It's a great question. I've started adding more fat than I used to - especially to recipes where just butt is called for. Where breeds are concerned I've raised two types on the same feed and the fat tasted different with each and behaved differently too. I thought it tasted better than commercially...

And thanks snakeoil for asking this question because I've been making sausage for a few years now and have never heard this advice before (thanks Butterbean and NorthFork!). I've been wrestling with hanks of casings and always wishing there was a better way than, in frustration, just cutting out the...

Shuswap wrote:Jeff - we had read all the tips for loading out pigs but soon learned that raising egg layers and meat birds was a heck of a lot easier and more profitable.

Having never attempted to make money off of pigs or meat birds, I will definitely trust you on that.

FYI to westerners - Cash and Carry is selling whole lambs for 3.29 lb. Yes, you have to cut them up, but it's a great learning experience. :smile: You need a meat saw for the bones. They're not too expensive. Frozen rind on bellies are 2.32 lb (I like the rind-ons because the rinds after smoking are...

My boar was supposed to be butchered two weeks ago but she was difficult to corral even though they enticed her with food. Exactly why we gave up raising a couple of pigs each year - loading them in the truck to take to the slaughter house was a nightmare, so bad the hams were streaked with broken ...

Good choice - cheers Bob!

Rick - that's correct. It is worth noting that the Cure Calculator includes this statement: "The FDA limit for nitrites is 200 Parts per Million." However, for comminuted meat (sausages) the limit is 156 ppm. http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... g/nitrates

Jeff

But I have to chime in here on the subject of Cure 1. You wrote "You could drop the cure level if you wanted, but it is already very low in this recipe". Actually you are a bit over the recommended limit. 6g in a 4.5lb batch gives us a ppm of 184. Red - I stand corrected! Thank you for the catch. C...

Hi Rick and Rudy. Substituting bacon ought to work just fine. In fact, I'll bet it would add a very nice flavor. If you do that, let us all know how it turns out. You could drop the cure level if you wanted, but it is already very low in this recipe. On the other hand, there should be no issue with ...

Yeah that's pretty fatty. The way I like it!

Nice looking stuff, King! You say you added 1.5 lbs. of jowl. What was the total weight of the meat and fat in this formula?

Cheers,
Jeff

So here is an update on a concern I expressed a month ago -- which was that my vacuum sealed and frozen liverwurst would be grainy once thawed. Yesterday I thawed some out and have been eating it. It hasn't suffered one bit. In fact, it might even be a little better as the spices have... married, as...

Good luck Mark!

Hey Rick - Some wedding! Sounds like you raised him right. Can you share that hot links recipe?

Cheers,
Jeff

Redzed that looks fantastic! Another one for my to-do list as tongue is a big favorite of mine and I've got a few in the freezer at the moment.

Jeff