The end of an excellent pig for me is always black pudding. The bones and hair are the only parts I don't use. The lungs and large intestines feed my dogs and they have a good chew on the bones too.
Anyway, the Forum recipe that I think originated from Oddley is my favourite and I always make at least 4 kg pudding from 3 litres of blood I save from each pig. I freeze the blood with salt and a touch of KNO3 so it keeps for several weeks. I always reserve some back fat too.
I think fresh blood is still available in rural UK by special order from butcher's shops or abattoirs but fortunately I don't have that problem here in the Solomons. I then make 2 kg at a time at my leisure. Filling casings is a pain so I use a 2 kg rectangular container and steam over simmering water for 3 hours. This might be the lazy way but it saves on casings that are hard to come by here. A rectangular black pudding that can be cut in thick slices is much more convenient, eaten either cold or fried, depending on personal preference.
If anyone hasn't tried to make a black pudding yet, I strongly recommend you do. It is very tasty and another interesteing facet to sausagemaking. A photo of the pudding I made yesterday appears below. It looks maroon in colour rather than "black" but that is a result of the nitrate. In the tropical Solomons where refrigeration is uncertain I always use a trace of KNO3 for safety. It doesn't alter the flavour of the pudding or any of the sausage I make.
If anyone has a different recipe I would be interested to try it.
My recipe is as follows:
1.5 ltrs blood
400g oats
600g boiled barley
500g back fat
400g bread
1 ltr milk
2 tbsp mixed herbs
1 tsp chili
1 tsp mace or nutmeg
2 tsp salt (optional)
All the best,
Vernon