Berkshire Pork

[Patty]

 

 


Have you noticed how bland and dry pork has become? Well I just found a gem in a small town near us, they raise and sell Berkshire Pork. I thought Norm was going to burst into tears of joy when I brought home a whole ham leg (acorn fed pork), chops, bacon, hotdogs, pork bellies, butts, ham, baby back and spare ribs, and anything else that looked good.

Their hotdogs are the best I have ever tasted (and I don't even like regular hotdogs), their bacon is awesome ... and NO NITRATES in either the dogs nor the bacon. The ham steaks are the steaks I remember from years ago. This pork is the real deal.  8)

[Norm]

 :'(



:D :D :D

[Magicman]

Looks like the only thing that you left in the store was the squeal.  You did good.   

[WDH]

Norm,

Looks like that you are hamming it up  :D. 

BBQ, BBQ!!!!

[Buck]

lol, sounds like a lil bit of coonass in the ole family tree.  :D
   "use everything but the squeal"

[Kansas]

Funny how things go in circles. Now berkshire pork is all the rage for the marbling. Acorn fed, is considered gourmet.In the dust bowl days when my dad was a kid, they fed the hogs out on acorns. It was all they had to feed them. Be interesting to see what you think of the taste. Bet its awesome.

[Norm]

We tried out their chops last night. One regular Berkshire and one acorn feed Berkshire.



I had three ready but could only fit two in my cast iron pan.



Just salt and pepper seared both sides and finished in the oven.



The verdict is these were the best chops we've had in ages.

[Mooseherder]

Those look awesome.  I love those 2 Rib Pork chops.
I painted on the loin chop where the flap meat would be.
They are probably making sausage with it by taking it off.
You can see that loin chop looks just like a Porterhouse.
That one in the picture was sliced next to the Sirloin.  You can tell by the size of the Tenderloin.


 

[Kansas]

Norm, could you tell any difference between the regular one and the acorn fed one?

[Burlkraft]

That looks like some good eatin' there. Not only does Patty spoil my wife, but she spoils you too!!

[Norm]

Yeah she's the best ever. I send her in for a couple of things and she shows up back home with this huge long box. I'm carrying it in when I asked her what the heck is in here? "Oh an acorn feed fresh ham section". I'm like COOL!

Kansas I did think the acorn feed one had a softer texture and milder flavor. But who knows if it's because I was expecting it to. The other one was very good. We had cut out most pork in our diet because it was tough flavorless meat. It's calories is so much less than beef we'll be eating it a lot more now.

Thanks Glenn, I noticed they were cut differently and wondered why. Is it because they're off a different section of the loin?

[Patty]

As a matter of fact, the guy at the store had a whole box of the fresh acorn fed chops, each cut in a different fashion. He was taking the box around to his customers as samples for them to try. He explained each one to me and let me pick the one I wanted. The other two chops were in a freezer where they keep the seconds. Seconds are the cuts that are not cut picture perfectly, brought back to the store and sold at a discount. That is why they look odd, and not perfect like the acorn chop was.

[Riggs]

Making my mouth water.

[Mooseherder]

I prefer those seconds over the loin.
Those 2 Rib chops are the ones closer to the shoulder.   You can tell because they have sections instead of one solid piece of loin like you would see in the center of the animal.  The loin chop in the picture is closer to the sirloin butt or the hip of the hog.  Not all loin chops or Rib chops are created equal.  The loins will have a smaller tenderloin on each slice.  The Ribs will go from a solid piece of meat to what you see in the picture.  The whole rib section is 7 ribs.
The loin section is as long as the rib section.

[Norm]

Thanks Glenn!

[Burlkraft]

Gotta hand it to The Meat Man.....He knows his meat!  ;)

I have learned a lot just reading these posts. I look my meat over a lot closer now when I buy.