That week in February where everything went wrong with a whole pig

I had a week back in February where I got a whole 180 pound hog from a local farm near here, and I messed up the belly section on Tuesday. The fat wasn't rendering right and I tore the skin bad trying to get the ribs out clean. Then on Wednesday I oversalted the bacon cure by about double what I normally do, which I didn't catch until Friday. It cost me about 40 bucks in meat plus all that time, and I had to toss the whole batch. Has anyone else had a stretch where you just can't nail a whole animal breakdown? What do you do to reset after that kind of mess?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles67826d ago

Hang on though, a 180 pound hog's belly section is usually pretty forgiving if you let it rest in the fridge overnight after the initial breakdown. The fat rendering issue might have been because you started cutting too warm, not because of the pig itself. Next time, just pop those belly pieces in the freezer for 30 minutes before you work them, it firms up the fat enough to keep the skin from tearing. You probably already know that, but it saves a lot of headache.

kim_patel8926d ago

My 200 pound hog bellies are fine at room temp, @charles678, so maybe your pig was just a bad one lol.