We collected our half pig today.It was already spit into the4 primary cuts. We didn't take our half head this time, but we did take theliver and kidney. Initial weighing of the primary cuts (without offal) was as follows:
Belly 4.1kg
Leg 7.2kg
Shoulder 9.6kg
Back/loin 6.8kg
Total: 27.7kg
DH dealt with the big joints, I did the cutting up/breaking down of pieces. And the removal of the fat for lard, as my fingers are more nimble than DH's and I can get it off with ease.
Start with Belly primary cut
Peel fat off for lard
1 piece for breaking down into dice/mince/sausages (626g)
1 piece bit for back bacon (728g)
2 pieces for roasting joints 1.3kg and 1 kg, bone in. Joints scored and tied.
Next, tackle the leg
Tail -stockpot
Hock 420g
Trotter (for pork pie gelatin)
Half leg for ham 2.9kg
Other half broken down into lean dice, lean mince, sausagemeat
Third, tackle Hand (front leg). Start by cutting into 2 (shoulder and hand)
Hand part was 3kg initially. This was split into a roasting joint (2.1kg), and stuff to dice/mince (620g). Bone bit (off top) for stock
The Hand
Trotter - both trotters together 380g
Shoulder part - split into 2 bne-in roasting joints. . This time we ended up with 1x3.4kg (has shoulder blade in), 1x2kg. Difficult to get them evenly sized, would have had to have shoulder bone in both.
Joints were scored and tied.
(Didn't take me long to do the shoulder breaking down, so I started to weigh diced meat into bags and vac'd. I also took the joints that were ready to go into the freezer and put them in the freezer.
DH was only using the knife to mark where to cut - he used a proper butchers carving knife to make the cut (and proper butchery saw where necessary).
Finally, the Loin
This was more difficult this time, as we weren't sure what we wanted to do. In the end we decided NOT to have any chops. So, we had
Tenderloin
Piece for making into back bacon
Eye for making Lonzino, the underneath piece being used for sausages and lardons
Large chunk for sausages and mince, and fat for lard
Summary
Broken Down meat:
Diced pork: 5 packs each weighing between 250g - 300g
Diced shoulder to make into pork pie: 1 x 300g
Mince 1.5kg
Offcuts for Sausages 2.5kg
Spare ribs for roasting
Piece of back fat and skin to make crackling or scratchings
2 trotters
1 hock
Various bones for stock
Lots of fat to make lard
Joints
Belly (bone in) 1.3kg
Belly (bone in) 1kg
Hand 2.1kg
Shoulder (Spare rib roast) 3.4kg
Shoulder (Spare rib roast) 2kg.
Tenderloin.
Other
Half leg for Ham 2.9kg
Piece for Lardons
Back Bacon 728g
Belly Bacon
Eye of Loin for Lonzino
Waste: 1.8kg
Belly 4.1kg
Leg 7.2kg
Shoulder 9.6kg
Back/loin 6.8kg
Total: 27.7kg
DH dealt with the big joints, I did the cutting up/breaking down of pieces. And the removal of the fat for lard, as my fingers are more nimble than DH's and I can get it off with ease.
Start with Belly primary cut
Peel fat off for lard
1 piece for breaking down into dice/mince/sausages (626g)
1 piece bit for back bacon (728g)
2 pieces for roasting joints 1.3kg and 1 kg, bone in. Joints scored and tied.
Next, tackle the leg
Tail -stockpot
Hock 420g
Trotter (for pork pie gelatin)
Half leg for ham 2.9kg
Other half broken down into lean dice, lean mince, sausagemeat
Third, tackle Hand (front leg). Start by cutting into 2 (shoulder and hand)
Hand part was 3kg initially. This was split into a roasting joint (2.1kg), and stuff to dice/mince (620g). Bone bit (off top) for stock
The Hand
Trotter - both trotters together 380g
Shoulder part - split into 2 bne-in roasting joints. . This time we ended up with 1x3.4kg (has shoulder blade in), 1x2kg. Difficult to get them evenly sized, would have had to have shoulder bone in both.
Joints were scored and tied.
(Didn't take me long to do the shoulder breaking down, so I started to weigh diced meat into bags and vac'd. I also took the joints that were ready to go into the freezer and put them in the freezer.
DH was only using the knife to mark where to cut - he used a proper butchers carving knife to make the cut (and proper butchery saw where necessary).
Finally, the Loin
This was more difficult this time, as we weren't sure what we wanted to do. In the end we decided NOT to have any chops. So, we had
Tenderloin
Piece for making into back bacon
Eye for making Lonzino, the underneath piece being used for sausages and lardons
Large chunk for sausages and mince, and fat for lard
Summary
Broken Down meat:
Diced pork: 5 packs each weighing between 250g - 300g
Diced shoulder to make into pork pie: 1 x 300g
Mince 1.5kg
Offcuts for Sausages 2.5kg
Spare ribs for roasting
Piece of back fat and skin to make crackling or scratchings
2 trotters
1 hock
Various bones for stock
Lots of fat to make lard
Joints
Belly (bone in) 1.3kg
Belly (bone in) 1kg
Hand 2.1kg
Shoulder (Spare rib roast) 3.4kg
Shoulder (Spare rib roast) 2kg.
Tenderloin.
Other
Half leg for Ham 2.9kg
Piece for Lardons
Back Bacon 728g
Belly Bacon
Eye of Loin for Lonzino
Waste: 1.8kg
