[WinslowPorker]

well the deed is done and Jess & I have been and collected the carcasses and taken to our butcher, for a 3 year old she took it all in her stride and is very much looking forward to her sausages!!

Anyway the pigs were fantastic even the abbatoir said they were tremendous good pigs and that we had done a good job on them! that comment alone has made it all worth while. then took them to the butcher who explained more about the fat etc and he was of the same opinion but did say that i probably could of let them go a couple of weeks earlier and showed me where the 'second layer' of fat grows. they had about an inch/2 inches of fat on their backs so all in all very happy.

The kill weights ranged between 70-84kg which is perfect as i am led to believe.

Now i am really really looking forward to our pork!!

The self-reflection on Monday has now been replaced with the satisfaction that what we have produced is high quality pork from animals that i hope had an extremely happy life, which i have told myself they did because of the quality of the yield of meat!!

[jacob and Georgina]

just a quick question from me. Not got any pigs yet but would like to go down the same route as yourself, i.e. taking them to abattoirs and then to the butcher and getting all the meat back. I am just curios to know how you get the pig from the abattoirs to butcher? Can this normally be arranged between yourself and the butcher? Surely it cant be as simple as putting in the boot of my car???

[piggy]

Hi

Luckly for us our butchers collect from slaughter house for free,so we just collect finished product.

[egglady]

well done WP - hopefully be feeling the same as oyu by the end of the week!

[Wizard]

I am waiting with baited breath for the reports on Offal processing What Princess thinks to Haslet,faggots,liver pate sausages and pork pies and of course proper pork scratchings.Gorra stop am dribblin on the key board

[egglady]

I am waiting with baited breath for the reports on Offal processing What Princess thinks to Haslet,faggots,liver pate sausages and pork pies and of course proper pork scratchings.Gorra stop am dribblin on the key board

eeeeyuck!

[Helencus]

Ooh I'm with George had faggots for tea sadly only brains but love faggots and proper good quality faggots are heavenly..
I think offal is making a come back now I know 'durin the war' it was very popular because you aye everything but it's definately becoming more popular now. Shamecto waste anything on what sound like fabulous pigs. Well done WP 

[Daisys Mum]

Well done WP sounds like you have done a fantastic job,the liver from my Saddlbacks made superb pate. The abattoir where I take my pigs delivers them to my butcher it's actually cheaper than going and collecting them myself. Not that I fancy the company of a dead pig in the passenger seat of a mazda 3 or 1 in the front and 2 in the back, would they have to wear seatbelts!!!

[Helencus]

Lol! Now that would be a funny sight!!

[mmm]

I used to fetch 3 pigs back at a time in the car from the abbatoir. Thankfully the abbatoir now deliver direct to my butchers .

Your pigs sound about perfect to me.  My butchers says back fat between 12-15 is what they are after.

If I use rare breed x modern breed then I can get this , my pure rare breed tend to be 14-18mm back fat. Which to me is totally acceptable

[Wizard]

Yes H they're not home made but a jolly substitute especially now they've put more gravy in.I like to soak my own peas and make them mushy in the porridger If I feel awkud I put the faggots in the slow cooker and switch it on low then pour the peas from the porridger on the top ace Kath and I think my home made faggots have a bit more offal than Brains or is it less bread crumbs.They seem to have crept up in price!

[JulieS]

Well done WP.......Looking forward to hearing what you think of the taste.  It will be amazing.....Enjoy!!!!   

[WinslowPorker]

Hi Jacob - yes it is as simple as the back of yor car, thankfully i have  alrge Audi estate so lined it out with a carpet (brother is carpet man so got a roll end) then covered it with three layers of damp proof membrane (polythene) thankfiully my mate who is doing the pigs has a civils firm so we got that free as well. And then off to abbatoir where they done all of the loading and off i drove to the butchers.

The food - Wiz definately going to have a go at making faggots with the recipe you supplied and really looking forward to them!! so excited i have booked a days holiday for friday to start the big prok eat-a-thon!! sad;ly only getting a quarter of this one, the next ones to go are mine for freezer!

On a poistive note WP princess was fine with seeing the carcasses and actually paid an interest in looking for their teeth, so she was fine probably better than daddy!!!

Egglady the sense of satisfaction you will feel when you collect your pigs from abattoir is unmeasurable and you really do get a sense of major pride in giving the pigs a far better life than their commercial brothers and also producing some pork that we all grew up eating that had a taste!

[Wizard]

That is good W.P.Princess is not disturbed by the carcass did you read my post about Baa being so upset we had killed the pigs to make sausages ."Why could you not go and get some from Grandways(the butchers where her Mum shopped)" I hate you she said and would not eat any of the pigs.You will have to let her make a string of sausages for her self You can make chips and let her twist them into nice size ones.I look forward to hearing about her adventure.Your faggot and offal experiences Liver Pate is exceedingly good on toast.

[WinslowPorker]

Yes wiz i did read that post, very funny! thankfully Jess is totally cool with it and i will probably take her down to butchers to collect the pig box as well and then go home and cook them up for lunch!!

i will give you feedback about the faggots, oh here comes the dribble.....