Hello all good folk of Sausagemaking.org.
Not sure where to post this poser so I hope the chatter section will be be OK.
As an ex-butcher I never came across this in my short years in the butchery trade (1972-1978).....pork smelling of .......for the want of a better word.....urine!!
For the last 10 years I have noticed that SOME pork....and bacon absolutely stinks of ????? (urine) and tastes the same when cooked. I'd always thought that this was the bi-product of intense pork farms using palm oil based products when fattening up the stock. I have recently been told that this smell/odour/taste comes from male swine that have not been castrated. In any case i thought this belonged to intense pork farms which products only appeared on the "happy shopper" shelves of a supermarket.
Just to confuse the issue, I recently bought some decent speck/dry cured bacon ...and black pudding from a reputable butcher in my corner of the world (S.Wales).....(bloody expensive may I add).....but that smell/taste was still there........
Am I just going senile in my old age and imagining this or is there a reason why pork smells like this? I am a self confessed carnivore and love my meat.....especially pork and love keeping my hand in, in butchery and with the help of you guys on here I managed to make a Porchetta di Testa viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5561 ....but I would hate to give up on buying pork.
Can any of you guru's enlighten me on this......or am I just imaging it??
Signed....Confused
Terry xx