Market Time

We have decided to head to the markets. Part of my "thing" is to really connect with our customers and have been looking forward to the time when we start going to the markets! That time is here!

We will be at the Yeppoon Community Markets held at the Showgrounds on Saturday - yes, this Saturday! So if you are in the area, please come on down and say "Gidday!".

If you don't live in Yeppoon, but know someone who does, please tell them about us. Tell them if they want to see what Pork should taste like, then they need to come down and talk to us!

Thanks to everyone for their continued support!


Oh.....we are also Human Choice certified! That is the certification for TRUE free range!

Pork Orders for June

Just a reminder that orders will close by Friday this week. So get it in straight away to avoid disappointment!

Matt from Monto Meats, who does our butchering said that people don't think of pork as winter food.....I hope that's not true. Maybe I need to talk about some of the yummy warm dishes you can make:

• Curried Pork - use diced pork or spare ribs
• Curried Pork chops - marinate the pork in a mix of yoghurt and curry paste and bake in the oven - serve with rice, dhal and curried vegetables
• Sweet and Sour Pork
• Pork Meatballs - cooked in either coconut milk or stock, with vegies and noodles
• Roast Pork - leg or belly - someone told me about a belly cooked in milk - I need to explore this idea
• Pulled Pork Tortillas - request a pork shoulder piece for this one
• Braised spare ribs
• Braised Trotters
• Spaghetti Bolognaise (using pork mince)
• Meatloaf/mince patties/rissoles.

This is just my quick list....I'll have to think of some more and also post some recipes......

Nitrate Free and Colour

I've had a query about the colour of the Nitrate Free Ham and Bacon. The picture above shows a conventional ham on the right and NF ham and bacon on the left. The conventional ham is the colour that you normally expect ham to be. With the NF ham and bacon it can be a pinky/browny colour. This is due to the fact that it is the Nitrate Chemical that makes the ham and bacon pink. It also preserves it and does help to carry the smoke flavour through the meat. If you've had NF ham and thought it tasted a bit "porky" that's because the smoke flavour hasn't carried through. This is not noticeable with the bacon, as the bacon is a lot thinner and the smoke flavour penetrates. When I say smoke flavour, I don't mean that it's a flavouring, because it is proper wood smoked ham and bacon.

My last post was about nitrates etc, and you may have already read the links on that post. Processors that sell Nitrate Free ham often use celery juice. This is a natural nitrate, but a nitrate nevertheless. It will mean that the ham will still be pink, because it's the nitrate (artificial or natural) that causes it to go pink. I hope I have cleared this up, however if you have any questions or concerns about it, please comment below and I will respond. At least doing it this way if people have a question, it usually means that others may have the same question.

Stay tuned, because my next post will be about hairs on our pigs......

Nitrate free ham and bacon

Our nitrate free ham and bacon is quite popular. I think I've mentioned before that I personally don't like the nitrate free ham as much as the conventional ham. (I like the bacon). We went into the nitrate free stuff, because I was convinced that nitrates/nitrites are bad for you. You know, cancer causing and all the rest. I also think that our grandparents grew up on corn beef, so it can't be that bad!

Also, because I like my ham and corned beef and I really want to have another go at air drying meat this winter (I made duck breast prosciutto last year) I thought that I would investigate a bit more about the nitrate debate. I'm also reading Art of Fermentation at the moment and Sandor Katz said that he was more concerned about botulism than nitrates.....so my research has confirmed my earlier thoughts, that maybe the nitrates aren't so bad any way. I've included some links
here and here and here .

These are all US sites, however I would assume that our regulations in Australia would be similar. I do think though that caution needs to be in place with eating alot of preserved meats, mainly due to the high fat and salt content in some of them - eg salamis and hot dogs. So sticking to Dawson Valley Free Range ham and bacon is the best idea. Seriuosly though, the ethics of the product do come into it - how the meat is raised and processed.

This winter I'll be trying some air dried pork jowl I think......


My duck breast prosciutto - which I didn't use nitrates in and then worried I was going to poison myself - it was good though - had enough salt to kill anything though!

If you've found different information, please leave a comment.

Healthy Pigs

One of the reasons our pork tastes so good (it just tastes like pork should) is because the pigs are healthy and their pastures are healthy.

These are some of the Growers, which are what we call the pigs in the last couple of months. We select from these to send to the butcher.

 

We also have what we call our paddock sanitiser's in to assist with some of the parasite control. The pigs tend to mess around the outside of the paddocks, so the chooks come along and give it a good clean up. No need for nasty chemicals here.

 

And then of course the chooks and turkeys just like to get an extra feed.

 

To Vacuum or Not to Vacuum

I'm talking vacuum packing meat here, not the house.

As you may have noticed, if you are an older customer, we have started to vacuum seal our pork. There are a few reasons for this, and there are various pros and cons regarding the process. I thought I would try and explain a bit more here.

The thoughts around the reason not to vacuum seal are based on the idea that it ages the meat (this is called wet aging) and to age the meat, it's actually starting the process of break down - it's a annorobic environment and the bacteria age the meat. This is exactly the reason why a lot of people do vacuum pack meat, as it will also tenderise the product. Our pork does not need to be vacuum packed to tenderise it, it's naturally very tender. I personally think that if you need to do this to tenderise your meat, the producer needs to think about a different breed or different management. However in saying that, it's difficult with our climate and conditions in CQ to produce consistently tender beef and so vacuum sealing is used as a tool.

Our reason for packing this way, is two fold. One: we are now getting the pork delivered for us and so the boxes will hold together better if there is no risk of blood escaping from the packed meat. It also means that we can be surer that our pork will still be fresh and lovely when you get it. We don't have it packed for an extended time, only for the time it needs to travel. Our second reason, is that once we start going to markets, we have to (by law) pack it like this. It also looks a lot nicer presentation wise.

A couple of things to remember when you get your meat home:

1. It needs to be frozen as soon as possible, although will keep for longer in the vaccum sealed bags, depending on your preference.
2. If the meat smells a bit, which it may, because of the annorobic conditions, just put it on a plate or bowl for a half hour or so, so that the smell goes away. It's not off, it's just a concentrated smell of meat. This may be more noticeable with the mince and sausages.

Please give me any feedback regarding this packaging.

Chevon available again....and change of delivery dates.

We will have some goat meat (chevon) available next delivery. It will be $60 for 5kg. The 5kg will be made up of a leg roast and chops/stew – if you would really like the flap/ribs to make this dish, please request them – or the shanks (there will only be four on one goat so this will be limited to how many goats we send over - and whoever requests them first)

 

I don’t have goat on the order form, so if you would like to order some, either email me or put it in the comments section on the online form (on the order page).

Goat is similar to mutton, although very lean. The best way to cook goat is to roast it or slow cook/braise it. It makes a really good curry or Moroccan style stew, so with winter on the way, it is definitely worth a try. I will hopefully get time in the next week to put some goat recipes on the Recipe page, but if I don’t please feel free to prompt me!! Incidentally it’s one of the most eaten red meats in the world (just not in Australia!). I love it, but there is only so much we can eat, and we have some that need to find a spot in a freezer.

PLEASE GET BACK TO ME BY WEDNESDAY THE 1^st IF YOU WANT SOME GOAT FOR DELIVERY IN THE WEEK OF THE 12^th MAY.

Also, please note that the delivery date for Rockhampton, Gladstone and Local/Theodore has changed – please look at the Ordering Page.