Cuts of Meat

[ozstriker22]

First of all, I think Speck covered all of the bases for me already... But Phil, it was awful late that night... and I was tired... and it was late... did I say I was tired??? So no offense intended, I just wanted to cover the bases again.


Anyways, Here's what I remember:

#1 - Tenderloin: BBQ
#2 - BackStrap: BBQ
#3 - Neck: A) Sausage, B) Carnitas, C) ChileVerde
#4 - Front leg: A) Bacon Wrapped Roast (upper portion) with Sausage lower portion, B) Sausage whole thing, C) bake entire leg in roasting pan, tightly covered, with a some water and a lil viniger + sugar coating and spices, at 250 degrees for 8 hours, D) Carnitas, E) Chile Verde
#5 - Ribs: See option C from #4
#6 - Hind Leg: A) Take to Butcher for smoking/curing, B) Slice into round, bone-in breakfast steaks *should these be cured, or not? C) Grind entire leg for sausage, D) Chile Verde, E) ??????

-What am I missing?
-This is my first pig, what should I make sure to try?
-What would be a waste of high quality meat (For instance - I'd never make sausage from Tenderloin)
-If I want to make my own sausage in a few weeks... can I Vaccum seal all of the scraps, freeze them, and thaw for Sausage later??? Or do they need to be ground and packaged into links before they're frozen?
-Can I soak in Brine in my Fridge? And then cook in my regular smoker? Is there anything Else I'm missing???


THanks,

JEsse

 

[BDB]

Sounds like you have the bases pretty well covered. This time I am getting smoked chops from the back straps.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

What would be a waste of high quality meat (For instance - I'd never make sausage from Tenderloin[/b]

I don't like turning good cuts into sausage like you have stated. I wouldn't turn the hind quarter into sausage if it were me. I am steaking mine out and just using the scrap from the hind quarter for sausage.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

If I want to make my own sausage in a few weeks... can I Vaccum seal all of the scraps, freeze them, and thaw for Sausage later??? Or do they need to be ground and packaged into links before they're frozen?[/b]

I think you hsould be fine but I really don't know for sure.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Can I soak in Brine in my Fridge? And then cook in my regular smoker? Is there anything Else I'm missing???"[/b]

Every thing I have read on the brining stresses ice cold. But yeah, i guess you could. I have brined pork for 24 hours prior to eating in my fridge before.

 

[Speckmisser]

Jesse,

No offense taken. Besides, you'll get a ton of great recommendations from the guys on this site... including stuff I never thought of.

By the way, there's really no "wasting" prime cuts. If you use tenderloin for sausage, you'll just have REALLY good sausage. Of course, that will rob you of pork medallions (make filet mignon steaks out of the tenderloins), sauteed in wine with mushrooms.

Any cuts off the ham would be good, whether you chunk it up and make chile verde, steak it out (you can do large steaks or thin ones... boneless or bone-in), or whatever.

Basically, you've got it. Use your imagination. As I said the other night, it's just meat. If you cut it wrong, it's still meat.

As far as freezing the scrap for sausage, I do that all the time. It works fine, if you don't keep it too long. Also, ground meat has a shorter shelf life than whole meat.

I don't do the brining or soaks, so someone else will have to chime in on that one. Don't see why you couldn't do it in the fridge or your home smoker, though.

 

[Franklin3]

Damn this post makes me hooooooooooouuuuuuuuuunnnnnngggggrrryyyy!!!!!!!

 

[joe90605]

Here's a chorizo recipe I used on a sow that my brother shot in August last year. He shot it in the hams, so there was lots of extra ground meat!

2lbs ground pork
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cumin
2 tsps crushed oregano
1/2 head garlic, minced
1 small pkg ground New Mexico Chili
1 small pkg ground California Chili
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup dry sherry or port

Mix it all up by hand, making sure all the ingredients are throughly combined. Let it sit in the frige for at least 2 or 3 days before frying it up. Either crack a couple of eggs into it after its cooked or fry up some potatoes to go along with it, or both! If you like it spicier, mix in some cayenne pepper too, 3 or 4 tablespoons if you like it hot!!

 

[ozstriker22]

OH MY GOD, JOE!!! I KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST ON SUNDAY... OH THAT SOUNDS SOOOO GOOOOD!!!!!

 

[joe90605]

It is good brother, do it up!!!!

 

[Stryder]

Oz, did you ever find a butcher down your way? I know a guy that does good work up in Anza if you haven't.
Dennis

 

[ozstriker22]

Stryder,

Thanks for asking! No I did not find a butcher here. But to be honest, I didn't look. I got a whole bunch of tips from Speck when we were up there skinning. I think most of the cuts I can do myself. Travis and I agreed before the hunt to split whatever we killed, so I already dropped off half of the Hog to him. That leaves me with approx 35lbs of meat (inc bone).

1. I made medalions with the tenderloin. MMMMMMMM GOOOD!!!
2. I'm making BBQ roast with the Back Strap tonight. CANT WAIT!
3. I've already trimmed the neck and brisket for sausage scraps and frozen in a foodsaver bag.
4. I'm going to be cutting the back leg into round, bone-in steaks. I will brine and smoke some of them, and the others will be fried in Olive oil and butter for breakfast. The Trimmings are going into the freezer with the neck meat.
5. Ribs will be eaten after trimming, this weekend.
6. That leaves the front leg. I'm thinking about chopping up for Carnitas and Chile Verde.
7. Scraps from Above items will be turned into Spicy Breakfast sausage, Chorizo (See Joe above post), Brattworst, and Spicy Italian (If I have enough). I am ordering a Sausage grinder from Cabelas.

Speaking of that... How do YOU guys make Carnitas? I have only one simple recipe. Place chopped meat into large cast iron pot. Cover with water. Boil. When water evaporates rendered fat will create oil. continue to fry in oil until crispy on the outside and tender in the middle.

God this is great!!!

Jesse

 

[Mnfshrman]

The best place to take your meat IMO is the place in San Marcos. I've had a pig done there and everything was wonderful. Not bad prices either if I remember correctly. Its very close to HWY 78.

David

 

[Jagermeister]

I do not think that freezing meat and thawing it again to make raw sausage is a good idea, unless you eat that raw sausage without re-freezing.

Only sausage meat I freeze is the one going into a boiled sausage. That means the meat is raw when I freeze it, then I thaw it, boil it, process it into sausage and then freeze it back up. This is how cajun boudin and liverwurst is done.

Otherwise you seem to have done well on this first butcher adventure.

Here is my break down:

Neck: Not there, .300 win mag took it
Shoulders and front hocks: Bratwurst, stirfry, stew meat
Back: Chops and loin steaks - leave a lot of grease on there!
Ribs: BBQ (parboil, then bbq)
Belly / Bacon: Bratwurst
Hams: One for BBQ, one cut up for brats, stirfry and stew meat.
Rear hocks: Brats
Head: Liverwurst / Boudin
Tongue: Liverwurst / Boudin
Heart: Liverwurst / Boudin
Spleen: Liverwurst / Boudin
Liver: Well you guessed it
Kidneys: Liverwurst / Boudin

All that's left is the squeal. The Liverwurst ingredients I froze, will make those later. Note that not much hog meat was kept for the liverwurst / boudin. I will buy domestic, as I have plenty of bear liverwurst left wanted all bratwurst from this hog. The challenge in making your own liverwurst is actually the organs, you can't get nice ones at the store.

Cheers, George

 

[easymoney]

Great post with lots of good tips. IMHO, the wild pork is the best "overall" game meat. So much can be done with, especially sausage...

 

[Jagermeister]

The pig I got was a younger sow, probably 140 on the hoof. I am amazed how little it tastes like a wild animal. My wife loves it! No comparison to bear or anything else I have had. I doubt there is much wild boar in this one. I have had wild boar in Europe and it is more like bear - real dark and more gamey.

George

 

[ozstriker22]

Jager:
How about directions and a recipe for Bratwurst?
And maybe one for Liverwurst too (although this time around I didn't save the Organs - so It'll have to be for next time.)

That all sounds really good!!!


Jesse

 

[Jagermeister]

The sausage recipes are a well kept family secret and passed on from generation to generation. I am not kidding. So, unless you plan on marrying my sister, I can not tell you! I certainly can introduce you to her for starters - she is still available!

That said, bratwurst generally is spiced like this:

1kg of meat needs 18g of salt. 2.5g of pepper and a total of 2.5 g of undisclosed other spices. Experiment with nutmeg, coriander, oregano and even anis and cloves. Any combo will be good, if you stay away from large amoungs of cloves. It helps to have a letter scale to get exact and repeatable amounts of spices. It makes no sense to make anything less than 5kg at a time for precision purposes!

The liverwurst can have a very similar spice mix - more oregano here. As far as preparing it, what you do is boil all the meat, boil the living daylight out of it for 3 hours, including the organs, head meat, tongue. Only the liver you put in last, so it barely cooks through. if you don't watch this, your liver will be hard as a rock and not grind up well. So, now you have very soft meat and a boiled liver. You run it all through the grinder, with a good portion of raw onions too. Add spice mix and then fill it in casings (you want 40mm diameter - the thicker stuff). After you fill the casings, you tie them with string into large sausage hoops and put them back into the hot water. Simmer for a couple hours at 80 degrees c. Use a thermometer! If the water starts to roll into a boil, your sausages will burst. This is the most complicated step. After they are cooked, hang the hoops over a stick to dry and then lightly cold smoke when they have cooled off. Youc an build a simple cold smoker from an old fridge, a stove heating element and smoking chips. If you are worried about the boiling process of the filled casings, you can bypass that and the smoking by just filling the sausage material in jars and boiling them like preserves. You will end up with an unsmoked sausage for spreading that comes in a glass that you do not even have to freeze. This stuff is awesome. It also can be cut in slices and pan fried with potatoes or pasta.

Enyoy!

George

 

[Jagermeister]

I forgot. The liverwurst needs 10-15% liver. So, weigh your liver first and then add meat and organs accordingly. This is where extra livers from other hunters will come in handy, so you can make more sausage.

About the boudin, that's cajun and it's a rice filled organ sausage. You can find decent recipes online for it. I use the same basic mix of meat and liver / organs and then divert it afte grinding it up in batches of Liverwust and Cajun Boudin.

Good Luck,

George

 

[beastslayer]

Damn, now I regret I gave mine up (lol).

 

[ozstriker22]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

So, unless you plan on marrying my sister, I can not tell you! I certainly can introduce you to her for starters - she is still available![/b]

Uh.... Does she look much like you? 'Cause that wouldn't be a good thing

As much as I'd love to be married into a "hunting" family (mine are all ex-hippies), I don't think my wife would be too happy about it. Although I've always been intrigued by that whole Polygamist thing....

Mmmmmmmmm.... Secret sausage spices and Multiple Wives..... auggggghhhhh (Homer simpson-esque "doughnut moan")


I didn't save the organ meat... THIS time - so Liverwurst will have to wait. But I WILL be making Bratwurst!!! What size casings should I buy, and from where? Also, the recipe didn't include any type of additional fat... my sausage trimmings are fairly lean. Should I add extra beef or pork fat?

Finally, the way I have prepared my Brats in the past is as follows: "Jesse's Johnsonville Bratwurst Beer Brat's recipe"

1. Drink a Spaten.
2. Sautee diced Serrano Peppers with seeds in olive oil/butter.
3. When toasted, reduce heat. Add Johnsonville Brats and thoroughly coat in oil/pepper mixture. Gently brown, without breaking skin. Drink a Spaten.
4. Add good german beer to cover brats. Increase heat. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until very plump (approx 15-20 minutes). Drink a Spaten
5. Carefully remove from beer. Place on preheated medium - medium high grill. Keep water spray bottle handy - flame ups common. Brown on grill - approx 15 min.
6. Meanwhile - have wife carmelize yellow onions on stove. Drink a Spaten
7. Serve on large toasted potato buns with carmelized onions, saurkraut, and HorseRadish mustard, drink a Spaten.


How could I modify my recipie to work with home-made bratwurst?

Thanks Jager!!!

 

[nickroy77]

I wish we had wild huntable piggies around me

 

[Jagermeister]

I buy my casings online. http://www.northamericanhogcasing.emerchan...&B=Hog%20Casing

You want the 29-32 mm diameter stuff. Hog casing. It comes salted, 100 yards at a time. That makes 100+ pounds of sausage. It stays fresh in the fridge for over a year, I would not hesitate to keep it for a couple years. Not that it ever gets there at my house.

Well, if you cut a lot of fat off the hog when you were skinning, then you may not have enough fat. So, for next time, unless you kill a 300 pound boar, keep in mind, that fat is gold for the sausage and it does not have a bad taste - as I have heard people say at the skinning pole. You need to save every ounce! I generally aim at 30% or more fat in my brat. And at that it usually is pretty lean.

A lean brat infuences the cooking method too. I parboil mine for 10 minutes and then pan fry for 5. If I would boil them as long as you do your johnsonville's the things would be bone dry. The BBQ tends to dry them out too. So, keep that in mind if you cook your home made stuff. Even if you add domestic pork fat, you will be surprised how lean then come out. This also indicates how much fat the commercial product has. I would not be surprised if it's up to 60%.

If you want to add domestic pig, go to a butcher and buy pork belly. That's the most fat for the buck. I go to our Mexican butcher in town, he is much cheaper than the "custom meats" place that caters to the soccer moms.

Well, I'll have to see what to do with the sister. It was worth a try!

George