Family issues....I could use some insight please.

[justusnak]

Ldychef2k ?? Can you elaborate a little more please? On the process? I truley have NO IDEA...what you are talking about. :/ Some times it takes me a little longer than others...LOL

 

[Big Daddy]

Well good for you. It turned out for the best. Cost you more than expected but at least all the meat is usable and you can continue to be friends. It seems like whenever you are in charge of getting a good deal for everyone things go south. Kind of like when you go out to dinner with 10 people and everybody throws in money and you pay on your credit card. You count the money and always end up paying your part plus the whole tip. Someone always ends up with the short part of the wishbone.

 

[Ldychef2k]

You mean the crock pot or the underground method? I have never done the underground method, my former father-in-law was the best at it. It is better for large amounts of meat. I think the videos at You Tube and other resources could help you more than I can with the hole in the ground method.

Now the crock pot method, that's my area of expertise. I have a large, oval crock pot. So, I get about eight pounds of chuck pork or beef and season it well with a heavy rub. I use commercial steak seasoning, but you could make your own with dehydrated garlic, onion, salt, pepper, bay leaf, maybe some rosemary...as you like. After the outsied of the meat is completely and heavily coated with the rub, you wrap it in heavy duty foil, three times. The put that into a paper bag and fold it all over. Shove it down into the crock pot, make sure the lid stays down. Then do it about 18 hours on low. That's about it. VERY good meat.

The benefit of the underground method in the case of "off" pork is that there is no aroma until it is dug up, and then it is a GOOD smell ! That was my original thought. That if you were to end up doing the whole pig, you could deep pit it.

I would recommend anyone try the crock pot method, if you never have. I used to cater with that meat, putting a generous pile on thick country bread with tomato, lettuce, chipotle mayo, and sharp cheddar cheese.

Ldychef2k ?? Can you elaborate a little more please? On the process? I truley have NO IDEA...what you are talking about. :/ Some times it takes me a little longer than others...LOL

 

[Farmfresh]

Just my two cents worth.

Seems like she got what she deserved with her pig. She WANTED that one - I'd give it to her. I would make sure she paid all her bills FIRST, before turning over the meat.

If she does not want to play that game I would REFUND her money and keep the pig. I know that will possibly cause a pocket strain SO ... I would ask around with your friends and see if you can sell half or all of YOUR pig to them! I would think it might be fairly easy to find someone ELSE who would truly appreciate all of your efforts.

After that I would not bother with helping your sister with her freezer problems. If you decide to raise a pig again just advertise the extra pig when it nears time to process. You shouldn't have trouble selling it.

 

[justusnak]

Ldychef2k Thanks for that recipe. I am going to print it out, and try it. Sounds WONDERFULL!!
FarmFresh...she decided she doesnt want ANY of the pig. So, I will try brine cure, and smokeing the hams myself. The butcher said he cut, and cooked a piece of the "boar" and that it was fine...very little smell, almost none at all. I am sure the "untrained nose" would not smell it, especially with enough spices!
She will get NOTHING...no money back...no pork.
My son wants to buy some of the extra pig. I will sell it to him, $1.00 a pound. Not sure what I will do with the "bacon" as he already sliced it I think, and I am sure I cant smoke it now. I will have to look into that more as well.
So, in the long run...even tho this will cost us an extra $150....I will be learning how to cure and smoke hams! More than one lesson learned here.

 

[Farmfresh]

I think they call un-cured bacon "fat back" or just "belly". It would still add pork flavor to many recipes.

Curing your own hams could be very interesting. I don't know if you have ever seen the BBC series River Cottage (Escape to RC, Return to RC, and RC Forever), but they show how to do both regular smoked hams and prosciutto.

Also I had another thought. LOTS of people eat wild pig. It is a pretty good bet that non of them have been castrated! I would just find some wild pig recipes and go for it!

 

[justusnak]

While doing a search on cureing and smokeing hams....I found this great blog.

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2006/04/how-to-brine-ham.html

He has a whole section about Boar meat. Im thinking this pig will be just fine....after reading what he had to say....and, cureing the hams, and smokeing them, sounds...well..fairly easy! LOL
I plan to can several of the roasts. We love BBQ pulled pork, and I think this would be great for that!

 

[dragonlaurel]

Somebody said M E N had an article on deep pit cooking. Here's the link:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1980-05-01/Backyard-Barbecue-Pit.aspx

 

[Beekissed]

You could grind a bunch of it into some great pork sausage!

 

[big brown horse]

I'm glad everything is working itself out.