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Varietals  

post #1 of 5
2/10/09 at 6:35am
Thread Starter 
Are you purchasing various varieties of pigs? If so which, some of our MO small farmers are blending heirlooms to get desirable traits....long loins, good fat, good mothering, tasty marbled meat. Some are raising pure breeds....both red wattles, tammworth, duroq, berkshires, mule foot, hampshire(memory fades but I think that's one)....etc.

some chefs are paying farmers to raise on certain feeds.....ie jersey whey, or apples, talk is that some want acorns....which as far as I know has not happened yet but will be interesting.....
post #2 of 5
2/12/09 at 3:27am
some chefs are paying farmers to raise on certain feeds.....ie jersey whey, or apples, talk is that some want acorns....which as far as I know has not happened yet but will be interesting.....

I am thrilled that we finally have a choice of what kind of pork to eat. The revival of heirloom varieties you mentioned above makes me and my tummy a very happy chappy. I am a big fan of Duroc whose large and well marbled legs produce fine hams and whose bellies have the perfect ratio of lean to fat to yield truly great bacon.

As far as crossing breeds to yield various traits I can't comment since I'm a meat guy and not a farmer. My expertise begins when the pigs become pork.
B
post #3 of 5
2/12/09 at 5:44am
Thread Starter 
:lol: guess I hang out with a lot of different pig farmers at market....much like good chefs they will experiment to some extent. One of my MO pig buddies formed a 55 member pork co-op that has been selling pork to D'Artagnon....thus numerous chefs in NY. His background is animal genetics....I've been told that duroqs are very mean piggies.


this is a pretty cool article about him/small farm pigs.

St. Louis News - The Pope of Pork: In tiny towns across Missouri, old-school hog farming stages a comeback — and at tables across the nation, diners rejoice - page 1

Karlios Hienkebein is the pig farmer that supplies me with pork more than the others....mountain of a man, this guy used to throw 150# of pig over his shoulders and hike up the 3 flights of stairs to my last catering kitchen. It's awe inspiring to watch this humble German farmer work. Great tasty pig, you don't need anything more than alittle salt and a hot pan.....some mostarda or chutney are it's cooked.:p His are a tammworth/chester blend. Just got off the phone with Karlios and he said his tammworth boar is 5 years old and still going strong. Litters are between 10-12 piglets, he breeds throughout hot summers, is an outdoor pig winter and summer which apparently is rare....the dark meat will take smoke better. Chesters produce a larger loin eye....berkshires don't breed well with others (that's straight from Karlios).



Good pork is a beautiful thing.
post #4 of 5
2/12/09 at 8:16am
I'm jealous for all the great pork you have in your area. It is a little different here in San Fran. My only experience up close with a Duroc males sire was that he was pretty mean. Maybe he thought I might horn in on the action.
post #5 of 5
2/12/09 at 8:27am
Thread Starter 
pretty cool working with the guys providing raw product, we get them delivered fresh right from the USDA butcher.
Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market is mecca for many of us, you've got access to so many artisan producers to bounce ideas off of....
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