Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pork Chops


The other day I was watching "Bazaar Foods" Andrew was in Syria where he went to a camel slaughtering house.  The slaughter did not go well. He warned people to turn their heads, but his thinking is you should be able to know about the animal your going to eat and how it is slaughtered. In a way I agree with him.

A few days later my brother was telling me about "heritage" pigs. Heritage pigs live outside, mostly on small farms. They are the pigs that have been around since the farmers started farming. After WW11 the factory pig became popular. The old breed of pigs were almost extinct. With small and organic farms become more popular now, so is the food that is grown there.

Factory pigs are bread to live indoors, they have a low fat content, the meat is light and drys out quickly when you cook it. That is why I have never been a big fan of pork. Heritage Pork has fat or marbling that keeps the meat tender. They live outside, the way pigs like to live. Not all cramped up inside a tiny cage. Their meat is darker. They don't get sunburned like the indoor pigs. I read the way to cook heritage pork is "low and slow." The pigs below are NOT bacon pigs. (at least as far as I know)

Here are a few breeds of heritage swine.


"Old Spot" - very popular


"Berkshire" "sweet and creamy meat"


"Red Wattle" great for ham - "rich meat"

"Mulefoot" weighs between 400-600 pounds


Factory Hog

Factory Pork Chops


 Heritage Pork Chops

The problem with any small farm food is it is SO expensive. It is to bad you have to be rich to eat good food that has been is not loaded with hormones.
I am on the hunt to try heritage pork!

1 comment:

Mountain Momma said...

Or, you could buy acrage and grow your own. Also can go to a county fair and buy a farm raised pig from a 4H group! That's where the majority of people here get their meats; home grown!