Re: Sodium nitrite - a comment on flavor

[Guest guest]

Great article, Jan! An additional comment (putting legitimate health

concerns of sodium nitrate aside), some chef's have claimed that

sodium nitrate contributes to flavor. However, ham that has been

produced conventionally tastes more like salty cardboard than a ham

even with the added sodium nitrate flavoring )

I'm sure you've experienced this, in that many of our customers are

astounded at the taste of real pork which leads to the importance of

how the pork is raised. Interesting that while none of the hams and

bacon we sell are cured with pure sodium nitrate, one of our customers

prefers to have his cured at his processor in this way. And even with

this, the difference in taste compared to conventionally-raised pork

is phenomenal according to him and his dinner guests. Same cure,

different taste. This indicates, that the type of cure is not what

makes good-tasting, flavorful pork, it has to do with the way it was

raised.

Personally I encourage folks to have a first-hand look at the farm

they are buying pork from. Not only is it important that the pigs not

receive antibiotics or growth hormones, but that they are raised in

such conditions that they do not need them. Sadly, I've seen

" farm-raised pigs " that cause my stomach to turn (stressed and without

access to soil, fresh air, wholesome food and sunshine -

peeeee-yooooo!). I could not consume it no matter how much curative

" flavor " was added.

My humble opinions,

www.lighthousefarm.com

[Guest guest]

Jan, your article is really a good idea it's definitely a topic that needs more

light shed upon

it. I've been twisting the arms of meat plant managers all over this area to

switch from

their standard chemical packs to more natural supplies. They fight me, make the

product

begrudgingly and, out of spite, charge me double or triple the normal costs.

Most take it

as an insult, like " why do YOU think you are so special? The normal stuff is

good enough

for US... " . It really stirs up emotions!

MIKE LORENTZ of Lorentz Meats, the USDA plant that processes everything Thousand

Hills

makes does a good job of describing why his technique of using MINIMAL amounts

of

food grade factory Sodium Nitrite is BETTER than my formula which uses either

celery

powder or now the improved celery juice. Mike's way, he says, pretty much

guarantees

food safety, and, this is the interesting part, may in the end contain LESS

NITRITES than

some of my products using the " all natural " celery extracts. I'm afraid he is

right, BUT

selling meat with the " artificial " nitrites is complicated and usually ends up

with consumer

rejection. The main problem is that the new-fangled vegetable juice extracts are

" all over

the place " with their content of nitrates and nitrites.

On another issue, MSG, I was amazed at how ubiquitous this substance is in food!

I mean I

knew it was bad but you really, really have to work to avoid it. The best way

I've found for

the sausages is to make every spice batch by hand using only individual spices

working

my way up to 5-12 different spices to get the right flavoring in the sausages.

Incidentally, and people who UNDERSTAND REAL HAM know this, there are very, very

few

truly natural hams. They need 18-22 months of dry aging and, again this is from

the

PURISTS, should never have anything added but SALT, BROWN SUGAR and SMOKE. To

get a

ham like this you need to either get a SERRANO ham from Spain, a PARMA ham from

Italy

or go to several of the artisanal farms which (to my knowledge) are all in

KENTUCKY and

GEORGIA. A good ham will set you back $75-200 each. If it costs less, they

cheated!

Will

[Guest guest]

> Incidentally, and people who UNDERSTAND REAL HAM know this, there

>are very, very few truly natural hams. They need 18-22 months of dry

>aging and, again this is from the PURISTS, should never have anything

>added but SALT, BROWN SUGAR and SMOKE.

Okay, you sold me, Will! Maybe we'll have to add this to our goals for

2008. Time permitting, we'll try a Prosciutto or some type of

dry-cured ham on our farm for our own consumption next fall. If we do

it, we'll let you all know how it goes...

This last fall, for our own consumption we wet-brined and smoked a ham

on the farm for the first time. We wet-brined it in a mixture of real

salt, sucanat, a few crushed cloves and black pepper for about a

month. We revived our 71 year old smoke house and smoked the hams over

apple wood for about 6 hours or so.

The meat was surprisingly a very dark pink even though we used no

nitrates or nitrate substitutes. It was also a little more salty than

the hams we have done by our local processor. However, it makes a

killer ham and bean soup! And it was delicious enough to encourage us

to try it again next fall.

www.lighthousefarm.com

[Guest guest]

>

>

> Jan, your article is really a good idea it's definitely a topic

> that needs more light shed upon

> it. I've been twisting the arms of meat plant managers

> all over this area to switch from

> their standard chemical packs to more natural supplies.

> They fight me, make the product

> begrudgingly and, out of spite, charge me double or triple

> the normal costs. Most take it

> as an insult, like " why do YOU think you are so special?

> The normal stuff is good enough

> for US... " . It really stirs up emotions!

I had just read Salatin's " Everything I want to do is Illegal "

book, and he had an entire chapter on the difficulties of obtaining

bacon to sell from his own pork. I wanted to copy the chapter for all

our customers! Sounds like Lighthouse farms has a real gem at their

farm: Their own old smokehouse!

I also found it hard to change recipes at the processors, along with

" you'll have to provide us with a recipe to use on your meat " (read: we

won't help you with this idea that doesn't do it our way).

Well, how is one to develop a recipe if you have to try the first time

on your entire product?

>

> MIKE LORENTZ …does a good job of describing

> why his technique of using MINIMAL amounts of

> food grade factory Sodium Nitrite is BETTER than

> my formula which uses either celery

> powder or now the improved celery juice.

Will, your formula produced the best tasting `natural' bacon and

ham I've ever tried! All the other processors were way too salty

and lacked flavor (I haven't tried every farm on this list, so

nobody be offended). I had a whole batch of my own that I gave to the

dogs. After that I decided to quit until I found a really good recipe

and the place to do it.

I now grind most of the ham into the ground pork, which is essentially:

Whole Hog (and Boar) Ground Pork. I didn't want the binders (soy or

non-fat dry milk) in the sausage, so I am hoping to teach people to buy

the delicious ground pork and add their own. That way they can use the

pork to make any type of sausage they want. Italian, breakfast, brats,

etc. I'm planning on giving out spice packets with the ground. I

have a grinder to add to my commercial kitchen and will start to make my

own Whole Hog and Boar sausage with fresh organic ingredients as soon as

I am up and running.

I have just a few hams, some sliced into steaks, and bacon done with the

tiny amount of factory sodium nitrate for the die-hards. I love our

bacon, but don't eat it all the time as most of it is sold, so the

small amount of nitrates and NOT OVERCOOKING IT, like we had drummed

into our heads, I believe has minimal risks. (I also don't eat

other, uncured or cured processed meats)

And I agree with of Lighthouse farms:

" many of our customers are astounded at the taste of real pork which

leads to the importance of how the pork is raised…Sadly, I've seen

" farm-raised pigs " that cause my stomach to turn (stressed and without

access to soil, fresh air, wholesome food and sunshine) "

I am sure ALL of our pork (I'm including those farms in our files

here) is 100X better than any conventional raised pork, local or not;

uncured or cured. The life of the hogs is so important to the quality,

nutrition, flavor, and energy transfer that hog is giving us.

This year I raised my pastured organic hogs soy-free, (grains were flax,

barley and just occasional corn-all organic GMO-free) and right now they

are eating daily fresh organic greens left over from our co-op all

winter! So even my winter hogs should be high in Omega-3s (and Vit. D

because they are STILL Outside!-yes, they can also go into warm deep

beded huts inside their shed) Next spring, I plan on trying to feed

almost no grains at all.

One important bit of info I learned was that hogs " incorporate a

good portion of the fatty acids they consume directly into their own

fat, much more than other domestic animals, and these fatty acids change

the nature of the pork " (reference

<http://www.foodarts.com/Foodarts/FA_Feature/0,,177,00.html> ). That

means what we feed the hogs REALLY matters. Omega-6 corn will create

omega-6 fat, but omega-3 rich greens will create omega-3 rich fat and

Sally Fallon found that in the South Pacific, hogs are fed coconuts and

guess what? -their fat was high in Lauric Acid from the coconut fat.

Although it is always good to have a variety of meat (and fish) sources,

this puts pork in a whole new light.

> Mike's way, he says, pretty much guarantees

> food safety, and, this is the interesting part,

> may in the end contain LESS NITRITES than

> some of my products using the " all natural " celery extracts.

> I'm afraid he is right, BUT

> selling meat with the " artificial " nitrites is complicated

> and usually ends up with consumer rejection. The main

> problem is that the new-fangled vegetable juice extracts are

> " all over the place " with their content of nitrates and nitrites.

This is why I am writing the article, not to condone the widespread use

of sodium nitrate, but to educate people so they don't need a

" feel good " word like " uncured " and can regulate their

intake of sodium nitrate both by Not buying products where it is used to

make marginal de-valued foods safe-like lunchmeats and other commercial

processed foods AND to be careful not to ingest too much sodium nitrate

through too many `uncured' foods, which is showing up more and

more in organic ready to eat meats.

>

> On another issue, MSG, I was amazed at how ubiquitous

> this substance is in food! I mean I knew it was bad but you

> really, really have to work to avoid it.

Yes, Yes, and they broke up the name, so the separate chemicals can be

listed separately and not under `MSG' a very nasty product on

our health and it appears has a big part in the obesity rates. But

that's a whole other post!!

> …people who UNDERSTAND REAL HAM…

> you need to either get a SERRANO ham from Spain,

> a PARMA ham from Italy

> or go to several of the artisanal farms which

> (to my knowledge) are all in KENTUCKY and

> GEORGIA. A good ham will set you back $75-200 each.

> If it costs less, they cheated!

If anyone reading this is interested in American Country Hams which are

the American Artisanal Slow Air Dried Hams, check out the end of this

article: Aging Gracefully

for hams in MO, TN, KY, and VI. In fact, I'll try to add the

article to our files.

http://www.foodarts.com/Foodarts/FA_Feature/0,,177,00.html

<http://www.foodarts.com/Foodarts/FA_Feature/0,,177,00.html>

Sorry for the long post, I'm sort of passionate about food issues.

And, if your interested in my pork, see Alvin, he's carrying it on

his route, I just can't make it to the twin cities much this winter.

~Jan

[Guest guest]

> because they are STILL Outside!-yes, they can also go into warm deep

> beded huts inside their shed) Next spring, I plan on trying to feed

> almost no grains at all.

This winter, we have been giving our pigs organic beets we grew this

summer as well as acorns from our oak trees, kelp and occasionlly our

goats' milk fermented into curds and whey. We are rationing our

OP/non-GMO corn that has a bright orange and some red colors (thanks

to the drought we had lower yields). I'm still wondering how that beta

carotene color affects the nutritional quality of the meat as opposed

to the standard pale corn. We haven't had it analyzed.

Jan, we actually had a couple of pigs that insisted on being in

another pasture this fall. We did not feed them any " goodies " in order

to encourage them to be with the rest of the herd. For one month, they

ate nothing but the greens and roots in this pasture and they actually

did well.

It amazes me still to observe them being outside in the winter. It

never grows old watching them dig into their deep nests of hay. It

puts Big Bird to shame!

Great post,

www.lighthousefarm.com

[Guest guest]

, it sounds like you and I (and anyone else that wants to get smokin') need

to have a

HAM THROW DOWN.... HA HA HA.

When I was stating that information about the " true " hams, I didn't mean to

suggest

anyone's hams here were bad. You see, I've been studying my new best and most

incredible book of the year: PIG PERFECT by PETER KAMINSKI. Oh, my.... does

this guy

know his pork! And what a great writer. The book covers his travels to Spain,

Italy, France,

and many other spots where ham is revered and eaten with joy. He travels the US

too

finding good ham ONLY in Kentucky and Georgia. Anyone who reads and loves this

book

can join the Inner Sanctum of pork lovers here!

Your newly restored SMOKE HOUSE sounds like the exact ticket. I'm jealous. I

took my

latest batch of Berkshire pork to a new smokehouse today down in Eyota, MN. I'll

be

letting everyone know when the unveiling occurs. This will be natural, no

nitrites, no MSG

or any other chemicals and good smoke with real wood. I'll have bacon and hocks

too!

I'm not sure there is even ONE Minnesotan who would appreciate much less plunk

down a

couple of hundred bucks for one of those to-die-for 22 month hams that certain

Southerners " get " . I wouldn't be inclined to pay hundreds for any wine, port,

whiskey,

sherry or scotch, but I think I might be willing to make a HAM PILGRIMAGE in the

near

future. I was just in Louisville and almost within spittin' distance of some of

the good

Southern smokehouses but I hadn't gotten to that part of the book yet.

PS- when it comes to the FLAVOR of the meat of the monogastric pig, THEIR DIET

is

almost everything!!! Almost Everything.... (the purists say ACORNS and PEANUTS

are the

bomb!), then comes EXERCISE, then comes BREED and then the CURING is the last

part.

Will Winter

[Guest guest]

HAM THROW DOWN....

Now that sounds like fun!! What a great tasting event.

I second the book: PIG PERFECT by PETER KAMINSKI. It was one of my

first " research " books. It does make me want to become a food writer

though, can you imagine tasting all that delicious food for your job!

> PS- when it comes to the FLAVOR of the meat of the monogastric pig,

THEIR DIET is

> almost everything!!! Almost Everything.... (the purists say ACORNS

and PEANUTS are the

> bomb!), then comes EXERCISE, then comes BREED and then the CURING is

the last part.

>

> Will Winter

So true! So true! I just want to add sunshine to it. I was so

disappointed when a favorite co-op pork brand was bragging about how

their pigs don't need anitbiotics because they are kept safe inside!

So sad!

~Jan

[Guest guest]

, its hearing experiences like yours that continues to show me

pigs can do fine without grains. At first I thought they HAD to have

it, even on pastures. Then I started cutting back, and moving

towards the small grains like flax, peas and barley while cutting out

soy completely. The first time I saw my pigs devour a chicken, who

had flown in to share their grain, I realized they were omnivores

because they eat meat too. Your wayward pigs were probably doing you

a favor cleaning out your fields of small rodents and maybe snakes.

I read how farms started having increasing snake populations once the

pigs moved off the farms and into housing. Its amazing how nature

takes care of things through the wonderful food web, that we don't

even know about!

I'll bet those pigs like your beets-the last batch of greens we got

had papayas in them, Wow, did they like that!

Keep us posted on your smokehouse adventures,

Sounds delish!

~Jan

>

> > because they are STILL Outside!-yes, they can also go into warm

deep

> > beded huts inside their shed) Next spring, I plan on trying to

feed

> > almost no grains at all.

>

> This winter, we have been giving our pigs organic beets we grew this

> summer as well as acorns from our oak trees, kelp and occasionlly

our

> goats' milk fermented into curds and whey. ...

>

> Jan, we actually had a couple of pigs that insisted on being in

> another pasture this fall. We did not feed them any " goodies " in

order

> to encourage them to be with the rest of the herd. For one month,

they

> ate nothing but the greens and roots in this pasture and they

actually

> did well.

>