Class III pork

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Laftpig
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Class III pork

Post by Laftpig » Mon Dec 18, 2017 22:07

I tried searching for what class III pork is but couldn`t find an answer. Could someone enlighten me as to what it is. Thanks
bolepa
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Post by bolepa » Mon Dec 18, 2017 22:15

Please use this link to find an answer:
https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausag ... on/classes
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Post by Laftpig » Mon Dec 18, 2017 22:33

Thanks bolepa very informative. So if I went to the store a good choice would be a picnic for a recipe calling for class III. It appears picnic can also be class IV. Just trying to figure out what to buy picnics are readily available would pork belly/side be considered class III?
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Tue Dec 19, 2017 01:41

Depending how you cut it you will get several classes from a picnic. Bacon is more of a soft fat not really a class of meat.

Also don't get too caught up with meat classes, you can always use a higher class and adjust the fat amounts.
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Tue Dec 19, 2017 04:52

One thing you could do is buy some boston butts and trim out the eyes and make coppa or whatever and most of the trim will be pretty close to class III.
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Post by Laftpig » Tue Dec 19, 2017 14:30

Thanks Butterbean and Bob K. Fats are what I`m having a problem finding. I thought class 3 was very fatty. Many recipes call for pork fatback and that is just not available around here. Tons of salted fatback here. Also pork belly is almost impossible to find. If I wanted to spend $5-$6 dollars a pound I can get belly from local farmers. Not ready to spend that kind of money on pork belly.

If I soaked salted fatback in water could I get the salt out? They sell thin strips to chunks of salted fatback here.
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Tue Dec 19, 2017 16:35

I don't think trying to soak out the salt will work. I would ask the farmers who have the bellies where they have the pigs processed.
While back fat is prefered in many cases you can still make perfectly good sausage without it. What are you planning to make?
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Tue Dec 19, 2017 18:14

Having suffered from OCD on occasion I've actually used the salted fat back and it will desalt fairly well but its really not worth the effort because you can't get all the salt out and have to adjust and like Bob said you can make perfectly good sausage without this.

Best place I've found for buying back fat is to buy a box of pure pork fat. Your grocer should be able to order it for you. It comes in a 60# box and sells for around $0.50/lb. Though the contents will vary depending on the source but many times it will contain nothing but backfat trimmed from loins and chops but at times it will contain a mix of both hard and soft fat. What I do is sort through the box and package and freeze in smaller bags till needed.
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Post by Laftpig » Tue Dec 19, 2017 21:15

Thanks B&B. Yikes! 60 pounds of fat would be nice, haven`t got that much room. I was looking to make American Bologna and Kielbasa for starters. I made some uncooked sausage such as Italian but it always comes out try. I assumed not enough fat. I usually use Boston Butt, seems to have a lot of fat but apparently not. This is why I joined to learn the right way vs my helter shelter approach.

Couple more dumb questions. Can I you use dry potato flakes in place of potato flour? Second, can I use fat, let`s say from a Boston Butt, that has been smoked for use in other recipes that would be smoke also?
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Post by Butterbean » Wed Dec 20, 2017 00:04

If your grocer makes sausage they could just sell you the fat by weight. Or if you know a deer processor. They buy boxes of fat like I'm describing.

The boston butt should be fine for italian sausage. When you say yours is coming out dry can you describe what you mean? Crumbly. Greasy? My suspicion is you have something wrong with your technique and process but with some more info we might be able to help you sort this out easy enough.

I can't answer about the flakes because I've never used potato starch.

You wouldn't want to use the fat from a smoked butt for several reasons. Wouldn't be safe and it would be rendered and you'd just make a greasy mess.
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