11 replies to this topic

[Cornish Gems]

Having read a load of book oon the subject about slaughtering your pigs they all state a weight ie 80kilos for meat 110kilos for bacon etc I have asked others but have not yet had a reply that makes sense. Can sombody give a time scale ie how old these animals to get to these weights?

Help please.

[pigman]

Hi Cornish Gems,

It would depend on what breed you keep, how you keep them and what you feed them on.

I keep pedigree old spots, outdoors all year round, fed on sow rolls and fodder beat/rolled barley.

It would take my pigs about 12 months plus to make those weights keeping them my way.

I kill them at any weight or age dependant on my needs/demand - with Boars you need to be careful not to take them into s)xual maturity of they will taste bad with boar taint for me that can mean 6 months to about 9 months depending on observed interest in guilts or other boars and the way they smell (testosterone).

We kill averagly at about 6 months plus with weights at about 50 kilos for meat and bacon, we cant wait forever we need the stock to sell.

Hope thi helps a bit

[shepie]

Hi Cornish gems

If you measure your pigs around it`s girth just behind the front legs it should be about 38-40" and along is`t back from between its ears to the base of its tail, it should be about 44" @ about 7-8 months old and weigh 65kg dead

That will give you a all round pig for bacon and pork , i have 3 coming back in the next couple of days , i have had 2 done for pork joint`s / chops/belly pork slices and about 400 sausages , the other 1 done for bacon / gammon and ham .

The trick is to measure them with a bit of baler twine at feeding time and then measure the baler twine

[Cornish Gems]

Thank you Pigman and Shepie, that makes it clearer now, as the local slaughter house requires at least a months notice.

Cornish Gems

[Romany]

I kill them at any weight or age dependant on my needs/demand - with Boars you need to be careful not to take them into s)xual maturity of they will taste bad with boar taint for me that can mean 6 months to about 9 months depending on observed interest in guilts or other boars and the way they smell (testosterone).

I kept Berkshire boars on my previous smallholding and due to the Foot and Mouth situation I couldnt take them to slaughter until they were over 12 months old (can't recall exact age). However despite them still being entire the meat was not spoilt by boar taint at all.

I have a recipe somewhere for curing a leg of pork bought from the butchers so I guess it doesn't matter what age/weight they are slaughtered as to what you do with them. In fact I cured half mine and ate the rest as pork - and I have never had sweeter pork before or since. Unfortunately I can't remember the weight they reached, but I did get a LOT of meat!

Romany

[shepie]

Hi i had my pigs back and the weights were 85kg/82.5 and 78 kg dead weight

Thats for 7-8 month old pietrain cross glouster old spot

Fantastic pork and bacon etc , i have just had a gammon ham that was brine cured and vac packed , i removed it from the pack and soaked it in water for 2 days then boiled it for 2 hrs in water to remove all the salt/cure , that was dinner and sausages done with apple and caramailsed red onion for breakfast , i feel weight coming on

[meekle]

Boar taint is actually only detectable by around 7% of the UK population who are reactive to a certain hormone released by the boar upon maturity. A musty strong smell or taste often attributed to boar taint is more likely poor hanging of the carcass at the abbatoir.

If you are unlucky enough to detect boar taint (and the majority of those that do are women) then it is best to slaughter at a small weighht and use as pork joints, however, we find that with the saddlebacks that take longer to grow, it is best to castrate them soon after birth as this negates any tainting in the future. That said, i wouldnt want an uncastrated boar around the place anyways unless it was part of a registered breeding programme

[helend]

Hi Shepie/Romany you talked about brine curing, how did it go for you?

I had a go myself and I recently cooked one of the pieces I cured - it was VERY salty. I knew I left the meat in the brine too long, I forgot all about it, but I hoped by soaking it well before and then cooking it in a sweet recipe - Nigella's coke recipe - I would remove the saltiness, Wrong!

Anyone got any suggestions of what I can do with this meat, it's just about edible in small quantities! I wondered if I cut it up into small enough pieces and hide them in sauces, soups, pies etc and other things that have ham as a secondary ingredient, (leaving all other salt out of the recipe!) I might be able to use it up?

I've got another ham in the cold store that will be just as bad, I'm dreading it! If I soak it for a bit longer and boil it up in just water will it help?

[Cornish Gems]

We know of someone who used to heat up the water with the meat in and once the water was boiling, empty away the water and do the same thing again. You can usually judge whether this has been done sufficiently well, by sampling the water.

If cooked it can be used in a ham/bacon and cheese in potato pie. Just mash the pots, add cheese and cooked ham cubes to taste, sprinkle grated cheese on top and pop into oven until crispy brown. It makes a little ham or bacon go a long way in these times of austerity!!

[helend]

Austerity - ha ha, I asked for that!

Seriously though Ill try your recipie tonight, I was actually just wondering what to do for dinner and I've already got the rest of the ingredients so that'll use them up - no waste here! And the ham will go along way at this rate, I could feed the whole village.

Thanks CG!

[Andrewaz]

Re: boar taint.....some years ago I had an entire Tamworth boar that was slaughtered at 6 months, along with his brothers.
When the carcase came back from the abattoir you could smell the taint on this single animal...a really strong pig smell.
We made sausages from him but they were inedible, and it was not just us that could taste it.
Having said that, this has never happened since, and a nice man we know is happy to take old stock boars to be made into hotdogs.
The whole question of taint is a strange one, why some & not others? & Hotdogs do not taste of taint (or much else I suppose)!!!!

[Andrewaz]

Re: salty hams, if you think it will be too salty try (& this is abit tedious) soaking for at least 24 hours & changing the water several times. Then bring to boil for around 30 mins & change water; repeat as many times as you need (maybe taste the water to see how the salt content is diminishing).
These days I use less salt to cure & do it for shorter times, the meat does not dry out so much either. Cured hams seem to keep ok in the freezer..which I know defeats the object but we are not living in medieval times, modern tastes cannot cope with the really strong salty taste of traditional hams designed to keep for months etc.
By the way, I would recommend the opposite for air dried hams....... lots of salt & as long as possible.