Duroc pork?

[ChiefK]

A statewide chain grocery opened a stand alone meat market here in central iowa. I'm now able to get some cuts you don't normally see in the small store in my hometown, like flank, brisket, skirt, tri-tip, side ribs, etc, even wagyu.

but, I noticed that most of their pork is labeled as Duroc pork, I can't remember if it carried an additional "certified" or not.

have you guys seen this, is it just a marketing trick, playing on "certified angus beef"?

I grew up on a hog farm, and we had durocs from time to time, but I don't recall them being prized as something special.

Has anyone seen this outside Ames Iowa?

[Jerod Broussard]

Duroc is a mainly red breed of hog. My grandfather had one years ago but got rid of it cuz all I did was run around the yard and eat the chickens.

[RonB]

Wait! He got rid of the hog 'cause you ran around and ate the chickens. I hope you plucked them first, and cookin' 'em would have been even better.

[Rfhd69]

Haaaaaaa!

[bbqLuv]

Ditto on HA HA HA HA
Have a PBR for me.

[smokenoob]

I get a lot of Duroc ribs and chops, never noticed a hint of chicken. I really like the Duroc since butcher can’t get much Berkshire lately.

[IFindZeroBadCooks]

You might enjoy this thread

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/porknography-ribs-pulled-pork-ham-etc/1003470-iberico-pork-ribs-do-they-stand-the-test

[bbqLuv]

The ribs look amazing but skewer the asparagus--I like it. Wish I thought of that first.

[Mosca]

I’ve had Duroc, Berkshire/Kurobuta, and Cheshire, in addition to the Hatfield (brand, not breed) pork my local supermarket sells. I’ve only had ribs, but I think you can extrapolate to butts/shoulder roasts.

Honestly, they’re all pretty good. The Kurobuta from SRF is delicious, but the racks are very small and I got lots of shiners; I wouldn’t buy them again. The Duroc and Cheshire are both great. I prefer the Cheshire, but there is probably a recency bias; if the last ribs I ate were Duroc, I might prefer them. But the Cheshires are larger, and cheaper.

IMO the Hatfield brand pork I get from Wegman’s is a bargain, 80% as good as heritage breeds for much less $$. Hatfield is probably Yorkshires, but no one asked.

All that being said, if Wegman’s had Duroc I’d probably buy it. What the heck, y’know?

[ChiefK]

Jerod
yeah, but I don't recall the buying station paying a premium for the red fur, y'know? Yorks we never had good luck with, high strung and didnt do well in hot humid weather, although we did cross breed them with durocs and hampshires from time to time. I just remember them being really lean, so I'm surprised they're being marketed as an upper gtade, like Berkshire pork

maybe I'm just a dumb hick, hahaha

[glitchy]

ChiefK Fareway and Hy-Vee carry Duroc at times too. I’ve tried a few cuts when on sale. I think there’s definitely more flavor there, but I’m not a pork fanatic so I only buy Duroc when it’s on sale. I imagine a lot was sold in the regular pork pool until last few years when they realized they could market it as a heritage breed and sell it for more.

[ChiefK]

Glitchy,
It was at the Fareway Meat Market, located in West Ames. First time I'd seen pork labeled like that, and I thought, "Is this legit?" because the durocs we kept for our freezer were mostly turned into sausage of one sort or another, except for chops and tenderloins, which seems a shame now.

btw, that shop is roughly 50 yards in front of a Hy-Vee, funniest thing I've ever seen

[glitchy]

I hadn’t seen that Fareway was doing this. I like Fareway meat, but don’t love it like I used too, mostly because our local store has problems getting help and the quality of the cutting is all over the board. My wife has brought home pieces of meat that anyone that cared would have thrown in the scrap pile for grinding. The Duroc stuff is usually cryovac and not touched in store though.

[Skip]

ChiefK here's a link to to Comfrey Farm Pork. Is this what you bought? Very good Pork IMO. I wonder if this is 100% Purebred Duroc? It doesn't say it is on the label anywhere. It may not have to be 100% to be Certified Duroc?? I've had some discussions with Pork Producers (Old Customers) who told me most Hogs are Cross breeds at least somewhat.

https://comfreyfarmpork.com/

[ChiefK]

Skip thanks for the link. After reading through there, I decided to brave the interwebs and try to find who certifies "certified duroc". take a look at these links https://cookindocs.com/berkshire-vs-duroc-pork/ and https://www.genesus.com/genesus-duro...duroc-program/

It looks like the only requirement to be certified duroc is to use NSR duroc bloodlines. But that has nothing to do with culinary preference. I'm only speaking from memory, and I've been off the farm for a long time, but we were going for lean hogs, thats why we cross bred durocs in. So I'm a bit confused about the designation, translating to higher cost, of "certified duroc". Guess I'll have to break down and buy some, to see if there is any difference in flavor, or if its just marketing

[Skip]

Yes ChiefK this is all interesting to read. Certified Duroc Pork is very good IMO non the less. Sometimes advertising and labeling is there to promote a product but to get a true picture we need to read between the lines. All good.

[Huskee]

I recently bought some expensive Duroc St Louis cut ribs. I honestly didn't notice any difference. I've read others say that there's a big difference but I didn't notice it myself. They were good, yes, but so are the commodity (Smithfield et al) ribs I usually prepare. [Shrug]

[Mosca]

I think there’s a difference, but don’t think I have an actual preference. Both are great.

[Starsky]

I've purchased it from our local grocery store. Definitely a darker meat. It was good to try something different

[HawkerXP]

+1

[Beefchop]

As kids we raised Durocs on occasion for the county fair, (we had a dairy farm but pigs were by far the most profitable animal to auction at the fair) and they are simply a breed of hog, as Jaret mentioned. Supposedly renowned for growing quickly and producing quality meat. Esp. bacon. Ours were ornery as hell! I preferred showing Landrace, Yorkies, or Hampshires.