Our local butcher did a wonderful job and brought us a total of 5 crates of pork. Thankfully he had frozen the first pig so it could go straight into the freezer without any hassles. Both pigs had be been butchered and packed into manageable sizes of bacon, shoulders, chops, belly, loin, ribs etc. He also brought us some curing salts to make up a wet cure (brine) solution.
This is the fifth crate which wouldn't fit on the kitchen table.
Our plan was to start with wet and dry curing bacon and see what happened and what tasted good before attempting any of the slightly larger cuts. Although our butcher had supplied us with a wet cure salt we headed off to the supermarket for some salt and brown sugar for the dry cure. I'm sure the lady at the till was giving us funny looks as we bought 5 large bags of salt and 2 huge bags of sugar. A full day of curing lay ahead as we sought to organise the massive amount of pork we had.
We ended up with 4 containers of dry cure in one fridge and 8 (slightly larger) containers of pork in brine in another fridge (unfortunately I forgot to take of photo of the wet cure but it was pretty similar only the meat was submerged in liquid).
It didn't take very long for the dry cure to start removing all the liquid from the meat and after 4 days the salt mix was replaced, then replaced again after another 2 days and then removed completely after 2 more days. So this stage was finished in about 8 days.
While we were sorting through the fresh meat I thought I'd have a go at boiling a ham. I had never done this before so it was a bit made up along with the usual guidance acquired from the internet. With some mixed herbs, peppercorns and balsamic vinegar, it was simmered for a few hours and then cooled in the liquid for another few hours.
The ham smelled lovely and tasted delicious although I was slightly disappointed that the flavours I had added were not quite as strong as I had hoped. Still, it wasn't bad for a first attempt. One other lesson learned was that as the ham begins to boil there will be some white froth which bubbles to the surface and should be scooped out. Note to self: it is best to do this before adding the herbs and peppercorns as you just end up removing them too and then having to add more!!
As I was having a go at boiling ham M was enjoying the opportunity to use all the kitchen gadgets. He decided to mince some shoulder meat which was then vacuum packed before labelling and heading for the freezer. It'll probably be used to make some sausages in the near future when we have a bit more time on our hands.
At the end of that very long day of curing, brining and boiling we had a piece of shoulder roasted. Along with our homegrown veg and M's amazing Yorkshire puddings it was one beautiful meal and a perfect end of to a tiring day.
Our aim after all the curing was to try and smoke our pork but as a trial run we bought some haddock and used oak sawdust in the cold smoker maze. It's hard to convey quite how delightful this was; our own home smoked fish and the taste was just incredible.
After all the meat turning and changing of cures for about 8-10 days we were eventually able to move on to the next stage. The wet cured meat was washed and dried before being wrapped in muslin and hung for a few days to completely dry out.
The dry cured meat was a bit quicker, it was washed off and dried and then M sliced some pieces so we could dry fry them and have a taste. Wow, it was truly delicious although maybe a tiny bit salty, but I guess we can adjust that for future batches.
We couldn't wait to get going with the smoker and it was on the go for 3 consecutive days. The first day was all dry cured bacon with oak sawdust; the second day was some dry and some wet cured bacon along with a big chunk of cheddar cheese and maple sawdust; the third day was the remaining wet cured bacon with a trial of brie and edam cheeses with beech sawdust.
The resulting cured and smoked bacon is just amazing, and I can't think of another word to describe it. There is no yucky white stuff (like shop bought bacon) when it is dry fried and the cure and smokiness enhance the already beautiful meat. A bacon and smoked brie toastie after a morning of weeding and harvesting makes it all worthwhile. Thankfully we like it as we have quite a lot to get through.
Unfortunately all the enticing aromas in the kitchen just got a bit too much for Jess and the drool appeared, normally an event usually reserved for a piece of cheese.
We have had a wonderful year learning about pigs, taking care of them, providing them with the best environment possible and dealing with the ups and downs of smallholding. One big lesson we learned here was that our pigs really should have gone about 3 months earlier. Our meat is wonderful but those extra 3 months have ensured that our along with the pork we have quite a lot of fat. However, we are really pleased with how it all went and no doubt we'll have another go but only when the freezers (yes, plural) are starting to look a bit empty!
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