Bacon Question

terri46355 · #1 10/02/11, 09:41 PM

We purchased a hog from our neighbor and sent it to the butcher. Most of the bacon tastes bad like it is from an old boar (rancid). We are wondering what might cause this... did they give us bacon from another hog, not process it correctly, or is this just something that happens?

CarolT · #2 10/02/11, 09:52 PM

How old a hog, male, female, cut or not? Was it kept wormed, etc?

FarmboyBill · #3 10/02/11, 10:03 PM

If it was a boar, it MIGHT taste different than a gilt or a sow. If it had been fed something other than grain, and it hadnt been taken off that for a month before butchering and grain fed, usually corn it would affect the taste. If it was a boar and wasnt cut, that would make it taste bad.

BUT

Most butchers have contacts with cafes to supply them with great, fresh, succelent meat. If they get an old boar in to butcher, they aint gonna be able to market it to those cafes, BUT, If they store that meat in freezers and get a young gilt in to butcher, they can readly sell that meat to cafes, and make way more than the price they charge the farmer to butcher what they have brought in, AND still charge them that price while sutstituting their young fresh gilt or sow for an old boar. Its always been done., It was done when I was a kid. Nothings changed. TO BE SURE, Ya gotta do it yourself.

Micahn · #4 10/03/11, 02:46 AM

I will never forget,
One morning my mom was cooking me some bacon and I heard her say wow that is a stinky boar. I was like what you talking about mom how can you tell it was a boar ? She said smell and well it was different then normal bacon I was used to. It also had sort of a off taste as well it seemed.
I would not go so far as to say it was bad as it was safe to eat and all. But well it was just not as good as normal bacon.

Still today when ever I am cooking bacon and smell that smell I think about that morning.
It is not a common thing to get when you buy your bacon like I do. I would say maybe 1 out of 20 will be that way maybe.

ChristieAcres · #5 10/03/11, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmBoyBill

If it was a boar, it MIGHT taste different than a gilt or a sow. If it had been fed something other than grain, and it hadnt been taken off that for a month before butchering and grain fed, usually corn it would affect the taste. If it was a boar and wasnt cut, that would make it taste bad.

BUT

Most butchers have contacts with cafes to supply them with great, fresh, succelent meat. If they get an old boar in to butcher, they aint gonna be able to market it to those cafes, BUT, If they store that meat in freezers and get a young gilt in to butcher, they can readly sell that meat to cafes, and make way more than the price they charge the farmer to butcher what they have brought in, AND still charge them that price while sutstituting their young fresh gilt or sow for an old boar. Its always been done., It was done when I was a kid. Nothings changed. TO BE SURE, Ya gotta do it yourself.

Now, we are raising pigs for the first time and I wanted to know this very thing. Just how does one know the pig they sent in, is the one they get back in the packages?

big rockpile · #6 10/03/11, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

Now, we are raising pigs for the first time and I wanted to know this very thing. Just how does one know the pig they sent in, is the one they get back in the packages?

Thats why we do any butchering.We lost the bulk of an Elk to a Butcher and got about half our Burger was from someone elses Deer.

big rockpile

FarmboyBill · #7 10/03/11, 07:12 AM

Now you know the answer to your question lori. ya dont.

motdaugrnds · #8 10/03/11, 08:29 AM

Same here. We use to take our goats to a professional butcher until one year we couldn't afford it so butchered ourselves. We butchered the same number of goats weighing the same amount of pounds and had waaaaay more meat doing it ourselves. Needlesstosay that was the last time we used that butcher. We've been doing our own ever since.

Yvonne's hubby · #9 10/03/11, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

Now, we are raising pigs for the first time and I wanted to know this very thing. Just how does one know the pig they sent in, is the one they get back in the packages?

You should take blood samples before taking your critter in for slaughter, then simple dna testing of your meat can quickly determine if you got the correct packages back. Or you could do business with honest butchers.... or do it yourself.

jwal10 · #10 10/03/11, 08:47 AM

Is the rest of the meat very good? Any little off taste? Had you had any product from that processor before? Do you know thair process for making bacon? How are the hams? Most bacon and ham is made using chemicals now, they can react and cause an off taste. As Bill said, a lot of things can cause the bad taste. Age, uncut. Feed is a big one, many things can give a bad taste. Foods with "old" oil affect the taste of meat. Was it fed bakery products? Garden scraps? How it was transported, how it was killed. You really need to know exactly what the animal was fed. Most butchers will not swap meat when they know, you know, your product from birth to their hands, but if there are "middle men", makes many variables to blame it on. A lot of problems with taste start with the way the animal was raised, what it was fed....James

julieq · #11 10/03/11, 09:05 AM

We found out the hard way years ago when we raised three hogs. We'd eaten wild hogs before, so we knew the difference. When we got our meat back from the butcher it smelled exactly like a wild boar. I couldn't cook it without gagging, so we gave it away.

Found out later that the butcher exchanged the meat and kept the best for himself. We haven't raised any meat animals since, but I'm thinking of doing home butchering if we do raise some beef calves next year. I helped my mom butcher hogs and deer when I was growing up and it's fairly simple.

SueMc · #12 10/03/11, 09:07 AM

Lori, you don't know for sure. I've had the butcher do the killing and halve hogs and quarter and age beef then I bring the big pieces home to finish. I guess I could get someone else's quarter but it's less likely than not getting ALL your meat back.

terri46355 · #13 10/03/11, 10:20 AM

It was a barrow. My neighbor bought and fed them prepared hog feed. At first I thought the bad taste was the way the meat was processed. I thought that they didn't salt it enough before smoking it.

What made me think the bacon meat was switched is that everything else is good and the lard is fine.

poorboy · #14 10/03/11, 10:34 AM

Terri, they probly brine cured it...Yukkk!!! Or sometimes if meat is sugar cured and then smoked it'll be strong(voice of experience). What part of the Ozarks as I'd like to have an idea if it was one of the processors close to me..

windblown · #15 10/03/11, 10:49 AM

if a gilt is in season when slaughtered it will have an off taste also we had one turn out like that

oz in SC V2.0 · #16 10/03/11, 10:55 AM

We have often wondered how do you know what you are getting back is what you took in,and I guess you don't KNOW unless you are there for the entire time.

What could be done is to talk to the Butcher,ask him how do you know it is the animal you brought in you are getting back.
He will I am sure answer because he would never substitute your meat for anothers...

But by doing this,he then knows you are aware this could happen,and he is less likely to do it.

Just a thought.

Countrygent51 · #17 10/03/11, 11:14 AM

I find this pretty disturbing if the "old switcheroo" happens anywhere near as often as this thread (and other threads on the subject) seem to indicate. I don't doubt the truth of the experiences being described here, just find it shocking that small town meat processors (who, presumably, have to live in the community and would like repeat customers) would pull this kind of trick and get away with it more than a couple of times.

terri46355 · #18 10/03/11, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poorboy

Lori, they probly brine cured it...Yukkk!!! Or sometimes if meat is sugar cured and then smoked it'll be strong(voice of experience). What part of the Ozarks as I'd like to have an idea if it was one of the processors close to me..

Thanks! They said the ham steaks were a light sugar cure, but didn't mention how the bacon was done. Luckily, most of the meat was not cured or smoked. It tastes great! West Plains.

OkieDavid · #19 10/03/11, 11:45 AM

There is a big advantage to raising/butchering your own. Anytime you load an animal into a trailer and haul it to the slaughter house its system is slammed with adrenylin (sp) from the transport and if they kill it soon after, the meat can be "tainty". It's much better to have old porky happy in his pen right up to the point you introduce it to Mr. .22..... Also- method of curing will have an impact.

bruce2288 · #20 10/03/11, 11:56 AM

There is probably not a butcher in this country who has not had this case made against them. Most are unfounded but mistakes do happen after all they are human. I would take a package of bacon to the butcher, voice your concerns in a nonaccusatory manner and ask him to sample the bacon. You never know you may get some satisfaction.