So now we've been working on making prosciutto:
I deboned the leg, covered it with salt, put a weight on it and left it in the cool. Next week I will take it out and hang it up for anything up to 12 months!
We also made salty sweet streaky bacon:
I took the ribs out of the bacon belly, put them in boxes and smothered them with sugar and salt for 5 days, turning them and re-smothering them every 24 hours. Then I hung them up for 3 days and then sliced them. Everyone who bought some got a nice pack of this, and I have had good feedback so far!
We also made sausages and salami:
The bratwurst like sausages were delicious. After feeding the meat (which was offcuts, fat and two shoulder roasts that we sacrificed) through the mincer, mixing the mince with spices and herbs, carefully feeding the mince through the sausage maker and into the intestines, and then painstakingly tying up the sausages at both ends, I hung the sausages up overnight before refrigerating them, while I will keep the salamis and chorizos hanging for another 6 weeks or so.
We also made haggis, with the lungs, heart and liver of the animals minced and fed into the sausage skins. This was actually the best (and stinkiest!!!) haggis i have ever had. I also made guanciale, which is pork cheek bacon:
This was just a matter of leaving in a box full of salt and sugar and spices for 4 days, rubbing the mixture around and then hanging overnight. With the help of Faye, we smoked the cheek, cooked it in boiling water and hung it for a day. Now it is ready to eat.
We also made hams. What is a pig without hams?
This was a long and hard process. After being hung in the butcher's cool room for 5 days, with the help of Faye I pumped the hams full of a salt and sugar brine. they then soaked in the brine, with brine outside and inside, for a few days. Then I went up to her house where she had a smoker, and they were smoked overnight. A few days later, after hanging, I went up there and monitored them while the cooked in boiling water, which took 7 hours or so, and i had to be there the whole time to keep watch on the temperature. After they were cooked, they hung for another day in the cool room and then dad and i went back the next day and sliced them up into pieces. A pack of this smoky, juicy, salty ham was given to the pork buyers. I am still surprised at how much ham we got.
And we have been cooking! I deep-fried the testicles in breadcrumbs to make a delicious, scallop-like delicacy; i poached up the tongue in a Chinese style sauce; mum made poached tongue with white beans; mum made spicy, tasty devilled kidneys on toast; we boiled up the haggis, and it was delectable; we cooked up some chops; we roasted a hefty shoulder roast; I made a gorgeous liver pate; and we are making pea and ham soup right now!
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