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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 06:07
by Thewitt
The "goat lady" came back in today with 4 more carcasses... I didn't know she was doing this for a restaurant. The sausages are apparently a big hit :)

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 07:15
by ursula
Well done,Tim!!!
How did you go with the sourcing of casings?
Ursula

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:46
by Thewitt
I bought hog casings from China. They are nice quality, though the grading is a little inconsistent. We sort for size now when we soak, and put the larger ones aside for later. Not sure what I'm gong to put into 44-46mm hog casings, but I'll find something.

Still working on the local processing plant to clean and grade for me and I'll buy locally. They have a cleaning machine, but no one knows how it works!

cotto salami

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 16:34
by Oldmud
Just made my first batch of Cotto salami. Was wondered since its not fermented how long it will keep for in the fridge? Also does it freeze well?

Best Use of a Slaughter House

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 15:09
by Rick
I consider myself fortunate in that I have a small inspected slaughter house about 30 minutes drive from me. I've befriended one of the head workers who always accommodates my unusual requests. I have gone to larger slaughter houses and requested fresh blood and due to their size and work load, they don't have the time to monkey around with my little container for blood!

There schedule is Tuesdays is beef slaughter, Thursdays is pig slaughter and Friday is pig processing day from the Thursdays kill. So for example, had I gone this morning with my quart container for fresh blood, I could have that filled along with purchasing any offal products I might need after being seen by the meat inspector. Tomorrow, will find me going for my meat cuts and back fat.

So my question, and this depends somewhat on answers to my previous topic regarding freezing meat, how should I best utilize this slaughter house to my sausage making advantage?

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 18:24
by el Ducko
...visions of Rick, wearing Halloween vampire teeth, getting pulled over by Law Enforcement with a quart of blood on the seat beside him.
Now THAT's using the slaughterhouse to best advantage!
:mrgreen:
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Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 18:29
by sawhorseray
As long as you've got a "in" with the place and can be accommodated on the days you mentioned why not just buy fresh? I have a "in" myself at a major meat distributor about a half hour from house, tho I go there for only pork belly and backfat, they're expensive compared to sale prices that can be found. RAY

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 18:41
by Rick
Ducko, you're too much!!! LOL

Although there is more truth than poetry there, as there are several of us on this forum who do love our blood products!

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 18:49
by Rick
Sawhorse, I agree that some of these cuts are more expensive.

I'll also mention that I believe this slaughter house does more custom slaughtering. They for example wouldn't always have pork bellies available, as the pig owner would take those in bacon. Now probably 99.9% of pig owners don't request to keep blood, lungs, kidneys, livers, heads, back fat, etc. so that is available to me for purchase.

So should I want a pork belly, I believe the slaughter house would indeed have to order that in special. Now I don't know how many bellies are in a case, if it was a reasonable number, say 4, I might be persuaded to purchase a case. I'd just be making a lot of bacon that week!

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 19:15
by Butterbean
If you know the guys at the slaughterhouse why not talk to them and find out the names of some of the small hog producers and find out what they raise. This way you can get to know them and select the type pig you want and you can purchase one from the producer and they can carry it to the slaughterhouse when they bring their own. This way you will know where the pig was raised, how it was raised and the breed. Breed makes a difference. At slaughter you can collect the blood, have the carcass inspected and get them to give you all five quarters of the pig. You'll be amazed at how little waste is on a pig when you get it all back and if you don't mind getting your hands a little dirty you can save money on casings too.

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 20:33
by sawhorseray
I was wrong, not all the porkbutt from a year ago was gone. I've had this one thawing in the fridge for three days and just took it out to debone it and get it ready for some maple-apple-breakfast sausage I've got a mind to make while a couple of hams are smoking tonight and tomorrow. This 11 pound butt has been in my freezer for a year, it's in perfect condition. RAY

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Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 21:23
by Rick
If I was going to stock-up on extra meat, I would think that a good vacuum sealer would be a nice piece of equipment to have.

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 21:50
by sawhorseray
Rick wrote:If I was going to stock-up on extra meat, I would think that a good vacuum sealer would be a nice piece of equipment to have.
A good shrink-wrapper is a fantastic piece of food-saving equipment. One large enough to hold something the size of a whole porkbutt would cost a fortune, that would only be for someone in business. Most vac-sealers use up to a eleven inch wide bag, when you go up to the ones that use fifteen inch bags and will freeze liquids the cost increase is considerable. As you can see from the picture the cling-wrap method works pretty darned well for a period of at least a year. Another method that works well is to debone the porkbutt and cube the meat so it's ready for the grinder, weigh out five pound bags, vac-seal them and toss them in the freezer. The only meat that's ground that goes into my freezers is stuff that's already been processed, such as sausage and burger patties. Heck, I'll be making some sausage patties in a little while, just having trouble deciding on my exact recipe. RAY

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 21:51
by ssorllih
I can always get butts for $1.29 and sometimes less. I like to cut a slab for bacon from the skin side, cut a roast from the remainder and cut all of the trimming for sausage. We like fresh roast pork better than any other meat.

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 22:39
by Rick
Ross, I agree a butt is a very versatile piece of meat. I believe that's where pork steak comes from, and pork steak on the grill, man that's good!