Pork Supplies

[Paul Kribs]

Seeking some help sourcing decent pork in the south-east london area / kent border. Sidcup Orpington Dartford areas.

Having just been to my local butcher in Eltham to acquire some shoulder and belly. Shoulder was OK but the only belly he had was less than 1 kg and was much too lean. This week I will have to utilise some of my fat reserves. How a butcher can only have 1 kg of belly on a Saturday morning beats me.

I was told by a guy who moved to Norfolk that there used to be a farm in the Orpington area years ago that sold their own pork, but I can find nothing after hours of trawling the web, and local directory books etc.

Any help would be of assistance, am a bit reluctant to venture to Smithfields for a number of reasons.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[aris]

At a push, you could always go to tesco for boneless belly - 2.79 per kilo. They do pork shoulder for 2.60 per kilo. A mix of the two would make a nice sausage.

The meat is nothing special (not rare breed, or anything) just regular British pork, but it makes a decent sausage. You would have to mince it yourself too.

Another option is to find a wholesaler near you. An easy option is a Booker Cash & Carry - www.booker.co.uk. It is fairly easy to blag a trade card for these places - just print up a "company" letterhead on your PC, and fill out an application form. Tell them you are a sole trader working from home as a caterer or a guest house. They have an in-house butchery which often have special deals going, and can also order specially for you. Last I checked, they did whole bellies (bone-in) for around 1.05 per lb. You don't necessarily have to buy huge quantities, but if you buy 20-30kg at once, they will give you a slight discount.

[Oddley]

Paul it may be worthwhile getting in touch with the.

Thames Valley Farmers' Market Co-Operative

http://www.tvfm.org.uk/cgi-bin/index.cgi

To contact the TVFM Co-op Ltd - ring 0870 241 4762 or email info@tvfm.org.uk

[welsh wizard]

Hi Paul

I note you say utilise some of your fat reserves, would these be frozen or fresh? I ask because all or most of the pork around here has had a lot of the fat trimmed away which does not help, and often when I ask for extra fat they look at me sideways. Sometimes I do hit on a butcher who will sort me out extra fat but often I end up with more fat than I require and I then freeze it. Then when fat is needed out of the freezer it comes and into the mix. These sasuages I tend to somke which give them a better shelf life and the rest I freeze. I suppose the question is can you re freeze fat once it has been thawed unless it has been cooked?

[Paul Kribs]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, running a bit behind with todays sausagemaking, slight 'feau pas'.. talking to the wife whilst nonchalantly boning meat is not advised.. the knife attcked me unawares... Moral is:- Back to being careful..

Once I get all this out of the way I'll ponder the options over a glass of red.. (more like 2 bottles.. got a blood supply to replenish)

Aris, the wife has a Makro card, similar sort of place I reckon.. I used to buy slabs of belly there before, and lambs hearts, and liver / kidneys etc will have to have another look methinks.

Yes Welsh, when I have acquired fat belly, I try to retain as much of the harder fat as I can and freeze it.. definitely need it today.. Might have to put off the black pudding till tomorrow.

Oddley, I have taken the plunge, Franco inadvertantly? sent me a sweet cure instead of a Boerewors mix, so I will use it on a small (1 kilo) piece of loin I have boned and skinned.. BTW, that too was pretty much devoid of fat... I shall inform him on Monday, cos I would still like the Boerewors mix.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Franco]

Paul,

Steph sent out the sweet cure to you as a free sample the other day as it has a short sell by date ie before the end of June, we had a run on boerewors and that will foillow on Tuesday.

Regards

Franco

[Paul Kribs]

Thanks Franco, very much appreciated and it will get used. I was wondering if it was a cunning ploy to get me to take the leap into curing

I used the 5 KG Reber today, what a piece of kit. I will write a review and post it.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[welsh wizard]

Thanks Paul

When you use the fat that you have frozen, do you then refreeze the fat in with the raw sausages or do you tend to get through the sausages before it is time to freeze? The reason I ask is up to now if I have used frozen fat I cook the sausages before freezing.

Thanks.........

[robin]

Hi Paul,

I think I can help you here.

I live in Dartford and can recommend Richardson's on Lowfield Street.

Nice old fashioned butchers. I buy belly for streaky bacon there. If you tell him it's for bacon he will sell you the thicker stuff and will sheet the ribs for you. I've also bought pork shoulder for making sausage from them. Again tell him it's for sausages and he'll sell you pork with a decent amount of fat. I've also got small amounts of back fat for black pudding from him. All his meat is locally sourced. Bit dearer than the supermarket but good stuff.

Alternatively Morrison's Supermarket in Erith always has belly pork. I quite often buy ther pork mince which is a bit on the lean side but I combine this with some belly which I mince myself for sausage with good results. Good value as well.

Let me know how you get on. Nice to see I've a neighbour on the forum!

[Paul Kribs]

Welsh Wizard

I know it is not the done thing but I thaw my fat, add it to the sausages and then freeze the sausages. I have had no ill effects so far. I cannot understand the bacteria argument regarding refreezing because as I see it, you cook the sausages so would that not kill any bacteria?.. I have no doubt somebody on this forum could explain the why's and wherefor's.

Robin,

Thanks for the info, I used to use a tackle shop in Lowfield street, not very good for parking I seem to recall.
Did you have any luck with the wood chippings / sawdust?

Regards, Paul Kribs

[welsh wizard]

Thanks Paul

I will give it a go. From my point of view as I seem only to be able to source meat that is too lean, I could try and purchase an ammount of fat and freeze it down.

Re Pork, and I know this is possibly not what you want to use, but I was in Asda the other day shopping (pennance for staying out too late the previous night) and in the meat section they are selling "smart choice?" shoulder of pork at I think @ �1.98 a Kg. I purchased some out of interest and when I got it home there was an excellent amount of fat around the joint. It was British, seemed good quality from the unrtrained eye, and trimmed off it provided all the fat I needed for that batch.

Hope the hand is getting better!

[Paul Kribs]

Welsh Wizard

We just happen to have an ASDA a few miles away. Next time I visit the chinese superstor for my ginger and chilli supplies I will take a peek, normally I do not venture into supermarkets as the wife normally does the shopping. It just happens to be not too far from Makros, so '2 birds with one stone'...

Yes the hand.. just a bit of over confidence and lack of concentration, wife in the kitchen yapping down my ear and as I turned to reply the knife took its opportunity to strike. Only a stab wound to the thumb, but did it bleed. Must have found a small vessel. I managed to avoid contamination of the meat by quick reaction. I mean if I want to add alcohol to the meat I will do it from a can or bottle, not from my blood To view my efforts click this link
http://www.btinternet.com/~happydudevir/wrapped.jpg Over 15 lbs of 4 different sausages. It slowed me down a bit so I never got round to doing the black pudding or curing the loin.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[welsh wizard]

Paul, yep know exactly what you mean. I dress out quite a lot of deer during the year and have had painful nicks and slashes but I purchased a steel glove off e-bay I think for �10 a while ago which has helpd. Only problem is the old fingers become a little less dexterous, but at least you have fingers! Evidently my son informs me the gloves are still being sold he found them under global knives, which out of interest are mostly rip off's.

Regards WW

[robin]

Paul,

I'd already bought some Webber wood chunks over the net when I posted that question. So that will keep me goimg for some time. However I've printed off youe reply and will try those numbers. Hopefully it'll be less expensive.

Parking is OK just carry on around the one way system and park in Sainsbury's then walk back, or there are parking meters on the roads leading off Lowfield St.

That whole are is earmarked for re-develpoment eventually meaning that all these small traders will have compulsory purchase orders slapped on them. Such a pity. So I'd make the most of it while they are still there.

Robin

[Paul Kribs]

Just a snippet of information that may be of use to those living in the Kent area.

I have managed to source an abbatoir that will sell direct to the 'small' customer. It works out about 35 mins drive from where I live in Eltham. They will sell me half a pig for 72p per pound and the half pigs normally range from about 110 lbs to about 140 lbs. That's a lot of needed freezer space.. Will have to work on that one.

They said you don't have to pre-order, just turn up and the sale can be made there and then.

The abbatoir is located just north east of Tunbridge Wells near Southborough.

Forge Farm Meats
The Abbatoir
Powder Mill Lane
Tunbridge Wells
Kent
TN4 9EG

phone# 01892 538768

Regards, Paul Kribs