What to do with a whole pig?

hex2

Hi PP,

The River Cottage Cookbook has a great section on this including a timetable of what to do when.

Best of luck with it - I am deeply envious.

Penelope_Penguin

jinky67 wrote: »

Why not pop into your local butcher and ask him /her?

If you've met my butcher you'll know why I'm unable to do this Great meat, terrible customer service :eek: But I did bump into the old butcher's wife last week and picked her brains well not literally, you understand

floss2 wrote: »

Wish we had a freezer & space for even half a pig

Belly - great for slow roasting over whole apples & onions, or casseroling with tomato soup or passata & sage
Tenderloin - fab baked with fresh sage & onions in foil & finished on the BBQ
Chops - lovely grilled or baked then topped with apple sauce & a slice of crumbly cheese & browned under the grill
Leg - traditional roasting joint
Loin - another trad. roasting joint
Shoulder - good for your sausages?
Hocks - wonderful either slow cooked or slow roasted

What about bacon? Are you planning to cure any at all, or make a ham or gammon joint? And if you do, what about air drying some, to wafer slice as a Parma-type ham?

I envy you - PM me for my address to send any samples!

That's a great list, thank you :A We're sharing the pig between 4 families, so we need space for a quarter only. We've successfully made pancetta, and DH would like to wet-cure a leg this time.

Due to timing issues, we're going to ask the butcher at the abbatoir to make sausages from half the belly and shoulder (approx 15lb). I've agreed to make cranberry and pork sausages for the 3 friends :T

DonnaP wrote: »

Are you having the head for making brawn or will they turn those into sausages? My Gran used to make the most fantastic brawn. I can also remember my Dad eating brains on toast for tea on a Sunday night (or trotters). Not that I fancy either!

I'm as yet undecided whether totake the head. I know that weezl did one, so I'll revisit that thread. Ears and cheeks sound interesting, though :think:

Penelope_Penguin

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

Other parts to ask for on the day of slaughter are: liver, spleen, heart, lights?, stomach. (the kidneys will stay with the carcass). These soft offals need using within 72 hours, they don't freeze well raw.
Various things you can make which will keep for a while - salamis, cured hams, pate.

(all from River cottage cookbook)

HFW's Meat is currently by my bed and DH and I look at the pig section every night We'll definitely be having the liver, and thank you for reminding me of salami - that's another thing DH would like to try

sleepless_saver wrote: »

Even if you don't get the pig head, make sure you get the cheeks. You can braise them slowly, or do as I did and cure them to make guanciale which makes a brilliant pasta dish (pasta all'amatriciana). Because they're quite small it's less scary than curing something large if you've not done it before.

Great recipe, thank you :T

misskool wrote: »

Don't forget the ribs!! sticky bbq (or grilled) ribs

You can roast the ears (very crispy). You can also eat the intestine (small and large) but I'm not sure how to clean them except that you have to strip the membrane from the inside. Maybe you're not going that far with your pig though.

Rare breed pork ribs are my absolute favourite dish. I slow roast them in the Rayburn until the meat falls of the bones :drool:

I'm not sure about the intestines either I've bought sausage skins that we;ve used for previous sausage making and they're in the freezer.

Penelope_Penguin

DayDreamBeliever wrote: »

Hi Penny,

Sorry no real advice to offer but could i ask who you've done this through? Would love to buy my dad something like this for Xmas (i know he wouldn't be able to eat him/her then but to know s/he's coming would make him excited enough for sure!) as he is very conscious about where his meat comes from?

I've done the google thing but a bit wary as i have no idea who's legit and who's not

Thank you and enjoy - i know i would!

We've teamed up with a friend who has some land. He was getting 2 weaners for himself and offered to get a third for us. We've chipped in for the cost, but not done much of the looking after Our plan is to rent some land ourselves closer to home, and raise a apir of weaners next year, and when DS finishes college (about 4 years' time) to move north and buy a smallholding :T

What exactly are you planning to get for your dad; your post doesn't make that clear, but that may just be me

wogglemaker wrote: »

I can vouch for the River Cottage faggotts recipe, they are fantastic!! so make sure you get the necessary insides back.

Edit: I forgot belly pork can make the sweetest most fantastic roasting joint on earth

Never made faggots, so thanks for the tip. Just taken a look at the recipe, and that needs the heart, so we'll be able to use that :T I love belly pork, too :drool:

MC_Emily wrote: »

Whatever cuts you ask for, just make sure it's YOUR pig you get back....many abbatoirs can't guarantee this :mad:

:eek::eek::eek: How will we know

Penelope_Penguin

forestlands wrote: »

Will post how I use my pigs later in the day.

Please do - I'd love to see how someone else has done thsi - any pics, please

Penny. x

Churchmouse

Kittikins wrote: »

Hi Penny - as a vegetarian of 28 years, I think what you're doing is the best way of eating meat. To raise an animal yourself to feed you and your family, ensuring that you know its full provenance is the best way to eat in my opinion. Far better that than picking up some limp piece of flesh from the supermarket that could be from any animal, pumped full of drugs/water/whatever to make it look appetising!

I believe that people who eat meat should be prepared to raise and kill the animal, and should always link the cute animal in the field with the joint on their plate.

I hope that you make the very most of her and enjoy every mouthful. My exOH is of Caribbean extraction and in his family, they use everything bar the oink!

Do I assume from this that townies like me, or indeed dwellers of blocks of flats shouldn't eat meat ? I have nowhere to keep an animal, and anyway would want the animal dispatched quickly and humanely by an expert, not crudely by a total amateur I don't think PenPen has plans to throttle her piggy herself, and indeed says the animal has largely been raised by a friend with a bit of land.

The rest of your post I agree with I've never shied away from the fact it is an animal I'm eating, and have been prepared to try most parts. Some I cannot stomach the thought of, but I happily endorse others eating them. A bit like on the ethical thread where I state milk drinkers should endorse rose veal.;)

Penelope_Penguin

Churchmouse wrote: »

I don't think PenPen has plans to throttle her piggy herself

I don't. Indeed unless I were planning to feed the pork only to my immediate family, this would be illegal. If you plan to distribute meat from pigs and other animals, it needs to have been despatched at a registerd abbatoir. Well, that's what David Archer told me, anyway, and he would know

Penny. x

forestlands

Hi Penny, sorry got waylaid :rolleyes:

I have a butcher come round and slaughter then butcher a week later. For own use of course . Get my own pig done as I like :T My pigs are Kune kune so tasty, lean and not massive. Keep the pluck, lungs, heart, liver and also the fatty netting from around the stomach which is used to wrap round faggots and haslet. Lungs/lights are cut up to fed the dogs - not too fussy about cutting, more chunks including some pipes and bits of meat. Freeze some for later. Wash the caul/ fatty netting gently in clean water and drain - can be put straight in the freezer.

Half the pig is cut into joints and chops, bone and rolled takes up less space in the freezer, belly can be kept as belly slices and joints for brined belly roast. Don't have joints cut larger than you need cos a roast joint will go in one meal - even a big one that you thought would last 2 days! The second half, have leg for gammon or a joint, good bits off the shoulder can be diced and frozen, you need 16 lb of meat, minced, for a run of sausages. ( 16lb of mince, 1lb water, 1 lb rusk and a pack of seasoning can be added i.e. leek, Lincolnshire etc). Loin/back boned for bacon and placed in brine for 5 days.with leg for gammon which will need pricking with a skewer so that brine gets right into it.

In a hurry, surrounded by meat, then have a large bucket/container of brine handy. Wash the head and tongue and pop in brine. BRINE 600g cooking salt - same as sea salt, 15 juniper berries, 15 black pepper corns, 6 bay leaves, 15 cloves and 500g of white or brown sugar. These are added to 5 ltrs of warm water, stir well. This is a basic brine for preserving meat, I'm not too fussy if I only have 10 juniper berries or no cloves as difference is seldom noticed and I want to preserve the meat at this stage! Can appear a daunting task when you are surrounded by pig and need to get on!

Bag joints, chops etc and put in freezer, meat for sausages goes into bucket/container and kept cool ready for use Check the brine covers the meat, a belly joint could go into the brine for about 4 days, ready for roasting on a bed of fried onions, delicious!!!

Odds and sods. Freeze kidneys for use in steak and kidney pie, remove valves from heart and freeze, freeze any testicles :rotfl:, slice and freeze liver ready for use, freeze trotters or place in brine for making brawn. Remember you have a head in brine already and may find yourself with too much meat to cope with :eek:

Bet I've forgotten something. Check you have wine, in case you need it, pour a glass and sample. You have just achieved a mammoth task well done!! :T

Ask your butcher to sharpen any knives before you start!! Best cover what to do with bacon, gammon etc when taken from brine, checking for over or under salting etc. Will come back with that. Please ask if anything is not clear or you need info. Hope this helps!

How do I download pics please Penny?

Have a good day folks!

DayDreamBeliever_2

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

We've teamed up with a friend who has some land. He was getting 2 weaners for himself and offered to get a third for us. We've chipped in for the cost, but not done much of the looking after Our plan is to rent some land ourselves closer to home, and raise a apir of weaners next year, and when DS finishes college (about 4 years' time) to move north and buy a smallholding :T

What exactly are you planning to get for your dad; your post doesn't make that clear, but that may just be me

Hi Penny,

No it was definately me not being clear - I'd love to 'buy a pig' that somebody else will raise in a humane way and then when the time comes we'll end up with a freezer full of pork. Have heard it being talked about and always thought it would be an idea my dad would love, i just have no idea what company would be the best to go with.

Lots of companies will sell a whole pig, but i want the 'whole experience' too

forestlands

Happy to cover where to get pigs, when, breed,care, DEFRA and other requirments, outdoor or indoor - just off to muck out piggery and feed outside sows - spuds for breakfast ;0)! Back soon!