Sunday, March 16, 2014

Starting To Get It

So as you see in the pictures I have been working on another
batch of pork belly/bacon. I am going to be honest trying to find quality products to make a good bacon is not easy. Here in the Central Valley there are very few places to purchase pork belly.

I have one meat market that only sells is cryopacked and frozen. I have found another that does not sell it unless you are buying bulk. I have found a mexican market that I am able to buy belly but the only problem is you do not know how good the quality of the meat is going to be.

The first time I purchased 4 pounds of it and the quality was not bad. This last purchase where I purchased 8 pounds the quality was not as good as I would of liked. A lot more fat and a lot less meat which gives you a mediocre bacon.

There is a meat market I still need to pay a visit to and see what they off if anything at all.

When I was younger in Madera,Ca there was a place called the Meat Locker which was where my dad had our pigs butchered after there were slaughtered. It was a meat market and butcher shop and when I was in high school it was where we would go to get all or our deep fried goodness for lunch (deep fried burritos and potato wedges rule)!

You really do not realize the importance of quality over quantitiy until the time comes for you are trying to learn and make your own food. Meat that is raised well is better then meat that is "industrially" raised.

As I learn more about bacon and get ready to start learning how to even make my own sausage my goal is to used some of the best products I can. I want to give my family good food and if I plan to make food available to the public I want to know that I am giving the public a quality food that I can be proud of!