Makin' bacon - part 2
Breeds for bacon, pork and ham
Pig Association member John Frederickson, heritage pig farmer Jonathan Walker of Soggy Bottom Farms and the Rare Breeds Conservation Society share their thoughts on the different pig breeds in NZ. Most are now rare breeds and well suited to outdoor living. Heritage pigs grow more slowly than the modern hybrid breeds used in intensive pig production, but the result is very flavoursome pork, bacon and ham products.
Wessex Saddleback
| Colour: | Black with white band (floppy ears) |
| Meat: | Pork and Bacon |
| Comments: | The Wessex is becoming a very popular pig, because they're something different says John, and for their very docile, quiet nature says Jonathan. Wessex are reknowned for being very good mothers and good foragers. There are also more bloodlines around with the Wessex, which is allowing improvements to be made through careful breeding. Parents with full saddles often throw a litter of piglets with a mixture of full, part or no saddles and vice versa. |
Large White and Landrace
| Colour: | White-pink |
| Meat: | Bacon |
| Comments: | A commercial pig - not a rare breed - and both Jonathan and John agree they are not suitable for lifestyle blocks, for two reasons, First, says John, they're white and they get sunburnt and that can be a problem. Second says Jonathan, they've been bred up over the years to be very fast-growing pigs, with no fat, which affects the flavour. "They have great feed-meat conversion but only when kept indoors. |
Large Black/Devon
| Colour: | Black, floppy ears |
| Meat: | Bacon |
| Comments: | Particularly noted as a pig well adapted for outdoor life, as it is not susceptible to sunburn. The Large Black is hardy and a good grazer says Jonathan. "The early growth rates during the first six months are very fast." It is a lop-eared pig and tends to have a friendly nature. |
Duroc
| Colour: | Red-brown |
| Meat: | Pork |
| Comments: | You can feed a Duroc basically anything you like says John, and they grow good muscle and good meat. Jonathan agrees: "The Duroc is an American breed, which has been bred for extra length and vigorous growth, to produce a heavily muscled carcass." They are often used as one of the parent crosses in outdoor commercial operations. One drawback to the Duroc is the sow's snappy nature when they have a litter. "Their temperament is not great (in that situation)," says John. |
Tamworth
| Colour: | Red-golden |
| Meat: | Bacon |
| Comments: | The Tamworth is believed to be the closest breed to the European Wild pig, and was used for large scale bacon production in Europe and NZ before being replaced with faster-growing modern breeds. As a result, it is quite rare now says Jonathan, but an excellent pig for the small farm owner, as the Tamworth is a hardy, easy-care breed which does not suffer from sunburn. Tamworths have long snouts and are very good for turning over rough pasture. They have prick ears and can be very excitable when young. |
Berkshire
| Colour: | Black (Pointed ears, white feet, white tip on tail and white on face) |
| Meat: | Pork or bacon |
| Comments: | The Berkshire is a great outdoor living pig that produces a lean caracass says Jonathan, and John agrees. "They're a good, friendly pig, good-natured, good mothers. I've got a big boy here who weighs close to half a ton. They're reasonably long - they used to be short and fat but (through breeding), they've lengthened them out so they've lost a lot of fat." |
Hampshire
| Colour: | Black with a white band (pointed ears) |
| Meat: | Pork or bacon |
| Comments: | "There's not a lot of Hampshires around these days says John, and as a result, it's very hard to find one. "There are no real bloodlines left - if you could find a sow, you'd have problems finding an un-related boar, there are so few around." |
Kunekune
| Colour: | Various colours, often spotty |
| Meat: | Not usually kept for meat |
| Comments: | While the kunekune is a beloved pet for many lifestyle block owners, to others it is a great tasting meat too. Some critics believe it lays down too much fat at the expense of meat so it's not that economic, however, Kunekune breeder David Hughes says the breed produces delicious hams (Rare Breeds NewZ, August 2005), and Rare Breeds Conservation Society secretary Ava Hunt agrees. "We have had some done for the freezer ourselves lately, the pork and bacon are both excellent. The homekill butcher skinned them, rather than dehairing them, and that probably took a bit of the fat off but they weren't excessively fatty. They were grass fed though, with no supplementary feed except for the kitchen scraps and excess fruit etc." |
Euro/European Wild Boar
| Colour: | Yellow-sandy to dark brown |
| Meat: | Specialty pork and bacon |
| Comments: | In spite of the fearsome reputation of the European Wild Boar, domesticated Euros make good pets. Piglets are born with stripes from nose to tail, which fade when they are about 6-9 weeks old. Pigs have long manes and hair in winter, with a woolly undercoat. They are great mothers, farrowing twice a year. Meat is pink when cooked, not white, great-tasting and sought after by food connoisseurs says Rare Breeds President (and Euro pig breeder) John Earney, with older boars often sought by Safari Parks. Jonathan Walker notes that when Euro and Tamworth breeds are crossed, the resulting pigs are thought to resemble thosethat thrived in Europe in the Iron Age. |
NOTE: All pig breeds, with the exception of the Kunekune, require supplementary feed as they will not thrive on grass alone. Pigs are very efficient omnivores and will fatten well on all manner of feed such as fruit and vegetable waste, root crops, milk and cheese products and grains. If you choose to feed them meat scraps or scraps that have been in contact with meat, you must - by law - cook these scraps.
Bacon, pork, ham - which pig is best?
Heritage breeds were traditionally used for either pork/ham or bacon, due to the fat content of the breed concerned, and its growth rate.
However, the general rule for home-grown pork, bacon and ham is it all depends on the age of the pig - any breed - when it is slaughtered. A "pork" pig will be about 4-5 months old when ready, and its "dressed out" weight (the actual meat you will get out of the carcass to put in your freezer) will be around 40-45kg says John, depending on the breed of pig, and how well you have fed and cared for it.
Bacon pigs tend to be older and larger and are butchered at about 6-7 months old.
John says this is why buying two piglets together also gives you the option of having one butchered slightly earlier for ham and pork, and the other 6-8 weeks later for bacon.
"Often pigs don't grow at the same speed either, so you can butcher the bigger of the two as pork first, and keep the second one for bacon when he gets bigger."
The other great thing about meat from pigs is you get a lot out of it says John.
"There's quite a bit of meat in pork - when you cook a piece of mutton or beef you start with a piece of meat so big, but when you put it the oven it gets a lot smaller. You put a piece of pork in the oven, and it won't shrink, when you take it out you've got a lot more meat to eat, so you don't have to cook as much, not like beef or mutton."
This article was provided by NZ Lifestyle Block, incorporating Growing Today magazine.
To subscribe, phone 0800 113 488 or go to www.mags4gifts.co.nz/lifestyleblock
