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Is Heritage Breed worth it? What say you?

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    #16
    For me it's like expensive wine, my palate isn't refined enough to tell the difference between a $10 bottle and a $200 bottle. So i stick with meat i find on sale or at Costco. sure i enjoy splurging on an expensive cut every now and then but most of the time i end up with buyer's remorse because i freak out worrying about ruining it during the cook or it just not living up to the expectations for the cost.

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      #17
      The care an animal receives in it's raising, the feed, the exercise, the environment, all matter more than the breed. Grocery store factory farm pork requires more work to be flavorful. I got some special mangalitsa chops from Crowd Cow, sous vide, salt, sear, and wife said it was the best pork chop she's ever eaten.

      I do a smoked chop, with a wet brine, a dusting with MMD, a smoke, and then a glaze, and it always tastes better with chops from Heritage Foods, regardless of the breed. But it's very tasty with grocery store factory farm chops.

      I will buy the pigs from smaller farms so that I can be the consumer I want other people to be. That they have better flavor is a bonus.

      Comment


      • HouseHomey
        HouseHomey commented
        Editing a comment
        Wet brine is far underrated, underutilized and not well understood.

      • Potkettleblack
        Potkettleblack commented
        Editing a comment
        I mean, Meathead says in the dry brine article that he still wet brines pork chops... I think it was Huskee who got me to try wet brining my heritage chops... it is defining underrated...

        PS- an immersion blender makes wet brining much easier. I don't even mess with hot water anymore. Just blend the water and the salt to the highest setting until it's evenly distributed.

      • Sweaty Paul
        Sweaty Paul commented
        Editing a comment
        Potkettleblack your immersion blender idea is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

      #18
      It's funny this post has two running opinions; one concerning SV and the other heritage pork. Why do SV haters have to continually bash a well recognized cooking method? I don't SV pork but there's nothing inherently wrong with it. I doubt cooking using either method, if done right, would be hard to tell the difference between.

      Regardless, I agree with the analysis of the heritage breed conclusions that point not so much to flavor as to the quality of the product itself. I buy my butts from Porter Road, they sell a Berkshire/Duroc cross that are small farm, pasture raised, without hormones. Yes they are expensive but well worth the better quality meat for my family. An 8# butt lasts us quite a while if portioned 1# at a time, so we consider it a good value.

      And if you look around, certain grocers are now picking up on the locally sourced products as well. Our local HEB sells Berkshire products that are small farm sourced locally. I get their tomahawk pork chops that I've feature cooked here several times.

      If you can't tell the difference in flavor, at least consider the product you are feeding your family.

      Comment


      • pjlstrat
        pjlstrat commented
        Editing a comment
        That makes sense. Thank you

      • rickgregory
        rickgregory commented
        Editing a comment
        I wasn't bashing SV in my comments above, but I think ingredients like chops (steak, pork chops etc) shine through most when prepared simply and... hm... traditionally, perhaps? While I've done both steak and pork chops SV and they're fine, they seem a little simple to me and don't have their flavor brought out as much as a straightforward sauté or grill. Could be all in my head, of course.
        Last edited by rickgregory; July 6, 2020, 06:14 PM.

      • Potkettleblack
        Potkettleblack commented
        Editing a comment
        "If you can't tell the difference in flavor, at least consider the product you are feeding your family."

        It's very much this. The flavor and texture of well cared for animals is, to me, clearly superior, but they really are indicative of the nutrition and lack of chemical additives. I've never had a heritage chop that contained up to 12% saline solution.

      #19
      I recently bought Duroc spare ribs from Creekstone. Got them on sale, but regular price is $9.40/lb for 4 racks excluding shipping. They are so much better than the commodity ribs I buy at Costco and Sams - I mean, I can really taste the difference, and I have what I would call an unrefined palate. I think I'll be making a big effort to only buy these from now on. I haven't tried a butt yet, but based on the ribs, I'm sure I will soon.
      Last edited by klflowers; July 6, 2020, 10:53 AM. Reason: Corrected per lb cost

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      • pjlstrat
        pjlstrat commented
        Editing a comment
        See post below.....I am with you on this!!

      #20
      Thought I would finish this up......As I said in the original post I had St Louis Kurobuta from SRF as well. The plan was to do them with MMD on the Primo with Apple chunks...My preferred method. But things got crazy and we got a new puppy etc etc

      Anyway, I did them on the gasser fast and hot a la Dreamland, with Burn Co rub since I did not have any MMD made. About 1.5 hours in, I foil wrapped till done, about 2.5 hours total.

      All I can say is wow. As unimpressed I was with the chop, is the how Impressed I was with the ribs. What a difference. Even with that non ideal cooking technique they were delicious.

      Bottom line....For me I will spend the money for the SRF ribs, but not the chops.

      Comment


        #21
        Price and value are not the same.

        i love the knowledge here (which I have none of) from Numb and the motley crew above.

        As you know I learned at a young age "Don’t make friends with the goat."

        I was just talking to Sophia about the racks at SRF and was uncertain of their pricing.

        rickgregory I have cooked more SRF than..... Meathead has consumed wine. 95% of it fabulous!!

        I am with you on the simple prep for a lot of things. For my banquets proteins are well cared for and simply prepared while generous efforts go into sauces, sides and service. I also agree that if you blast a ton of smoke and seasoning at something nuances can get lost.

        EdF well she is a goddess of food.

        The older I have become the more value I have placed on quality v everything else. I would like to think that the heritage breeds are superior for various reasons I learned above.

        The more I cook and serve the greater value I place on quality, even at home.

        it’s my understanding that people in the pit have struggled with SV chops, am I wrong???

        i actually lost all the points I wanted to make but I really like this thread.

        Im still tossing around the 30 per rack of St. Louie from SRF.

        I had some GREAT baby backs that were 15 a 23oz rack so I’m thinking about it.

        so Creekstone and porter road are the "go to’s" for this pork I see.

        I will check them out again.

        maybe I’ll just stop by Mosca house. Mosca, light 12 coals and throw a burger on for me please. 😃

        Edit: Cooked SRF Beef.

        Last edited by HouseHomey; July 7, 2020, 07:35 PM.

        Comment


        • Potkettleblack
          Potkettleblack commented
          Editing a comment
          @HouseHomey: The guy I stole the process from seems to have taken his blog down, but it's fairly simple. 5S
          Select a good chop
          Salt it (wet brine for me)
          Season it (MMD)
          Smoke it (to 125-130 IT)
          Sauce it (glaze with equal parts maple syrup and sherry vinegar, plus a few dashes of tabasco) and return to high indirect heat). Should get to 135-140. Even if it goes to 150, it's still amazing.

          6th S is Serve it.

        • Potkettleblack
          Potkettleblack commented
          Editing a comment


          This is the process. I detailed what I use below: Blonder Brine, MMD, Sherry Vin-MapleSyrup-HotSauce glaze... But there are lots of ways to tweak the process.

        • HouseHomey
          HouseHomey commented
          Editing a comment
          Potkettleblack That sounds amazing. I’m gonna steal it. Wet brines are awesome, especially on pork. Remember the bacon maple Hollandaise? Hmm... 💭 💭

        #22
        Say HouseHomey, are you better known as a ......


        Comment


        • HouseHomey
          HouseHomey commented
          Editing a comment
          I don’t get it? 🤷‍♂️🤔

        • smokenoob
          smokenoob commented
          Editing a comment
          Rambler...... ?

        • HouseHomey
          HouseHomey commented
          Editing a comment
          Yup. I write like talk, word vomit rambling. You’ve seen my Instagram. I post pics and vids the same way.

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