Fat out issue at 115 F
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Anyone ever have issues with fat out at temps lower than the normal (160 F). Got a heritage breed sow from a farm - not store bought pork shoulder like we normally use - and everything we have made that was cured / smoked has had fat out at very low temps. Never had this issue with anything we have made before. Any ideas?
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Do you know what breed the hog was? Some breeds are known as lard breeds. They are bred more for the use of the lard rather then the meat. While processing these types of hogs, their fat is extremely greasy even in cool temps and does even begin to render at room temperature. I haven’t personally cured or tried to smoke any meat from lard hogs, but would not be surprised if this was your issue. Try and find out the breed and do a little research on it.
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Do you know what breed the hog was? Some breeds are known as lard breeds. They are bred more for the use of the lard rather then the meat. While processing these types of hogs, their fat is extremely greasy even in cool temps and does even begin to render at room temperature. I haven’t personally cured or tried to smoke any meat from lard hogs, but would not be surprised if this was your issue. Try and find out the breed and do a little research on it.
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Deepwoodsbutcher thanks for the reply. I checked and one was a Tamworth and the other was a Wattle.
FireHorse When you get that type of product, the only way is to cold smoke. That’s the only way I know is another guy in the business receives those after a talk. He also said that sausages from that batch really work out well in casserole type dinners (example: kraut, jambalya, etc) because of the fat out issue.
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FireHorse Lets ask Departing Contestant if he has any ideas on what could be done? My initial thought was that it was a breed thing but maybe there is something to be done that would change this. If there is, I am guessing he will know!
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My only knowledge of Heritage Pork is that they are well marbled and have more fat. Most of the hogs I am familiar with are Yorkshire and a few odd Durocs.
I can only repeat what I am told. If there is that much more fat in the heritage my thoughts are that you either need to trim the surface fat more, add more salt to bind, and mix longer. Deepwoodsbutcher has a good point. I remember Grandma talking about “Lard Hogs” they got for rendering and “good grease in the pan after frying sausage for frying bread and biscuits”. -
Sorry hit button too soon - . . . They all turned out well. Anything we smoked or had to finish out (marianski’s recipe for mortadella di bologna for example) just oozed grease and finished products were less than desirable. Packaged them up for use in stews etc. as taste was good but . . . I wont use for snack sticks or summer sausage for sure. Thanks for feedback everyone.
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FireHorse When you get that type of product, the only way is to cold smoke. That’s the only way I know is another guy in the business receives those after a talk. He also said that sausages from that batch really work out well in casserole type dinners (example: kraut, jambalya, etc) because of the fat out issue.
zbigjeff appreciate the response. We opted to do just that with our andouille recipe. The first round we finished it out and we had fat out as explained. This time we opted to just cold smoke for a couple of hours and package up and finish these on the grill when we decide to eat them. They wept grease so much the smoke had a hard time sticking. However, they were much better that way just finishing them on the grill to eat. It will be interesting to see what happens to the pork bellies when we attempt bacon in a couple of weeks.
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Thanks. We butchered ourselves and i can say that the meat had a greasy feel to it. Never felt that with store bought pork shoulders for sure. We haven’t had any issues with fresh sausage recipes using this pork - they
FireHorse were you able to hang and cool them before you processed them? Just wondering if that may have had anything to do with the issue.
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zbigjeff appreciate the response. We opted to do just that with our andouille recipe. The first round we finished it out and we had fat out as explained. This time we opted to just cold smoke for a couple of hours and package up and finish these on the grill when we decide to eat them. They wept grease so much the smoke had a hard time sticking. However, they were much better that way just finishing them on the grill to eat. It will be interesting to see what happens to the pork bellies when we attempt bacon in a couple of weeks.
FireHorse Workarounds are the ticket and it looks like you kinda found that sweet spot. Here’s hoping your bacon experiment is successful.
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