Baymule
Herd Master
Mouse Bacon!!!!!
Uncured Bacon?
- Thread starter BarnyardBlast
- Start date
greybeard
Herd Master
It isn't just about leaner pork, and I gathered that the leaner pork aspect was an ancillary result
They were attempting to develop swine that could handle being raised in extremely cold regions without having bedding or being indoors, and be able to stand the opposite extremes equally as well.
Compared to most species, swine have a fairly narrow thermal zone within which they are able to regulate their internal body temp to 'normal'. Outside that thermal zone, weight gain, general health, and the pig's comfort are 'less than optimal'.
https://www.ipic.iastate.edu/publications/210.environmentalpigneeds.pdf
They were attempting to develop swine that could handle being raised in extremely cold regions without having bedding or being indoors, and be able to stand the opposite extremes equally as well.
Compared to most species, swine have a fairly narrow thermal zone within which they are able to regulate their internal body temp to 'normal'. Outside that thermal zone, weight gain, general health, and the pig's comfort are 'less than optimal'.
https://www.ipic.iastate.edu/publications/210.environmentalpigneeds.pdf
frustratedearthmother
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Maybe I'm thinking about this from the wrong end or something....but I'd think making an animal leaner would NOT help them withstand the cold. 
Fat is a good insulator.
Fat is a good insulator.
greybeard
Herd Master
Yep, and a whale would agree with that, considering all the blubber they have to carry around in order to be able to withstand the cold of the deep ocean water. (there are other reasons those watery mammals have evolved the fatty way they have--neutral buoyancy is one of them)Maybe I'm thinking about this from the wrong end or something....but I'd think making an animal leaner would NOT help them withstand the cold.
I would however, like very much not to have to wear artificial fat..the heavy coats, insulated under garments or insulated coveralls in frigid weather and would love for my cattle to be able to produce muscle (the part we eat) 24% more efficiently.
If the fat is no longer needed, why would anyone want to spend the $$ buying feed to produce it and what animal would want to needlessly carry it around??
AClark
Loving the herd life
So, after reading that article, I noticed they said out of the 13 females implanted, 3 became pregnant, and produced 12 (all male) piglets. Seems like a pretty low birth rate for it, that's only about 4 piglets per sow, and a pretty poor viability rate if there were initially 2500ish embryos implanted. I want to say, if my math is right, that's around 2%. Of course some of that could be handling technique and I don't know what the general viability rate is for AI with pigs, but still...and the fact that all the piglets born were male seems like something just isn't right there.
Bruce
Herd Master
I heard this story with a bit more detail. The genetic change makes them able to burn fat to keep warm which, apparently, pigs can not do naturally.Maybe I'm thinking about this from the wrong end or something....but I'd think making an animal leaner would NOT help them withstand the cold.
frustratedearthmother
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Ohhhhhhhh - well, that makes more sense!
Farmer Connie
True BYH Addict
This is a slab of Pork Belly/uncured Bacon... A photo from a recent BBQ venture. Set up in the top rack of a brinkman water pot smoker. Lightly sprinkled w/sea salt & freshly ground black peppercorn.
Under it on the bottom rack/closest to the water pot, a slab of ribs from the same feeder pig, seasoned with the same method of the bacon slab. Stacked on it's side with the larger side of the bones downwards facing the water.
In the water pot, 3-4 cut up apples, about 16floz apple juice and preheated water..
The cooking fuel for this particular batch was pure seasoned Hickory wood. No charcoal/no starting fluid. This are branches from a tree. So it was easy to cut then on a miter saw into small chunks. From 1/2" to 3-4". Adding smaller/thinner ones during the cooking process will raise the heat quickly. Adding the larger ones helps maintain the current temp.
Water pot will evaporate quite a bit during a 10 to 12 hour slow cook. So it must be topped off accordingly. We refill it with HOT water when needed. Cold tap water will drop the temp and stop the pot from simmering, you don't want that. Steam keeps everything moist during such a long cook.
AS the Pork Belly smokes and gets it's heavy flavor, it has been dripping down on the ribs and keeping them soaking wet with juices. As well as the apple steam mixture from the water pot.
These ribs completely fell of the bone without effort. So moist and juicy and tender. Someone without teeth could eat them.
The Pork Belly was still almost completely raw still in the inside. The smoking process only put on a thick Hickory smoke crust on the slab. This is a photo from the morning after the Pork Ribs Dinner. I cut into the slab to make a little breakfast from a portion of it.
Uncured bacon has a different taste than cured. Tastes to me a little more like Ham. The Hickory smoke flavor fills the kitchen, from the raw meat on the cutting board and the saute pan.
Add a couple of eggs from the backyard and prepare yourself for a taste bud explosion..
The rest of the pork belly was prepared for dinner that evening. Sorry I got lazy on taking photos that night...
BUT this is how it was prepared..
Cut the pork belly into 1 to 1.5" thick slices.
Prepared an egg bath and soaked the belly slices in the egg wash.
I believe it was skake-in-bake or maybe oven fry brand Bread Crumbs? One or the other.
Anyway, I breaded the egg soaked slices and cooked in a skillet until golden brown. Prepared some mashed potatoes & gravy. Needless to say, it will be the best Country Fried Steak you will ever begin to imagine. Pour a little gravy over the potatoes and breaded meat and loosing the top button on your britches.
Back to curing Pork Belly.. We do what @Baymule does... TABLE SALT. Completely cover and rub it into the slab. We place it in a large zip bag and place it in the frig for almost a week. We put a towel under the plate because sometimes the water really builds up and gets all over the frig..
SODIUM NITRATE is really bad for you. I was even told that sodium nitrate was used to make explosives. It is a hard core preservative that we don't choose to put in our bodies.
That is just our personal choice. We have several slabs of belly in our freezers. We try to cook them in new exciting ways with each package we pull out.
We raise a lot of pigs. The price of swine has dropped really low in our region. It costs more to raise a pig (Quality Fed) than the price the average person wants to pay. Most of the Farmers around here fed truck loads of bread and restaurant dumpster bound food to save a buck. I see ads for 60# pigs selling for $35...
I can't compete with that. WE use high quality grains and alfalfa and acorns, because if our feeders don't sell, they are going in our freezers. Our processor told us the last 4 pigs that we got back from him, telling us.. "You guy's really have some prime meat".. he tells us our back fat is remarkably low and the yield and quality of the meat is beautiful compared to most of what others bring to him. Most of the pigs brought into him are loaded with way too much fat content.
We eat what doesn't sell. So high quality diet matters.
We also have whole pigs processed for nothing but sausage(& ribs).. Berkshire sausage is dreamy...
I have 3 more feeders no one wants to pay my price in my to go pen. They are at the 100 lbs mark.. I'll BBQ before I will sell them for half of what I paid in feed to get them to 100# in the last 3.5 months..
YAY! MORE BACON!
Under it on the bottom rack/closest to the water pot, a slab of ribs from the same feeder pig, seasoned with the same method of the bacon slab. Stacked on it's side with the larger side of the bones downwards facing the water.
The cooking fuel for this particular batch was pure seasoned Hickory wood. No charcoal/no starting fluid. This are branches from a tree. So it was easy to cut then on a miter saw into small chunks. From 1/2" to 3-4". Adding smaller/thinner ones during the cooking process will raise the heat quickly. Adding the larger ones helps maintain the current temp.
Water pot will evaporate quite a bit during a 10 to 12 hour slow cook. So it must be topped off accordingly. We refill it with HOT water when needed. Cold tap water will drop the temp and stop the pot from simmering, you don't want that. Steam keeps everything moist during such a long cook.
AS the Pork Belly smokes and gets it's heavy flavor, it has been dripping down on the ribs and keeping them soaking wet with juices. As well as the apple steam mixture from the water pot.
These ribs completely fell of the bone without effort. So moist and juicy and tender. Someone without teeth could eat them.
The Pork Belly was still almost completely raw still in the inside. The smoking process only put on a thick Hickory smoke crust on the slab. This is a photo from the morning after the Pork Ribs Dinner. I cut into the slab to make a little breakfast from a portion of it.
Uncured bacon has a different taste than cured. Tastes to me a little more like Ham. The Hickory smoke flavor fills the kitchen, from the raw meat on the cutting board and the saute pan.
Add a couple of eggs from the backyard and prepare yourself for a taste bud explosion..
The rest of the pork belly was prepared for dinner that evening. Sorry I got lazy on taking photos that night...
BUT this is how it was prepared..
Cut the pork belly into 1 to 1.5" thick slices.
Prepared an egg bath and soaked the belly slices in the egg wash.
I believe it was skake-in-bake or maybe oven fry brand Bread Crumbs? One or the other.
Anyway, I breaded the egg soaked slices and cooked in a skillet until golden brown. Prepared some mashed potatoes & gravy. Needless to say, it will be the best Country Fried Steak you will ever begin to imagine. Pour a little gravy over the potatoes and breaded meat and loosing the top button on your britches.
Back to curing Pork Belly.. We do what @Baymule does... TABLE SALT. Completely cover and rub it into the slab. We place it in a large zip bag and place it in the frig for almost a week. We put a towel under the plate because sometimes the water really builds up and gets all over the frig..
SODIUM NITRATE is really bad for you. I was even told that sodium nitrate was used to make explosives. It is a hard core preservative that we don't choose to put in our bodies.
That is just our personal choice. We have several slabs of belly in our freezers. We try to cook them in new exciting ways with each package we pull out.
We raise a lot of pigs. The price of swine has dropped really low in our region. It costs more to raise a pig (Quality Fed) than the price the average person wants to pay. Most of the Farmers around here fed truck loads of bread and restaurant dumpster bound food to save a buck. I see ads for 60# pigs selling for $35...
I can't compete with that. WE use high quality grains and alfalfa and acorns, because if our feeders don't sell, they are going in our freezers. Our processor told us the last 4 pigs that we got back from him, telling us.. "You guy's really have some prime meat".. he tells us our back fat is remarkably low and the yield and quality of the meat is beautiful compared to most of what others bring to him. Most of the pigs brought into him are loaded with way too much fat content.
We eat what doesn't sell. So high quality diet matters.
We also have whole pigs processed for nothing but sausage(& ribs).. Berkshire sausage is dreamy...
I have 3 more feeders no one wants to pay my price in my to go pen. They are at the 100 lbs mark.. I'll BBQ before I will sell them for half of what I paid in feed to get them to 100# in the last 3.5 months..
YAY! MORE BACON!
Farmer Connie
True BYH Addict
Redneck Hippy
Chillin' with the herd
Farmer Connie, thanks for making me drool 
I much prefer uncured bacon to cured, tastes better to me. I also love side meat.
I much prefer uncured bacon to cured, tastes better to me. I also love side meat.
