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Author Topic: Hampshire Back Bacon!  (Read 10959 times)

lill

  • Joined May 2011
Hampshire Back Bacon!
« on: November 15, 2011, 05:44:35 pm »
After a long time waiting for a chance at Hampshire back bacon, i am delighted with the results as there is no wastage and the amount of fat is perfect for me. Pictures of the bacon will be displayed below.



« Last Edit: November 16, 2011, 06:01:36 am by lill »

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2011, 06:19:15 pm »
That has made my mouth water :yum: :yum: Did you cure it yourself, Lil?

lill

  • Joined May 2011
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #2 on: November 15, 2011, 06:52:36 pm »
Yes cured by myself and it was made up with the help of my daughter. It was cured in a sweet brine.

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #3 on: November 15, 2011, 07:12:12 pm »
Looks braw. Tasted it yet?

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #4 on: November 15, 2011, 07:44:48 pm »
Can we have your recipe? :) :)

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #5 on: November 15, 2011, 08:11:13 pm »
Can we have your recipe? :) :)

Take one pig...  ;D ;D ;D

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #6 on: November 15, 2011, 08:18:15 pm »
Can we have your recipe? :) :)

Take one pig...  ;D ;D ;D
Add some salt, salt peter and sugar :D :D :D
It really is that easy though  ;) I'll see if I can dig out the mix for a standard wet cure and post it, then it's just a case of increasing sugar or adding flavourings and having a 'play' as I like to call it - lots of pots with smaller bits to see what's best ;D

:yum: :yum: :yum:
From your January Hampshires Lillian ? Go on, tell me what the deadweight was - not that I'll be adding Hampshires to my herd, (well, not for the foreseeable) no matter how much Bruce wants to  ;)
And save me some  :yum: :thumbsup:

lill

  • Joined May 2011
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2011, 06:18:18 am »
This brine mix was made of 1 can treacle, 1 can syrup, half kilo salt, 1pound sugar, 8 ltr of boiling water, and of course the salt petre 6 oz. Then cured in it for 4 days, take out, dry off freeze, it down to slice it, job well done.
This was hazel, ah yes and she does taste lovely, she was 160 live weight and got 100 dead weight back. Robert and I took her to Wishaw on thursday and we got her back on friday last week and I started on the loins.

My main concern was if my pig would my pig get lost (as happened to Karen) and was reassured that Karen's pig was a one off mistake and it would never happen again, I did get my Hampshire back and there was very little fat on the carcase.

Looking forward to cooking and eating back bacon that has no boar taint.

JulieS

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Devon - EX39 5RF
    • Ford Mill Farm
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2011, 10:41:23 am »
Looks fantastic Lillian.  Was just comparing it to some I made from my 13 month old GOS last week. 

I sent her sister off last month at just 12 months old, and the bacon was fantastic....Just right (All gone now, so must have been OK!).   I thought I'd leave this girl the extra month to see how much better/worse it was for the extra time.  This month's was 108kg deadweight.

With my GOS I would say last month's was a lot better, not so much back fat.  But here's a picture of this month's and I'm still pretty pleased, but not worth taking them over the 12 months I would say.

I make my own dry cure,  and with this I added some maple syrup.



« Last Edit: November 16, 2011, 10:43:15 am by JulieS »
Pedigree GOS Pigs and Butchery for Smallholders.

Tamsaddle

  • Joined May 2011
  • Hampshire, near Portsmouth
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2011, 11:17:10 am »
To Julie S - I should be very curious to know what the deadweight was of the 12 month old pig, as a comparison with the 13 month old returning 108 kg deadweight.   Was there less fat on the 12 month old pig?  Right now I am trying to decide which week to send off our much younger porkers (6.5 months today) for slaughter, but as one cannot kill them twice, it is very difficult knowing just when is the optimum time to do it.    They are Tamworths and neither fat or thin, but I have to make a decision as to whether an extra 2 weeks at 5lbs/nuts/pig/day costing £5.20 a week will turn into a worthwhile quantity of pork or not.    So real life figures, albeit from GOSs, would be most interesting - thanks Tamsaddle

JulieS

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Devon - EX39 5RF
    • Ford Mill Farm
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2011, 11:45:04 am »
The 12 month old, last month, came in at 92kg deadweight and I would say the difference in the size of meat on the bacon isn't significant enough to justify me keeping them the extra month. 

For pork I usually send my boars off at 7 months and they weigh in at around 65 - 70kg deadweight.  My gilts I usually send off at around 9 - 10 months and they are around 80 - 85kg deadweight.



Pedigree GOS Pigs and Butchery for Smallholders.

FiB

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Bala, North Wales
    • Facebook
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 2011, 02:41:03 pm »
Great thread and great results. I'm a bit confused about slaughter for Pork Vs Bacon - is it an age thing or is it just they way you cut and process the carcass? 

I had it in my head that we would send some at around 6 months (if live weight estimates agree)
for pork and 8ish months for bacon, but reading some of the threads, I think I may have that wrong - certainly here, 12 months seems to give fantastic bacon.  We have saddlebacks and I'm very carefully checking rib and backbones  daily to make sure they dont put on too much fat!

JulieS

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Devon - EX39 5RF
    • Ford Mill Farm
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #12 on: November 16, 2011, 03:11:57 pm »
We take bacon from pigs of all sizes.  It just means the smaller the pig the smaller the slice of bacon, and in younger pigs you may just get the 'eye' of the back bacon and not much meat on the 'tail' end of the slice......Not sure that makes perfect sense, I'll try and take a picture of some smaller/younger bacon later.

I get really nice bacon from my 9-10 month old gilts, I was just experimenting a little this time to see just how much more meaty the bacon would be from the older girls.....And I've got some cracking hams from them to cure for Christmas  :) :) :)

Pedigree GOS Pigs and Butchery for Smallholders.

dyedinthewool

  • Joined Jul 2010
  • Orpingtons and assorted Sheep
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #13 on: November 16, 2011, 05:10:42 pm »
Being or will be a complete newbie to pig keeping (haven't got them yet - coming in the spring)

I'm reading with interest the bacon threads,  I remember when the bacon my mum cooked the fat was always crisp and crunchy leaving some fat in the pan (which we mopped up with bread  :yum:) - not the watery stuff you get now with the bacon sticking to the pan...

This was way back in the 50's with five of us to feed money was tight so we only had streaky bacon.

Would this have been 'dry cured' and if so HOW do you do that?

You are never to old to learn something new

Pheasant pharmer

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • Ebberston, North Yorkshire
Re: Hampshire Back Bacon!
« Reply #14 on: November 16, 2011, 05:45:43 pm »
We have saddlebacks and I'm very carefully checking rib and backbones  daily to make sure they dont put on too much fat!

We raised 2 saddlebacks this year for bacon and sent them off at 9 months (both were gilts). We are really happy with the bacon - enough fat but not too much on the back bacon, and plenty of meat in the streaky bacon.

Personally I wouldn't get too paranoid about their levels of fat unless you need to sell it on - if you are feeding the correct amount of nuts/pellets then they should be fine.

 :pig: :pig:

 

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