Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

Originally Posted by 32t

I cut the belly in quarters and kept 3 of them frozen to play with after this first experiment.

Out of curiosity--what was the total weight of the belly

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Out of curiosity--what was the total weight of the belly

The garbage bag is in the alley now and I ain't going out to dig it out!

This one weighs in just shy of 3 lbs and was from what I remember it was the second smallest.

The price I remember would make it out to about 13 lbs total so that seems right.

My calipers could use a little grease for lubrication so if you want I could go down and measure how thick it is.

Originally Posted by 32t

The garbage bag is in the alley now and I ain't going out to dig it out!

This one weighs in just shy of 3 lbs and was from what I remember it was the second smallest.

The price I remember would make it out to about 13 lbs total so that seems right.

My calipers could use a little grease for lubrication so if you want I could go down and measure how thick it is.

I wouldn't think of digging a wrapper out of the garbage myself.

Thanks for the 'approximate weight' I was just wondering what to expect when I went to purchase some bellies this coming Tuesday.

I sometimes go off on tangents.

Many interesting things about pork bellies. Here is an interesting one to me.

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and...ge/bellies.php

The 'Peak' in May is interesting as according to my dad in the 'Old Days' hogs were butchered in the fall, then dry cured to last for the rest of the year.

He used to say that the hams didn't start tasting good until they were about a year old.

He also said that at our homestead that the once the hams and bacons were done curing that they were wrapped in burlap and had strings attached to them and were then buried in the grainery so to keep as cool as possible.

He also used to talk about how when they butchered hogs and the trimmings were ground, his mom (my Granny) would mix in the spices (Salt, Pepper and Sage) and once she was happy with the mixing she would make patties and fry them in a huge cast iron pan on the wood stove (dad was 5 or 6 when REA brought electric power to the homestead) and as they were done, she'd place then in layers in a big crock pot and then pour molten lard over them to cover, then go back to frying patties.

Once the crock was filled, dad said it took quite a few people to roll it out to the root cellar.

When Granny wanted sausage for say breakfast she'd dig down through the lard, pull out how many patties she wanted, put them a pan to heat up and then serve them.

Dad said that after several months those patties got a bit 'Strong' but there was something to eat.

How we are all spoiled with modern transportation, refrigeration etc.

My grandmother mentioned pork chops stored in this way when she was a child.

Could we be modern and fancy and call it pork confit?

Originally Posted by 32t

My grandmother mentioned pork chops stored in this way when she was a child.

Could we be modern and fancy and call it pork confit?

Maybe for some, but not for this old long haired red neck country boy----Way too fancy!

I bet everyone knows what a 'Felon' is--right?

Well according to my cook book printed in 1887--They'd be wrong---

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/bo...isorders/felon

The old cookbook recommends crushing up rock salt, mixing it with turpentine then placing in a rag and applying it to the affected body part.