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.

Free Range Chicken

We are really lucky to live near the best free range chicken I've ever tasted. Scott and Heidi produce organically raised chickens on their farm and we have been selling them with our orders for the past year. Now that we've gone online with our order form it's a bit trickier, so I thought I'd just let people know about them and you can order direct from Scott and Heidi (or just let me know what you'd like and I can add it into your order.) To make it easier for delivery, please tell them or us that you are getting both.

I've copied some information from Scott and Heidi onto this post. If you want more info about the chicken's contact them direct.

Ordering

Below is a link to our updated order form, thank-you to Tatiana for assisting us. Please fill out the form and press submit at the end, if there are any problems, please email me your concerns. We hope that we have ironed out the bugs but expect a few technical hitches in the first few weeks.

You will notice that our prices have increased by approx 25c/kg, our feed and freight costs have increased this year but we have managed to negotiate no change in processing costs for the rest of the year.

We expect that orders for the first few weeks will be greater than what we can supply but will notify those that we cannot fill your order the same week that you place your order.

 Changes in 2013

We have expanded our product range to include individual pieces as we have been often asked by our customers if we would provide such products. The pieces will be presented on trays, with the average tray weight between 350-500g. While the ordering form has pieces as per half kilogram, it may not be possible to obtain the 0.5kg size for each tray.

We have also removed our bulk discount this year as we aim to maintain a low purchase price that all can benefit from.

Freight

For our western customers, we will not be able to supply fresh chickens again this year due to pick-up on a Monday which is our first processing date of the week. Freight deliveries will be on a Wednesday. For all other customers, we will be able to supply fresh (if processing that week) or frozen, please indicate which is your preference when ordering. Local customers within the Biloela area, our services will remain the same as last year, either pick-up at our farm or we can delivery into town. For those that live outside Biloela, Theodore and Baralaba (i.e. Gladstone, Tannum, Rockhampton, Yeppoon, Emerald etc.), there will be a freight cost of 20c/kg for each order. Freight deliveries will be on a Thursday for these centres.

 Centre Coordinators

For each town, we are looking for people who would like to be our centre coordinators where deliveries can be dropped off. This role does not involve invoicing or handling money but may involve contacting customers to negotiate a suitable time to collect their orders. Because we now have a large customer base, this will save on freight costs if we have a single central drop off location. For larger centres, we may have two centre coordinators so that travel time is reduced. If you are willing to be one of these people, please let us know. We will be offering a discount off your order for all our centre coordinators. We will gradually role out this service in the coming weeks so initial orders can be still delivered door to door.

 New Customers

For existing customers that refer our products to new customers, we will be offering a 10% discount on your next order. For all new customers, can you indicate in the comments section at the bottom of the form who referred you to us? Please feel free to send our details to your friends and family if you wish to receive a great discount on your next purchases.

 Finally, thank-you to everyone that has been contacting us requesting our chickens, we aim to provide a healthy and quality product that is locally produced.

 

Pasture Raised Chickens

Orders closed for April

Well, I've finalised all the orders, the pigs are in Monto and I have finally finished sending out invoices! If you haven't received an invoice - please email me as that may mean you don't have your order in!!! Oh, except the side/whole pig orders - I'll send them out in the next day or so.....

We've been really pleased with the fact that our customers that keep coming back. It's been pretty tough for us to get established and trying to sort out some of the hassles of starting a new business. One of our problems has been trying to manage the fat, which I'm really glad to say that we are starting to sort out. So...thankyou to all those that keep coming back. We're glad that so many people agree with us that our pork tastes like pork should!