I carry no phone An aspiring Luddite In a wired world. Mastodon Verification Link	Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

Recently, I returned from a jaunt to Georgia. I took the train, which made for a long day travelling, but which had several benefits. The first is that it was significantly more comfortable than a plane. The second is that I had pretty solid wi-fi and a power outlet the whole way. The third is that I had more flexibility with my baggage than I would on an airplane. That last one is really quite important.

Wild hogs are sort of a problem in Georgia. The USDA has them listed as an invasive species, for instance. The University of Georgia has some interesting things to say about them and their life-cycle. However, their status as an invasive species has a couple of interesting ramifications: they can be hunted year-round on private land, or during deer season on state and federal lands, and there is no limit. So when I knew I was going to Georgia, I called up a cousin of mine to see if he could scare me up some wild hog. Which means that on the return trip, I had a cooler full of frozen hog with me on the train. That might have been awkward on a plane.

One of the shoulders and one of the hams are currently hanging to dry after being salted. With a bit of luck, they'll be ready to try around the New Year. Some of the hog is in the freezer. The other shoulder, however, was given a sauerbraten treatment because, heck, it sounded like a good idea to me. In fact, it was. And it would work for less feral pork as well.

• 1 kg of pork, I used shoulder but you could use something else. Skinless is better, as is bone-in.
• the marinade
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 10 peppercorns
  • a bay leaf
  • 4 juniper berries
  • 1/2 tsp caraway seed
  • 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 an onion
• lard, bacon fat or oil
• possibly a beurre manié (or pork fat manié) or roux as needed
• salt and pepper

Remove the meat from the marinade and dry it. Heat some lipid in a skillet and brown the meat on all sides. Stick it in a crock pot. Dice 1/2 an onion and brown it in the same skillet. Put it and whatever else is left in the skillet on top of the pork in the crock pot. Strain the marinade, discard the solids and add the liquid to the crock pot. Cook on low for about two hours.

Remove the meat from the crock pot and set aside to rest. Pour the liquid into a pot, put it over high heat and let it reduce a bit. If you'd like, make a beurre manié or just a paste with some of the fat from the liquid (or bacon fat or lard) and flour, and use that to thicken the sauce a bit. (I actually started with some of the fatty liquid and flour and made something like a roux before adding the liquid.) Correct the seasonings in the sauce, cut the schwein and serve.