Well, we've learned a lesson I hope you never have to learn. It's a stinky one called "boar taint".
What is it? Here is Wikipedia's explanation.
Boar taint is the offensive odour or taste that can be evident during the cooking or eating of pork or pork products derived from non-castrated male pigs once they reach puberty. It is only found in a small minority of pigs and can be found in both males and females as the chemicals that cause the smell are produced in the intestines as well as the testes.
Thankfully it is not harmful and apparently there are soaking methods to take the smell out of the meat, but it is a pain in the neck and I'm not sure how effective it is. (Ever tried to mask the gamey smell of venison?) I can't tell you how disappointing it was to cook up that first batch of pork chops when we got our pig back from the processor only to discover that strange but unforgettable odor. And to top it off, we had guests for dinner that night! The last two pigs we processed gave us delicious meat to consume and share and I was excited about cooking. You should have seen me trying to scramble out of that one!
So here is the take away. If you process a male pig, make sure you do it before the pig has reached sexual maturity (don't ask me how you are suppose to know when that is because I have no clue) ~ or make sure the pig has been "fixed".
Expensive lesson learned.
