Advice About Pork Fat
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 13:29
I'm still learning techniques and recipes and am going to make Italian sausage and bratwurst today. I went to my local butcher yesterday and bought the following meats:
3 kilos boneless pork shoulder, with fat cap attached
2 kilos hog jowl
2 kilos clean back fat
1 kilo veal
I haven't cut the meat yet, but from past experience I expect the pork shoulder to be fairly lean because hogs are slaughtered much younger here in Costa Rica than in most other countries (usually at 60 to 70 kilos).
I like a good amount of fat in my sausage, perhaps 25 to 30%, and am trying to decide on a mix. Assume the shoulder has only 10 to 15% internal fat. The fat cap may add another 10 to 15% and is good, clean fat but is much softer than the back fat I bought. There will also be a membrane between the fat cap and the meat.
So, the first question is whether to grind and use the fat cap or discard it and use only added back fat? If I use the fat cap, I assume the preferred technique is to remove it, cut into small cubes and freeze prior to grinding, cutting off and discarding any membrane and silver skin I encounter. I'm a little worried about clogging the grinder with the soft fat cap from the shoulder and am thinking about just throwing it a way and using only back fat but wonder if I'm being overly concerned and should go ahead and use it. The hog jowls contain a mix of pure hard fat and fatty, streaky meat, so I could also use jowl meat and fat to mix with the shoulder.
For the bratwurst, I'm planning to use a mix of 80% pork to 20% veal. Since the veal is even leaner than the pork, I bought the hog jowls with the bratwurst in mind, thinking that the higher fat content of the jowl meat would compensate for the lower fat content of the veal. Am I on the right track here?
Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated, particularly with regard to using or discarding the fat cap from the pork shoulder.
3 kilos boneless pork shoulder, with fat cap attached
2 kilos hog jowl
2 kilos clean back fat
1 kilo veal
I haven't cut the meat yet, but from past experience I expect the pork shoulder to be fairly lean because hogs are slaughtered much younger here in Costa Rica than in most other countries (usually at 60 to 70 kilos).
I like a good amount of fat in my sausage, perhaps 25 to 30%, and am trying to decide on a mix. Assume the shoulder has only 10 to 15% internal fat. The fat cap may add another 10 to 15% and is good, clean fat but is much softer than the back fat I bought. There will also be a membrane between the fat cap and the meat.
So, the first question is whether to grind and use the fat cap or discard it and use only added back fat? If I use the fat cap, I assume the preferred technique is to remove it, cut into small cubes and freeze prior to grinding, cutting off and discarding any membrane and silver skin I encounter. I'm a little worried about clogging the grinder with the soft fat cap from the shoulder and am thinking about just throwing it a way and using only back fat but wonder if I'm being overly concerned and should go ahead and use it. The hog jowls contain a mix of pure hard fat and fatty, streaky meat, so I could also use jowl meat and fat to mix with the shoulder.
For the bratwurst, I'm planning to use a mix of 80% pork to 20% veal. Since the veal is even leaner than the pork, I bought the hog jowls with the bratwurst in mind, thinking that the higher fat content of the jowl meat would compensate for the lower fat content of the veal. Am I on the right track here?
Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated, particularly with regard to using or discarding the fat cap from the pork shoulder.