[princesspiggy]

has anyone ever had problems with butchers curing their pigs? we sent to 2 tamworths to a local butcher to be cut and cured. i dont know how he cured them but the meat was very strange. the gammon was so strong no-one would eat it. then i thought maybe it should be soaked before use but i never mananged to soak it and for it still to taste nice. the bacon used to cook out a yellow/brown colour with an awful smell, and surely the smell of bacon is lovely? does anyone know what went wrong? i was too embarassed to ask the butcher (who was award winning!), Tamworths are supposed to have superb bacon and ham, and the ones we cut for pork were heavenly. Even the dogs couldnt the cured meat without being sick or peeing themselves in night. the pigs were 12 months old, freerange, not overly fat, they were uncastrated males but had not worked.

[robert waddell]

fist how much did you pay for this service          second was it your pigs you got back         third what did you feed them     fourth what weight were they at killing         fifth males at this age do have taint they ride each other    name and shame

[princesspiggy]

well, its going back 3 years now, (it took that long to eat it - ha) but i dont want to repeat same mistake. they went straight to butchers from abbatoir, they were there at butchers at least week, came back frozen. and wud av cost bout £50 to cut and cure each pig,  (cant rem exactly now but thats usual price for where i live.) they had tamworth ginger hairs so im sure they were ours! we fed them harbro range of pig food (from weaners through to finishers) moistened with bit wet sugarbeet. they had 20 acres woodlands to wander bout on. wud have been about 200kg, had bout 1.5 inches of fat on joints. we looked after them the same way we did the 2 male tamworths the year before, which we used for pork (superb) except we kept them 2 months longer. i never saw them sexually active ever. wev eaten 3 year old rams before, so i dont think the tamworths were tainted cos uncastrated. the gammon was dark red and bacon browny yellow - before and after cooking. i know meat bought in shop has been highly treated  (i saw a programme on processing ham - incredible) so wasnt sure if this was normal.

[princesspiggy]

also, there was quite a bit of fluid (clear/brown) in bags of frozen meat (4 tablespoons per 3 steak cuts). hope that helps cos dont want it to  happen again, especially as dogs cudnt eat it!

[shetlandpaul]

try a diffrent butcher. i would have complained. why was the cured meat frozen. if the meat was cured properly should there be any water loss.

[robert waddell]

when i first started doing all the cutting myself it was all trial and error. If possible consider to do the job yourself and by your mistakes you learn. It is not easy de boning the shoulders (I hate this job) and takes the longest so this is the first piece I do. I can only think the butcher could not have cared less about your pork even if he was an award winning butcher, do not use him again. The first time I tried my own bacon it was a disaster, I started with pronto cure not good at all, then went to smoking, mistakes learned don't smoke it first then cure (if smoking it should be cold smoke) I have seen other bacon that is white. We all believe that bacon should be pink/red but this is not the natural colour. To get the pink/red colour salt peter is used to turn meat this colour. I make all my own pork products, sausages, stuffing, burgers, bacon, joints, chops.

For you to have an inch and a half on your 200kl pig is very little. Commercial breeders have 10 mm of back fat or half an inch. Ideally you want to kill at 100-120 kilos. What slaughter house did you use? because at that weight very few slaughter houses have a tank big enough to scald especially since you say there was ginger hairs on your carcases. Sheep are different some breeds if you kill them in the mating season the stink outwith this period they are alright. We had heard of someone who had a cheap source of cauliflower and when they got their pig back his dog would not eat it, a lot of people do not want the bother of butchering and think of there pigs being friendly and happy but really doing your own butchering especially if it is for your own consumption is the best option.

[Jackie]

Id take a piece of the pork to the Trading Standards as they would analyse what was on the meat and make sure it isnt poisonous, cos it sounds like it might be if even your dogs are throwing up.

[princesspiggy]

what weight is a 3/4 grown tamworth? when worming my 8 mth sows my  vet said they must 180kg (over fone) so im guessing they were 200kg. it was a few years back now so dont have weight receipt. what ages do tamworths normally go for pork and bacon? i thought they were slow maturing. we use scotch premier abattior. we sent some smaller blackx breeds to them and they still had a hairs on aswell. meat was frozen cos we did two pigs at same time.

Id take a piece of the pork to the Trading Standards as they would analyse what was on the meat and make sure it isnt poisonous, cos it sounds like it might be if even your dogs are throwing up.

wish id thought of that at time. didnt reaslise you could do that.

[princesspiggy]

lillian, do u get yours back straight from abattior then? if so how do u carry them?
i wanted to take our sheep straight from abattior (a different one to pigs ) but they wouldnt let me and had to be picked up from butcher. but i rem a man at pig abattoir waiting to take his porkers home. we neva got their head, ears or feet back from butchers which we'd asked for, does head get left at abattior?
will def do all curing myself next time, having learnt the hard way, expensive lesson to buy and feed 2 pigs for year then killing and cutting fees. and end up with terrible meat. we do all our own birds and venison, i actually enjoy the butchering, i think its quite respectful and interesting.

[Hilarysmum]

First as  others have said change your butcher.   Collect your butchered meat from the butcher; cure your own bacon and gammon - loads of recipes and ideas on here.   We have never had boar taint, but recommend if they are full males then take them at 6 months.  My dog is sick if given pork. 

[robert waddell]

both shotts and dunblane let you take carcases home a bed sheet or plastic (clean) to keep the carcase clean but not to a butcher or processing plant some times the head can be omitted but your butcher is at it just ask slaughter house to cut pigs in half easier to handle as to weights it depends on various factors i cant understand why you get frozen meet chilled yes but frozen only if asked there is 3 sizes of pigs always printed in farmers weekly porkers cutters and baconer's all below 100kgs as to tamworth weights it could be from 2lbs at birth to over 300kgs at maturity and any thing in between you have to be Ware a lot of people out there  they think we have gum stamped on our forehead

[princesspiggy]

so what age (approx) should tamworths go for pork and bacon? i was told "when they fit their skin" but that doesnt help much.  its hard to find out these facts sometimes cos farmers with their hybrid pigs do things differently to the rare pig breeders, of which alot (including myself) start out as novices. i know "theyre slow to mature". 6 mths for pork and 8 mths for bacon? i dont know what cutters means.
thanks for your help

[robert waddell]

IT IS DEPENDANT ON THE SIZE OF SCALDING TANKS AT THE ABATOIR SOME HAVE GAS FLAMES THAT SINGE THE HAIRS WOULD YOU LIKE BACON WITH HAIRS ON OTHERS JUST SKIN THEM IF TO BIG  THEY PUT THEM THROUGH THE CATTLE LINES THE HYBRIDS ARE DERIVED FROM  SOME OF THE RARE BREEDS     WHEN THEY GO IS UP TO YOU

[princesspiggy]

thanx for your advice, really helpful. my 2 sows are looking rather juicy outside,  lol.

[robert waddell]

sorry for the font size my mistake was not shouting