Half a hog.

[manxman]

I have had half a pig on order with the local butcher for a couple of weeks.

Well, it arrived yesterday.... 95lb of organic free range pork and it even included the trotters!

Fully butchered and prepared into the different cuts it worked out at about £1/$2 per lb, a good price IMHO.

This weekend I will be preparing and curing the loin and some of the belly for cold smoked bacon. Eating the pork fillet tonight and the rest goes in the freezer for a while.

Now what do I do with the trotters!!  :D :D

[Wildcat]

If trotters are the feet - pickle them!

[manxman]

Yep, trotters are the feet. Good idea Wildcat, looks like I need to have a search through some of my (old) recipe books.  ;)

[LilSmoker]

Wow Manx! all that lovely pork, and i'd say that's a very good price, you got a very good deal there, especially as it's organic.
I've just found a local farm that sells meat to the public, i'm going to check it out tommorow hopefully.

Yeah the trotters (Del & Rodney) ;D well as Wildcat says, many people pickle them, also when i was kid i worked in a butchers shop, and some of the customers would buy trotters to make soup with.
Can be used for stock etc, i seem to remember a recipe where they are brined and grilled? if i find it i'll post it here.

LilSmoker

[manxman]

i seem to remember a recipe where they are brined and grilled? if i find it i'll post it here

Thanks LS, open to any suggestions on Delboy and Rodney as my two boys have already starting calling the trotters!!  ;)

(to our American and Canadian friends..... no, we have not lost the plot. There is a very well known brilliant comedy on this side of the pond called "Only Fools and Horses" and the stars are two brothers ..Delboy and Rodney Trotter. :D :D :D)

Got plans for most of the other bits already!  ;)

[LilSmoker]

A good few years back i had an irish guy doing a bit of work for me, well he was always telling me about all the home cooking back home, and quite often he would tell me that he was having trotters for tea.

Well i can't remember the full process of how his wife cooked them?, but i remember they were brined and grilled, and i found this recipe online earlier, and apparently it is an irish recipe, and i think this must be the way they did them, or very close to their recipe.

Anyway Manx, here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try, this is for 4 trotters so i suppose you could just halve the ingredients:


Cruibini (Grilled Pigs' Trotters)

Ingredients:
• 4 Brined pigs' trotters
• 2 x Carrots
• 1 x Stick celery
• 1 x Onion
• 6 fl oz Wine vinegar
• 1 x oz Melted butter
• 1 x oz Dried breadcrumbs
• 1 tspn Allspice


Directions:


Brine plain pig's trotters for 24 hours- Basic brine for trotters: 12 1/2 cups water: 3/4 lb sea salt: 3/4 lb brown sugar, salt & pepper to taste. 1 bay leaf. 3 sprigs thyme.1 t black peppercorns. 4 cloves.- Put all ingredients in a pan, bring to boiling point, skim and remove from the heat. Let cool. Add trotters, weight down with a very clean stone or other non reactive weight, and leave for 24 hours.

Bandage them with several strips of cheesecloth, or tie them several times around the short way with string or they will break up into many pieces.

Put into a pot with the vegetables, and cover with water and the vinegar. Simmer gently for 6 or 7 hours.

Allow to cool in the liquid.

To serve: Split the trotter in two lengthways and roll in melted butter and dried breadcrumbs mixed with a pinch of allspice.

Grill slowly or heat in an oven at 350 F, until hot and crisp on the outside. Serve with mustard.

LilSmoker

[manxman]

That's great LS, thank you.  :)

[Boybach]

Hey Manx
make sure you trim the nails before you do anything to them trotters. Presentation means a lot ;D

[Gizmo]

I love pickled pigs feet.  My mom has made them and they are better than the gelatinous goop they sell in the stores.  If you like, I can get the recipe from her.  I need to do that anyway.
The feet are also used in soups as mentioned above.  I have also seen references to the trotters getting stuffed and braised but since there is little meat on them, you may want to keep some of the hock to add to the actual consumable part.

[LilSmoker]

Hey Manx
make sure you trim the nails before you do anything to them trotters. Presentation means a lot ;D

Why not go the "Whole hog"  ::) and put some nail varnish on them

On a serious note, Manx whatever you decide to do with them, i would be interested to know how they turn out, as the trotters/feet seem to get overlooked nowdays, i was trying to get some decent oxtail the other day to make some soup, but i had to work quite hard to find some.

I suppose as meat is more plentifull and available nowdays, the cheaper cuts do get overlooked.

Anyway, would love to hear what eventually happens to Delboy and Rodney  ;)

[3rensho]

Hi Manx,

That is a great price for pork.  For the trotters you might want to have a look at Len Poli's site.  He has a recipe -

http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recipes.htm#Brine%20cured

The link to the recipe is on the above page.

Cheers,

Tom

[Habanero Smoker]

Geez Manxman;

Now you got me thinking of buying some organic pork. I'm thinking of purchase pork from heritage hogs. I'm getting tired of the very lean pork that is sold commercially. I may have to clean out my freezer and purchase some.

As far as fat content. Is there any noticeable difference between the organic, and commercial pork? Is the commercial pork over there very lean?

[manxman]

make sure you trim the nails before you do anything to them trotters.

Why not go the "Whole hog"   and put some nail varnish on them

Hahaha...... so far I have asked several ladies if I can borrow some nail clippers and nail varnish but all I have got is funny looks to date!  :D :D

The trotters are currently in the freezer, as are most other bits, took a while to make some room!

Current project is curing the loin and belly for cold smoked back/middle and streaky bacon. Also plan to make some Boston Beans with the offcuts.

Next project is doing a ham from the hind quarter/leg then utilising the shoulder in a few weeks for some pulled pork perhaps.

I cut all the rind off to cure the middle section, I then cut it into 6X6 inch pieces and dried it out in the oven at low temperature overnight and they made great dog chews.... "waste not want not" and all that!!  ;)

As far as fat content. Is there any noticeable difference between the organic, and commercial pork? Is the commercial pork over there very lean?

Pork from the supermarket does tend to be very lean, but I usually buy from the local butcher and the fat cover seems to be much better. With regards to the half pig I bought the fact cover seems ideal, prefer slightly too much than too little as you can always cut it back a bit!

Definately recommend doing it this way.  :D