too much meat

crackcrack30

May venture towards home reared pigs next year old spot or tamworth........ i'm informed that for company I would need 2......

I am worried that may be too much meat, don't really want to rear for sale or relatives but wouldn't mind giving a few cuts away as per usual, there's just 2+2 children in the household and don't want the freezer full and then possibly thrown out due to dates ect, and the added expence of rearing 2 feedwise..........any experience with this issue.?

moy83

I put three small tamworths in the freezer a few years ago , 18 months of pork chops a few evenings a week was my experience . They were tasty though
Get a butcher to make as many different things out of them as possible and you wont mind eating everything .
Or a buddy of mine gets someone without land or sheds to pay for the weaners and their food while he does the donkey work . They split the cost of butchering and share the meat then .It works well for everyone

crackcrack30

Wife being the one that knows about all things in the kitchen would throw pork out of the freezer after 6 months...

Askim

We have put 2 pigs in our freezer every year, killed 2 Tamworth end of November last year, very little left, we are also 2 +2, kids under 5.

It depends how much you like pig, are ye big meat eaters, any veggies etc, I don't have time for the "we eat too much meat" crowd, good home grown meat.
we go for mainly chops, both loin & shoulder, few roasting cuts, about 6 people size, & ham for Christmas.
I do freeze all mine as pork, then salt what I want when I need it.
Have 2 large white x saddleback fattening at the moment, looking like nice pigs, long good shape, Tamworth meat was really nice but they went fatty & small meat, as in loin size.
After a few months the meat looses some flavour, but is still really good.
Buy a slapmarker, you willl definitely get your pig back.


Hope this helps

A

Askim

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Wife being the one that knows about all things in the kitchen would throw pork out of the freezer after 6 months...

I'll dispose of it for you, no charge.

I would say your own pork should be good for at least a year

crackcrack30

Do you just take back two halves from the butcher or get it bagged and labelled? if the latter isn't the slap mark defunct, how much are butcher costs per pig....

flutered

we reared one on its own a few years ago, it was outside most of the time, our youngest used to lie alongside it in the field, he used to use a tooth brush on its teeth, it killed out very lean, all streakey bacon, no high meat at all.

Askim

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Do you just take back two halves from the butcher or get it bagged and labelled? if the latter isn't the slap mark defunct, how much are butcher costs per pig....

I get them back in halves, the slap is right in the skin, you can slap the shoulders, both hams, you can get the chops with skin on, mark will be on some, makes to harder for some one to pull a fast one, or accidentally deliver the wrong pig to your butcher.
I have never paid for butchering, just €30 for killing & splitting, really easy to cut up, my cuts aren't the straightest, but its all pork, all I have is a boning knife, cooks knife & a butchers saw & away I go
A

crackcrack30

Askim wrote: »

I get them back in halves, the slap is right in the skin, you can slap the shoulders, both hams, you can get the chops with skin on, mark will be on some, makes to harder for some one to pull a fast one, or accidentally deliver the wrong pig to your butcher.
I have never paid for butchering, just €30 for killing & splitting, really easy to cut up, my cuts aren't the straightest, but its all pork, all I have is a boning knife, cooks knife & a butchers saw & away I go
A

much appreciated..............

Midlandsman80

Bit late giving my speak on this thread but I would consider a trad breed x commercial breed, or else be prepared to kill very young, like 6 months max, we had tamworths that we kept too 10 months, were not over fed but were fairly fat when killed and home, also butchering costs a lot, when we do it again it will all be done at home.. from start to finish... and they will be trad breed x max grow or large white and will be killed at 6- months

GS11

Hi, i'm rearing 2 tamworths at the moment, being feeding them on old veg and a lot of boiled spuds. What is the best type of grain to give them, I was thinking about barley but apparently it passes thru them, would u need to boil it and if so for how long.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Askim

barley is fine, raw just has to be well rolled. I feed mine on wheat barley mix, to which I add soya to bring protien to about 16%.
I also feed the spuds raw, just throw a half bucket on ground.

A

TomOnBoard

moy83 wrote: »

18 months of pork chops a few evenings a week was my experience . They were tasty though

I'm not trying to rain on yer parade, BUT, storing pork for 18 months in the freezer flies entirely in the face of safe, quality storage. After month 4 or 5 their quality was declining at a rate of probably 10-15% per month, so that by month 18, a fabulous cut had a taste and texture value about 10-20% of original. That's based on the science of food storage.

Again, I'm not trying to disrespect you; I just wish, for your own enjoyment, you had either frozen a lesser quantity so that you could consume it sooner, or b) done a swap with someone else in the same position so that you could have received an equivalent product months down the line.

I really think that we need to be much more clear about the extent to which freezers (particularly modern frost-free ones) simply do NOT cure food. In your case, why not salt and cure some parts of those fabulous beasts so that your range of edibles would have been HUGELY extended. LIke:

Salt- cured meats
Dry- Cured meats
Sausages
Salamis
Pates
Terrines
Hams
Bacon

as well as the pork that was no doubt exquisite initially.

moy83

TomOnBoard wrote: »

I'm not trying to rain on yer parade, BUT, storing pork for 18 months in the freezer flies entirely in the face of safe, quality storage. After month 4 or 5 their quality was declining at a rate of probably 10-15% per month, so that by month 18, a fabulous cut had a taste and texture value about 10-20% of original. That's based on the science of food storage.

Again, I'm not trying to disrespect you; I just wish, for your own enjoyment, you had either frozen a lesser quantity so that you could consume it sooner, or b) done a swap with someone else in the same position so that you could have received an equivalent product months down the line.

I really think that we need to be much more clear about the extent to which freezers (particularly modern frost-free ones) simply do NOT cure food. In your case, why not salt and cure some parts of those fabulous beasts so that your range of edibles would have been HUGELY extended. LIke:

Salt- cured meats
Dry- Cured meats
Sausages
Salamis
Pates
Terrines
Hams
Bacon

as well as the pork that was no doubt exquisite initially.

You're right Tom , they were getting a bit drier as time went on . Ideally I would have salted a bit but sure thers is always next time .

sawdoubters

wheres my pet pig gone

flutered wrote: »

we reared one on its own a few years ago, it was outside most of the time, our youngest used to lie alongside it in the field, he used to use a tooth brush on its teeth, it killed out very lean, all streakey bacon, no high meat at all.

Askim

TomOnBoard wrote: »

I'm not trying to rain on yer parade, BUT, storing pork for 18 months in the freezer flies entirely in the face of safe, quality storage. After month 4 or 5 their quality was declining at a rate of probably 10-15% per month, so that by month 18, a fabulous cut had a taste and texture value about 10-20% of original. That's based on the science of food storage.

Again, I'm not trying to disrespect you; I just wish, for your own enjoyment, you had either frozen a lesser quantity so that you could consume it sooner, or b) done a swap with someone else in the same position so that you could have received an equivalent product months down the line.

I really think that we need to be much more clear about the extent to which freezers (particularly modern frost-free ones) simply do NOT cure food. In your case, why not salt and cure some parts of those fabulous beasts so that your range of edibles would have been HUGELY extended. LIke:

Salt- cured meats
Dry- Cured meats
Sausages
Salamis
Pates
Terrines
Hams
Bacon

as well as the pork that was no doubt exquisite initially.

It is perfectly safe to eat pork after 18 months in the freezer.
I agree that the quality will be less, but I'll have frozen 18 month old pork any day, over shop bought pork.
I cure after defrosting with less salt than is needed to store it.
A

TomOnBoard

Askim wrote: »

It is perfectly safe to eat pork after 18 months in the freezer.
I agree that the quality will be less, but I'll have frozen 18 month old pork any day, over shop bought pork.
I cure after defrosting with less salt than is needed to store it.
A

That's a very damning indictment of shop-bought pork. I sometimes wonder how it can be sold so cheap, but I have to rely in the food safety and quality authorities to ensure I'm being sold a safe and good quality product. I'm not expecting free- range Tamworths or whatever for €5-7 a Kg, but I am perfectly happy to spend a good hour preparing a roast loin of pork meal, with all the trimmings based on a Dunnes Stores joint, whereas if I was offered a similar joint after 18 months in a domestic freezer, I wouldn't waste my time preparing it.

I'd be delighted to use it in a Goulash or other casserole dish however.

My basic question is- why freeze it for so long in the first place? Why not use the cuts in the many other ways, so as to ensure that ALL the meat is served at its best quality. I've eaten 18 month old pork that was never frozen, but was properly cured and presented in a fantastic chorizo sausage. Mmmmmm!

The donor animals deserve that, when we humans eat their meat, we do so with respect for the animal itself, and gratitude for the fact that the animal has given itself for our nutrition. To me, that means we ought to do whatever is possible to ensure we consume such meat at its best.

GS11

Askim wrote: »

barley is fine, raw just has to be well rolled. I feed mine on wheat barley mix, to which I add soya to bring protien to about 16%.
I also feed the spuds raw, just throw a half bucket on ground.

A

Thanks for your advice.

I thought they couldn't eat raw spuds?

Askim

GS11 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice.

I thought they couldn't eat raw spuds?

Me too, but started with a few and up to a calf bucket twice a day. Puts good condition on them, & they love fodder beet too, I just throw in a couple & give a few belts of a beet knife.

Love the piggies, anyone know of a whiteyork cross pig that will, pig about end of may ??

A

Harmony Farm

If you rear two pigs, you could use the larger one for bacon and the other as porker, make as many different type of produce as you can and then the family will have varied culinary delights for a year! I stored pig-meat for up to a year in the freezer and it was grand, however, nothing beats fresh meat.
We always cut up the carcass at home, just ask the butcher to split it in half.
Try sourcing some venison and make sausage with adding up to 40% minced pork, absolutely divine.
Good luck!

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