. With boars at 120 or so I start being more selective and only keep the best cuts for roasts. Sows are usually good for roasts up to around 200. If you're talking about a 200lb+ boar, the only thing I don't make into sausage is the loin and tenderloin. Although, some of the best pulled pork I've ever had was from a 416lb monster boar. I didn't kill or cook that one.

I've made some terrific pulled pork from wild hogs and I've also had some turn out like shoe leather. I think a lot of it is determined by their diet.

I smoked the ham from a sow that was pushing 300lbs and it was the best pork I've ever had. She was fat off winter wheat.

For breakfast sausage I'd do about a 70/30 or more mixture of lean mean to fat. I've made a very lean sausage with venison and wild hog and people ate it up! I myself hate breakfast sausage so none I've made tasted good to me.

I injected my butts and shoulders with plenty of rub. I like mustard for my base layer on even my hams. The main thing I have learned on smoking wild pork is an hour to two hours is all you need to get your smoke ring, I like 150 degrees. Then cover with fowl or a pan with a lid. Then keep your temps right around 200 to 250 degrees keeping a liquid stock in the bottom of your pan to steam the meat. Honey and mustard are my favorite ingredients. Sausage is a different story I have not had good luck with it except when I do smoke sausage.  Then I use a 1" all natural case 40% pork 40% venison 20% pork fat from the local butcher. I salt and pepper and add cracked mustard to taste. By frying a small portion in a pan and once I'm satisfied I make a larger batch and stuff the casings.  Then I smoke over water to 165 degrees internal temperature. My mom likes what we don't stuff to make breakfast patties but I'm not crazy about it. We did catch a barrow one time and used this recipe but added some real maple syrup to. People loved it but I guess I was to hard a self critic. Good luck!

Every one of Reo's spice packets were on point.  I had to buy a scale to break them down into ounces per pound, but then I could also accurately weigh the meat.  I just processed some more a few minutes ago.  

I have been adding pork belly because the only butcher that sold pork fat was out that day.  Now I am out of pork belly, so I will try again.  

Lard does not work, if I failed to mention that.  I will use the remaining lard to make masa for tamales later today.  

I will be having some French roast with Irish cream now......

eta: yesterday I found the large local butcher wants $2.99/lb for fat scraps.  Costco has pork belly for $2.75/lb and their boneless country ribs are even less.  Butcher is smoking crack.  

For sausage the best breakfast sausage is Leggs Old Plantation seasoning.  1 package per 25 pounds of meat, or lower the amount of meat for a hotter sausage. Has the traditional flavor, but much better than what you buy from stores