primitive gets pig in a poke

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x66316

Oh my.

A whole pig.

Coyote_Bandit  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-24-09 12:59 PM
Original message

So I was given a 350 pound pig

Probably relatively lean for his size. Found a place a couple of hours from here that butchered and dressed him out for the grand sum of $150. After sampling some of their product of course. Looks like I'm gonna be eating LOTS of pork for awhile.

I would appreciate your suggestions as to the tastiest ways to prepare this beast.....

The empressof all   (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-24-09 01:14 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. OMG I'm so jealous

I'd probably have the butcher only cut half for the freezer. Then I'd take the other half a hog and have a pig roast. Nothing better than the crispy skin off a roast pig.

Coyote_Bandit  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-24-09 02:10 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
4. I had the whole pig dressed

I don't expect to have enough freezer space for all of him. I had less than a week's notice that he was coming so I need to purge my freezer to make some additional space available. I'll either trade pieces of him for some additional space or find it a bit easier to temporarily pack him off to a nearby meat locker.

A pig roast sounds like a wonderful idea. Conjurs up all sorts of images and memories of my rural childhood. Not sure I could do those memories justce in my decidedly suburban home.....

kfred  (39 posts)     Wed Jun-24-09 01:16 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. How is it cut?

Did you order sausage or bacon from it? The reason I ask is that Alton Brown of FoodTV has an EXCELLENT homemade sausage recipe as long as you can grind it and it uses pork roasts.

Porketta style (you'll have to smurf that one) is also excellent for a midwinter bellywarmer

Coyote_Bandit  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-24-09 02:13 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
5. I did order sausage and bacon cut from it. The butcher offered over 10 different sausage recipes - one of which has to be among the best flavored pork sausage I've ever tasted.

Porketta? And winter food? Ummmm......definitely sounds like something I'll have to Google.

You know, I'm starting to suspect the primitive stole the pig from somewhere.

The primitive's screen-name is highly suggestive of such mischief.

The empressof all   (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-24-09 01:59 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Also...Make sure you ask the butcher to seperate the Leaf lard

Leaf lard is the BEST fat for pie crust. Regular lard will work but the leaf is the best for flavor.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E6DC...

The meals you'll have are limitless.

Coyote_Bandit  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-24-09 02:18 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
6. I did ask the butcher to separate the leaf lard. I'll keep some of it but will give the majority of it to my mother. She makes pie at least once a week. I'm hoping to spend some kitchen time with her making pies and hear some of her old food stories.

[Ree]

350 pound hog? must have been an old sow....

[GOBUCKS]

Hogzilla?

Remember this is a DUmmy. If the hog wasn't stolen, then it most likely died of natural causes (swine flu?), and was disposed of by giving it to the DUmmy. Animals that die of natural causes are not in much demand commercially! They also cause extra work and disposal expense. A DUmmy would be an excellent cheap method of disposal.

I had a friend who had to shoot a heifer that escaped into a swamp, and he could not catch. Had a lot of trouble trying to find someone to butcher the carcass because they feared it may have had died of some illness. They only wanted to butcher animals that came in on the hoof. I guess there is some health regulation about that.

[miskie]

Id certainly hope that the primitive was smart enough to not eat a dead or diseased hog. I have the suspicion though that if it were free, it was old breeding stock that was past its prime.

[BlueStateSaint]

Id certainly hope that the primitive was smart enough to not eat a dead or diseased hog.

I sure as all getout wouldn't want to take that bet--I'd say the odds are about 50-50.