As cheese makers, we produce as a by-product, something called whey. It is a liquid serum that comes out of the curds and is rich in nutrients and some leftover calcium and proteins. And pigs love it, to boot! If you've never had whey-fed pork before, you are in for a treat. It has more flavor than supermarket bland ('brand'- tongue in cheek) pork and is very tender. Industry allows up to 10% added water and sodium, I believe, which is known as 'enhanced' meat. What this does is artificially tenderizes meat for the homeowner because when you add the sodium (salt) and water together, it holds moisture. This is not necessary with whey-fed and milk-fed pork products direct from your local farmer. The cuts are just plain juicier and moister!
So after 21 hours of slow cookin', the pork picnic shoulder was ready to take off.
And the 'pulled' pork was divine!
Had that nice pink smoke ring and was juicy and tender. Added to it, was Carolina style sauce, vinegar based so as not to blur the succulent flavor of the meat with a sticky sauce.
Why so much attention to pork, you ask? This is a dairy site, after all. Well after much anticipation awaiting a heritage breed order of piglets from a local pork producer, that never seemed to come to fruition (interestingly they are also brand new vendors at the farmers market I have attended for 16yrs), my good friends from the Boucher Farm saved the day. We make cheese every day thru the week and seriously need to utilize the whey or ship it off. It should not go down the drain. And we don't produce enough to ship off.........So a few days ago, they brought me some healthy piglets from their pork source. And it was no pig in a poke! These piglets are good size and very healthy and vigorous! They already, after just a few days, look at us askance if we come with other feedstuff and NOT whey. As if to say, "what are YOU doing here without our whey?"
Below is Dan from Boucher Farm holding a piglet when I yelled that I had camera in hand!
They are also vendors at our market and produce milk fed pork, veal, beef and cheese. They go out of their way to help others and are dear friends of ours -especially in a time of need-without the competitive paranoia that we are going to infringe upon their market. Farming like it used to be when everyone helped others......Thanks guys!
Back to pork. In the late fall we will be offering once again amazing whey-fed pork as found in parts of Italy and Spain. We had to take a hiatus as we were building our new barn and cheese plant and didn't have the infrastructure to accept pigs-or the labor. The famous Prosciutto di Parma is produced from the hams of whey-fed pigs from the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese making process (Parmesan). Likewise, ham in Spain is cured from whey fed pork from the cheese making process.
Notably, pigs are nature made to root up the soil and get nutrients from the grasses, tree nuts and wild herbs etc. Add to it the whey, and you will go hog wild! So please contact us for some whey-fed pork later this season, if you are local. Sadly we are not set up to ship our meats at this time....
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