What kind of fat is suitable?

[Fatman]

Chris

We do not have any game ranchers here in U.K. a few farms that breed some deer perhaps thats all. The game here is very lean to, maybe except for the farmed wild boar.

I remember back in the eighties I was in Canada hunting and trapping, eating our quarry did not show any signs of fatty animals.

However there is now a Japanese cow breed which is making a stir in London which has these qualities, unfortunately I can not remember the breed name. Starts with a W I think.

Regards

Fatman

[Parson Snows]

Information of wild boar, partridges, pheasants and venison/deer in the UK

http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/
http://www.pheasants.co.uk/
http://www.ukhunting.com/games.htm
http://www.denhamestate.co.uk/home.htm

Farmed deer statistics - UK and Canada
By Deerfarmer.com
Jul 25, 2003, 19:22
I often get asked by people interested in deer farming how the industry is doing, and what the future looks like. Unfortunately, my crystal ball is not much better than anyone else's. My standard recommendation is to do a business plan that looks at the industry statistics and crunch some numbers to assess the potentials/risks.
Another thing I like to do is look at where we have come from. Sometimes our glimpse of the future can be predicted from our past. With that rationale in mind, two good sets of deer industry statistics became available to me - one from the United Kingdom, and one from Canada.
In the United Kingdom, the national deer herd numbers are about 36,000. This is down substantially from a peak of 53,000 in 1992. The herd size has remained relatively stable since 1995. Over 95% of Scottish deer are red, while in England, 77% are red, 22% are fallow and 1% are other. Deer farming is not a significant (nor apparently growing) part of the agricultural industry in the UK. Deer represent less than 0.06% of the UK's farmed livestock.
Agriculture in general is declining in the United Kingdom. Cattle numbers fell 2.5% between 1999 and 2000; pig numbers fell by 11%, sheep were down by 5% and total labour on farms was reduced by 25,000, a 5% reduction. These numbers are all BEFORE the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease which will result in additional declines. (Source: Journal of the British Deer Farmers Association, No 65, Spring 2001, p23).

Hope that this is of some use to you

Kind regards

Parson Snows

[hunterman]

I am also finding it difficult to obtain back fat.
But at this time of year goose fat is plentiful
Has anybody tried it before?

[Victor]

How about plain old Lard? Can you use that as well. I havnt a clue what backfat would be in German! (local butchers dont even know Suet, which translated in my dictionary literally as kidney fat).

[Paul Kribs]

Victor

Just point the butcher to a loin chop and indicate the bit between the meat and the skin..

It is not crucial to use back fat, some of the fat from a pork belly is quite firm and can be used with confidence.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Victor]

I went to the butcher and explained what I want. He said its called Speck, which to me is bacon. Still he has ordered 500g for me, so we will see what I get.

In the mean time, I purchased 4kg of pork belly and after removing the skin Ive minced it, and now find the collagen skins dont fit the stuffer outlet I lucky ordered some hog things as well so I have 3 m soaking right now. Boy they are covered in a lot of salt!!! How long can these hog thingies be stored for once opened?

Still not 100% sure Ive done it all right. 4kg was way to much. Ive only processed 2kg, the rest is now vacuum packed

Victor

[Paul Kribs]

Victor

If you have any of the soaked hog casings left 'DO NOT' put them back in the salt with the others. Reseal the bag of the unused casings and put them in the fridge.. they last months. I have some over 3 months old which I used today and they are fine, and I still have some left.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[welsh wizard]

Hi Paul

Sorry I am a litle confused (not difficult!), but I always dry and resalt my hog casings if I under run on production and use them for the following session - in your opinion is this incorrect?

Oh I dont put them back into the bag with the unused casings by the way.......

On another note re casings, do you have to keep them in the fridge? I only ask because they always arrive un refrigiated with no instructions as to if you should or shouldn't keep them in such an enviroment.

Cheers WW

[Paul Kribs]

ww

A bit of contradiction coming up here . I have done exactly the same as you and dried, re-salted and re-packed soaked casings.. so I know where you are coming from. I would imagine (and I will be corrected if I am wrong) that they would be OK to use within a few days to a week. I have used re-salted, repacked casings and found that they are more prone to bursting when linking, moreso sheeps casings. I could be wrong on this point, but thought I would attempt to guide Victor away from my dissapointments.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[welsh wizard]

Hi Paul

Yep good reply - I too have had re used casings burst on me in the past but I now tend to soak them for only a short period of time. I must say though I am becoming better at getting the lengths right since a post was made on this forum re length of casing per Kg of meat. Now if I only have say three feet or so I tend to jetterson them.

Do you have an opinion (or does anyone for that matter) regarding the keeping of casings? Do they have to go in the fridge?

Cheers WW

[Hobbitfeet]

I must admit mine live at the back of the 'fridge as they don't take up too much space. If I have any left-over casings after a sausage-making session, and I intend making another batch within a couple of days or so, I keep them in a mug of the soaking water, again, in the 'fridge...but then I am a bit of a Scrooge

[Paul Kribs]

ww

Yes, mine live in the fridge and I have had no problems with them, even for many months.

Regards, Paul kribs