Basque Style hams

[quietwatersfarm]

We do not generally feed maize to our pigs, but we plan to give the Bayonne bound porkers about 35-40% maize, with the balance made up of our usual mixed fresh food diet, this needs to be a high linoleic acid content maize to provide a suitable fat profile that is both healthy in itself and best suited to the imitation of the Basque ham.

[wheels]

Pah, why not innovate instead of imitate - I bet you could do a better job. Your pork is probably far better than theirs in the first-place.

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

I want to begin at least by achieving that moist tenderness, almost sweetness (?) that you get with a good Bayonne Ham.

Once I have cracked that I will try all sorts of 'improvements'

Our Pork does lend a fairly unique taste to things, normally a roast is what prompts most comments about how different it is, but the last batch of immersion cured hams have really brought its flavour out, Ive never had ham quite like it

Diet and forage habits have such a massive impact on Pork, I like to see it as starting to add seasoning from weaning onwards!!

[wheels]

Diet and forage habits have such a massive impact on Pork, I like to see it as starting to add seasoning from weaning onwards!!

There's no doubt about that - just look at the Spanish 'Acorn Fed' Ham for example.

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

There is a whole other story, but dont get me started on that, at least not until the Bayonne is sorted!!

[wheels]

Did you find out anything about the use of wine in Bayonne Ham when you were researching this John?

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

I have never heard of Bayonne hams using wine,

as I have pointed out this whole idea of liquid and dry curing simultaneously is completely uncharted territory for me (if not for you!! )

I like the idea of a wine cured ham (immersion or combi) at will be trying that out (Bordeaux Ham?), but my understanding of Bayonne Hams is as follows:

Maize fed pigs with no chemical or antibiotics used
Eastern north Atlantic weather and salt
Initial cool dry cure
Secondary warmer slow drying with a crust (sometimes with local hot pepper rub)

DangerDan mentioned wine from some research he had done, I would love to see it.

I know that Culatello is sometimes refered to as wine cured, but in my experince the wine only comes into it during a nice 3 day bath before the casing is removed at the end of the drying period.

[wheels]

Phew, your info matches what I have - given that I'm about as remote from the sea as you can get in the UK, it's a bit of a non-starter for me!

Phil

[bigJ]

Quietwatersfarm,
i am very interested in what you have written about the feeding of your pigs. I fatten a couple of weaners each year, the current two (tamworths) are now 200lb+ and headed off on their last journey next week, and had read that barley is good for producing 'good' fat for curing hams and so have been upping this in their diet over the standard pigsnuts. So whilst it may not be pertinent to these two, for this years crop i would be grateful of any pointers/rules of thumb you can give me about the effect of different feed types on the final product, or point me in the right direction for finding out myself.
(sorry i hope this hasn't hijacked this topic but several mentions have been made to this subject, and i for one am fascinated to find out more)
cheers
J

[quietwatersfarm]

Hi bigJ, I like the sound of your pigs! nothing beats a decent sized Tamworth.

Thing is that these breeds generally have a generous fat covering anyway, so often its about how to try and limit this and put on more muscle growth. Having said that the Tam is a leaner pig than many, which is why we have always used a Tam boar with our Old Spot and Saddleback sows.

Barley is something that will add fat as its 'digestible energy' content is quite low when compared with other meals. As a result it will add fat rather than meat. Its DE can be increased by milling finer but this is only marginal.

Whether its what you refer to as 'good fat' is probably a matter of opinion, if the rest of the pigs diet and range is healthy and free from additives and chemicals then the fat should be fine, the maize feed is specifically beneficial because of its high 'omega 3' contribution and so creates a particularly worthwhile fat for human consumption.

[bigJ]

hi quiet waters,
thanks for that, i thought i'd clear up what i meant by good fat- monounsaturated fats , which as i understand it are all important for enabling a long hanging time for cured meats as they are less likely to to go rancid than polyunsaturated fat, which can turn yellow and give off flavours to a well matured ham. I think that the trick is to feed a diet low in poly fats as whilst some breeds a better at producing the mono fats the only way poly gets into the meat is through diet- hence why the acorn (high mono low poly) fed pigs are so well regarded - unfortunately not many oak trees round here in the kielder forest- pine does get a bit monotonouos after a few miles!
Its very interesting to read your thoughts about maize as i had read it was high in poly fats and therefore not so good for cured products.
As for my girls- well my not very experienced eye tells me that they are fit not fat but i will only be sure next friday, and it will be to late to change anything then! They look long andd lean to me. Their diet has included a compound feed, but i would like to mix my own (as i do for my sheep and goats)- do you do this if so i would be keen to find out your recipe?
I have enjoyed the tamworths, great characters, but i like variety-past breeds have included welsh, large black and saddlebacks- i was thinking of trying mangalitza next, mainly because they are a breed specially developed for curing- the eternal search for the perfect ham!

[quietwatersfarm]

We are feeding maize for a bayonne style ham project, so its a neccessary part of the experiment as well as being high in oleic acids,

We feed no concentrates. Our pigs have diet based on wild and grown fresh forage, fruit and vegetables. Variety being the main essential

They grow slow, but taste pretty good

[bigJ]

Sounds good, what sort of age/weight do you take them to, do you grown all their food?, what sort of quantities do they eat? i grew some roots to feed them this year but on a very small acreage its not possible to grow all their food, especially in this climate with the quality of our land. My neighbour suggested yesterday using a garden vac around his stand of large beech trees to hoover up the mast for them next year- i might give it a try.
I'd love to hear about your feeding regime, it sounds a whole lot more sustainable than mine. I'm here to live, learn and improve.

[quietwatersfarm]

We are all learning all the time, its why Im so fond of making mistakes, best lessons learnt and all that

We are looking to achieve a system that treats the animals as much like some form of game as possible. Slow growing on foods that are made available within the woods and pastures (even if the pigs have to look for them!)

Sure we supplement too, but this is with surplus vegetables, tops, weeds, hay and anything else we can use. Variety is what achieves health and flavour in my view, and the vigour it instills in the animals is there to taste on the plate.

Rotation is also the key, never leaving them in one place too long and then sowing behind them as soon as they move out (often with a brief poultry interlude to harrow the ground and ingest any bugs). We havew found beetlebank grass mixes, stubble turnips and kale all great catch crops for pig land as well as comfrey and jerusalem artichokes which just keep coming back all the stronger.

We feed on an ad-lib basis whenever they are off pasture or woodland and generally kill out at around 80kg unless we are after a particular product (eg boars in the woods get a bit bigger for soem salumi, and the maize feed Bayonne bound VIP's)

We pay the kids to collect bucket loads of acorns and beech mast every year, wherever they fall outside the woodland pens.

[bigJ]

sounds like piggy heaven, you've got me thinking now! our main problem is the short growing season we have, come to think of it our two main problems are that and the soil (and before i turn into monty python i will point out that unfortunately i am not blessed with a ruthless efficiency ). Improving the land is a slow buisness.
Anyway something to ponder upon. Thanks