Where do you buy your pork?

[cheech]

I would love to make my own breakfast sausage but right now the price is such that I can not make it for what they sell the finished product for.

Part of the reason for making it is that it does not have all the extra stuff that is not good for you in it but at $1.10 a pound for pork that I grind up mix the spices and stuff in to a plastic sleeve it just does not make sense.

Is there some special place to go to to pick up large amounts of pork and get it for less cash?

 

[monty]

Cheech,

Dunno about your local ordinances but I raise a few pigs every year and send them off to the abatoire when ready. I raise for myself and for a couple of friends. And all the meat is 100% chemical free!.

The downside is that I cannot possibly raise porkers for less per pound than the big boys! And that goes for sausage, too! I guess the only reward is knowing what went into the animal before I took out what I wanted.

And I raise turkeys, chickens and very soon, rabbits, too!

Cheers!

 

[Dutch]

Cheech, Check your local food wholesaler. I can go to the Farmland warehouse here in town and get pretty what I want as long as I buy it by the case. Sometimes they'll have boneless pork trimmings for sale sometimes not. But heck, when you buy a case of pork butts and are basically paying 85 cents a pound for them, I can sacrifice a butt for making my own sausage.

Check out the Sausage section, I have a Country style (breakfast) sausage recipe posted there.

 

[larry maddock]

yo dutch [my butcher guru]

please explain to this dummy ---
what are pork trimmings??
where on hog are they from??
what is fat content ??
does fat content have a standard??
i mean is the ratio ,
the same percentage all over the country??

yo,
larry joe

 

[Dutch]

Larry, pork trimmings are the scraps that get made into sausage and they pretty much come from everywhere on the hog. If you can by them, chances are the fat content will be high because they have not gone through the meat to cut out the excess fat. It's buyer beware when it comes to pork trimmings unless you ask for trimmings with less fat.

As to the question of meat to fat ratio, it's pretty much standard across the country and is set by the USDA.

 

[larry maddock]

yo guru dutch,
do folks use pork trimmings as fatback only??

i mean when you have a sausage formulation recipe
that calls for
4 lbs meat and 1 lb fat.

would 4 lbs butt--
and 1 lb trim be what its calling for??

 

[Dutch]

Larry, Fatback is the fat that is cut off of the pork loins.

Pork trimmings is the meat and fat that is trimmed from a primal or finished cut to make it presentable. Pork trimmings can also be any meat that is normally ground into sausage such as the jowls and the ends of pork bellies when the butcher squares off the end of the belly for a nicer looking end product.

 

[cheech]

In the past the pork trimmings at my butcher sell for $1.10 a pound! I think I will go to the warehouse places and see what they offer. I have found pork shoulder in the supermarket for .85 a pound. Seems a bit crazy to pay that much more for fat

 

[trkyhntr]

I went to a few stores tonight looking for a butt. Biggest ones they had were about 4 pounds. From many of the other posts, I got the impression that 8 to 10 pounders were desirable. Am I looking in the wrong places (grocery stores)? Should I go to a butcher shop? Willing to listen to any and all suggestions on where I might find some for a first smoke.

 

[up in smoke]

Got a SAMS nearby? That is where I get mine, Lots of times they sell them in double packs. Good prices too! Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m doing one Sunday…Mmmm pulled pork and cole slaw! Donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t forget the finishing sauce :lol:

 

[trkyhntr]

Up in smoke,
Thanks again. You've been a big help tonight. Ran out of time before I could get to Sam's but plan on checking there tomorrow. Planning on smoking a butt next weekend. Hope yours turns out great Sunday.

 

[chris_harper]

i found out from my sister-in-law, today, that she knows some people that raise hogs. they tell you to pick one out, kill it, and load it in your truck for you. you take to get processed or process yourself. they charge $100-$125 each; and each weighs ~200lbs. good price? i think i will be buying a freezer before long. my wife loves pork anything. pork chops, bacon, sausage, ham- you name it.

 

[chris_harper]

i edited my post above to reflect exactly what you get.

 

[az_redneck]

Here in Arizona we have quite a few hispanic markets that cater to their specific community. Well, right about now it's tamale time! That means shoulder will be on sale anywhere from .69-.99/lb.. Time to stock up!

During the off season, I get shoulder at about .99/lb consistantly. That's what I make my brats and breakfast sausage out of.

Albertsons has had loin chops for .99/lb for a while. The butcher will sell you a whole loin at that price too.

 

[dacdots]

Larry,Dutch has you on the right track.The USDA will not allow any meat to be sold with a fat content of more than 30%.As for sausage ofcourse the more fat usually means the cheaper brands of sausage.When Im makind sausage its kinda of an eyeball thing as to how much fat your leaving on your trimmings.When it comes to hamburger the different levels of fat also dertirmine the quality for example,ground sirloin is 10% fat,grouing round is 20% fat,and regular old ground beef is 30% fat.If your grilling burgers you want as little fat as possible to keep down grease fires on the grill and also to end up with a burger thats pretty the same size cooked as it was when it was raw.The ground beef I get when I buy a whole beef is a good mixture.If you start out with a 1/2 pound burger you pretty well have a 1/2 pound burger when its cooked.I like a good 1/2 pound burger cause one will do you for a good meal.Remember if your adding fat to a recipe for sausage you will want to regrind the meat and the fat togather at the same time so the fat is distributed evenly throughout the meat instead of ending up with big globs of fat here and there throughout your grind.