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Simon
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 6982
Location: Massif Central
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 Posted: Fri Jan 13, 06 7:54 pm Post subject: "Pig in a day" review |
 
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Just read "High green farm's" pig in a day review. Very good. Covers just about all you need to know in choosing whether to buy the DVD or not. I bought it just before christmas and watched it quite a few times in preparation for doing our pig. I can agree with HGF that if you're gonna keep pigs the DVD is well worth the 20 quid invested.
| High green farm wrote: |
| (from the review ... ) All in all I think if you are considering processing your own pork, then I would say this DVD would be a good investment. Certainly it’s provided me with enough confidence to go the whole hog – whether I will or not is another matter. |
I was hoping to have aquired the above mentioned confidence also to do the whole job of butchering the pig myself but as it turned out a local (retired) butcher did the job for us and in all honesty I'm glad this was the case. He did the job efficiently and agreeably, providing all the joints we had asked for and few few traditional pates and confitures into the bargain. Having watched him at work and helped with the chopping up I now feel I have the confidence to have a go with our next pigs myself. The DVD however was great in helping me understand what to expect in the way of meat from a whole pig (all 190 kilos of him). It took the man two days from start to finish so I can only imagine how long it may have taken me to do the job as an amature 
Good DVD, highly recommended. Thanks to High Green Farm for the review.
Simon |
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hardworkinghippy
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Bourrou South West France
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 06 9:59 am Post subject: |
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Simon we did our first pig last weekend and it took four of us four days and one of us (me  ) two days to clean the kitchen!
It's non-stop boiling, bubbling and bagging and we sterilized about a hundred kilner jars of paté, boudin (black pudding), rolled skin (for making soup) and loads of other goodies for the coming year.
There's a lot of good eating in 190 kilos of pig!  |
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Simon
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 6982
Location: Massif Central
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 06 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| hardworkinghippy wrote: |
| There's a lot of good eating in 190 kilos of pig! |
There certainly is. Putting it briefly we got:
2 huge hams into salt (30 days)
1 rack of bacon into salt
dozens of bags of pork chops int' freezer
over a dozen joints of "roasting pork" int' freezer
1 large paté téte
1 large paté foie
30 kilner jars of minced pork
17 large kilner jars of confiture (the big lumps of meat)
about two dozen freezer bags of spare rib cuts
132 boudin noir (black pudding) sausages
a big pot of chopped trotters
6 kilner jars of graisse (dripping)
4 big terrines of pure lard
.... and the piece de resistance .... a large plate of sliced tenderloin which didn't last long I can tell you 
So will we keep pigs again this year??? I think so!
I take it that from the time it took you all HWH none of you have done a pig before? If so then four days doesn't sound too bad at all. Well done. (Know what you mean about the cleaning up though ... we are still on with it. Sticky grease everywhere) |
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hardworkinghippy
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Bourrou South West France
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 06 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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After the initial four days of not sleeping a wink because you don't know how you can possibly kill a pig you've lived with for 16 months, the rest is relatively "just get on with it" sort of thing.
I've seriously considered becoming a veggie during the past few days, but what would I eat in the winter? |
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hardworkinghippy
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Bourrou South West France
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 06 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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Here are some pics, which only show a very small amount of the meat....
Le boudin split, so I had to put it into kilner jars
It's worth all the work, and we really spent some valuable time with our friends under a lot of pressure. :bounce: |
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Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 16772
Location: Hereford
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| Posted: Sun Jan 15, 06 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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I'm only a novice, like, but how on earth do you get eggs from a pig? It wasn;t in my copy of the DVD.  |
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Treacodactyl
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 18569
Location: In the pond with the frogs
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| Posted: Sun Jan 15, 06 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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How long do you expect the single pig last in meals Simon and HWH? I was also wondering if you use saltpetre in the bacon/ham cures and if it's easy to buy over in France? |
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gai
Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 162
Location: Ireland
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| Posted: Sun Jan 15, 06 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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A couple of questions from me -
How long do boudin noir's keep and what method do you use for preserving them? (we didn't bother doing any with our pigs this year as everything I'd read pointed to them having to be used fresh)
How did you preserve the minced pork in kilner jars and what do you use it for?
How long does pate keep in kilner jars and can I have the recipe please?
Thanks. |
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Simon
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 6982
Location: Massif Central
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 06 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| nickhowe wrote: |
| I'm only a novice, like, but how on earth do you get eggs from a pig? It wasn;t in my copy of the DVD. |
Just give 'em plenty of "layer's pellets" 
| Treacodactyl wrote: |
| How long do you expect the single pig last in meals Simon and HWH? I was also wondering if you use saltpetre in the bacon/ham cures and if it's easy to buy over in France? |
It will last us a year easily (being that we were vegetarian until recently) we don't eat meat every day and we have the rabbits and ducks to go on aswell (chicks are just for the eggs for now).
No saltpetre here. The butcher didn't even mention it and I am with "Hugh & Ray" (on the DVD) that if it isn't absolutely necessary don't put it in.
| gai wrote: |
A couple of questions from me -
How long do boudin noir's keep and what method do you use for preserving them? (we didn't bother doing any with our pigs this year as everything I'd read pointed to them having to be used fresh) |
Well we stuck most of ours in the deep freeze as seems to be the norm around here. The french eat them hot with potato puree or apple puree so freezing them doesn't do harm.
| gai wrote: |
How did you preserve the minced pork in kilner jars and what do you use it for?
How long does pate keep in kilner jars and can I have the recipe please?
Thanks. |
The butcher did the jars for us. He put all the spare meat / fat through the mincer with a few onions and garlic, crammed it into the jars (raw) with a layer of skin top and bottom then we boiled up the jars in the sterilizer for 4 hours to cook the meat and seal the jars. We are told that they will store like this in "le cave" for five to six years. I will use the pork much as I would use minced beef for chillis, bollognaise and the like. With regards to recipes he did everything so fast I didn't get chance to write any of it down. I'm sure HWH will have some good recipes.
We got some good piccies though. I will sort them out later.
Simon |
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hardworkinghippy
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Bourrou South West France
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 06 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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Ahh Nick, the eggs crept into the pic because we used them in the paté, along with some of the contents of the bottle of Calvados next to them. 
This is how we made our paté.
7 kilos of shoulder and breast and a bit of loin - fatty is best, because we added boar wich is very lean
5 kilos of wild boar meat (you could use another gamey meat)
70g of pepper
200g of fine salt
half a kilo of garlic
Put that through a meat mincer (not too fine) and then add 2 large glasses of calvados and 9 eggs and mix it well with your hands (arms  )
We don't use saltpetre, just salt and loads of pepper.
The pig meat should last us well over a year (if we don't give to much away), but we've also assorted game, chickens, ducks, lamb, goats etc. Like Simon (and most French people), we don't eat a lot of meat but use small amounts to flavour vegetable or paté dishes.
We use the minced pork for stuffing poultry, cabbages, marrows etc. and for flavouring, a tablespoon for a shallot quiche, the same for pasta carbonara the same for fried eggs mixed up with spinach -the possibilities are endless.
Put the meat into the kilner jars covered with water and bring the temperature up to over 100° degrees for three and a half hours. The jars will stay good for years and it's nice to have lovely things which you can just open and eat (no takeaways here  ). (I do have a "to do" for sterilizing somewhere, I'll look it out.)
We've also got two pig hams lying in salt for another month, and yesterday we took out our bacon and a ham of rolled shoulder and lots of saussison which look promising but we have to wait for another ten days or so to try.
Merde - someone's just come to the door...
Irene |
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Blue Peter
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2089
Location: Milton Keynes
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 06 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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| hardworkinghippy wrote: |
Put the meat into the kilner jars covered with water and bring the temperature up to over 100° degrees for three and a half hours. The jars will stay good for years and it's nice to have lovely things which you can just open and eat (no takeaways here ). (I do have a "to do" for sterilizing somewhere, I'll look it out.)
Irene |
A sterlizing to do would be useful. How do you get water over 100° degrees? Do you do it under pressure?
Peter. |
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hardworkinghippy
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Bourrou South West France
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 06 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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Gai,
Boudin lasts in cool place for about 10 days, but it freezes well for six months.
Some of our boudin split when it was cooking, so we just put it into kilner jars and sterilized it. That way it'll keep for a few years.
Here's a "how to" I did for sterilizing stuff a while ago. (It's in another forum, I hope that's OK ?)
http://www.acountrylife.com/plug.php?p=catalog&action=show_catalogitem&ci_id=99&ci_category=6
Please be aware that food badly sterilized can be very dangerous.
Fnd out as much as you can about the right methods and timings before going ahead.
Irene |
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Blue Peter
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2089
Location: Milton Keynes
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 06 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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HardworkingHippy,
In your article, what's the difference between lids and tops, e.g.
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When the jars are completely cold, screw off the lids, and save them for the next batch. Test to see if the tops are on really well by lifting the jar up by the covers – if the cover can’t be prised off easily, then the seal is good and they can be stored in a cool place away from direct light to retain the colour of the ingredients.
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oh, and covers?
Peter. |
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hardworkinghippy
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Bourrou South West France
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 06 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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The tops are the things you buy and they stay on the jars until you puncture them to take them off.
The screw tops are simply to keep the lids down while the jars are being sterilised and they can be used again and again.
I'll post some photos later on tonight if I have time. |
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hardworkinghippy
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Bourrou South West France
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 06 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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The screw on lids:
I always take the lids off and write on the top what's in the jar, and the date of course. Here's a pic of the jars - some in the background are done with another system of rubber rings, which is the same principal, but more old-fashioned.
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