Using Pork in Bolognese

[Shel_B]

A little background: I've been experimenting with Bolognese over the past few months.  I came late to the party.

 

The first few ragús that I made were done with 100% beef, apart from a relatively small amount of pancetta in the soffritto. After four hours of cooking, the results were smooth and silken.

 

The most recent batch included ground pork in the meat selection, and after a four-hour cooking process, I discovered some harder and chewier bits in the ragú. Very disappointing, especially so since additional cooking time did nothing to reduce or eliminate this failure.

 

So, a few questions:

 

Does ground pork require any different cooking techniques compared to beef?

 

Might a finer or coarser grind of the pork affect its texture and mouth feel after prolonged cooking?  What might a fine pork mince do to the texture compared to ground pork?

 

Do different breeds of pig produce different textural results? Are there any preferred breeds for use in Bolognese? Are there any preferred cuts of pork to use in the ragú?

I've heard that shoulder is a good choice.

 

What is the approximate fat content for a package of typical supermarket ground pork? I believe the pkg I bought said the fat content was 20%. Pre-packaged ground pork contains meat and fat from various parts of the pig, yes?

Edited March 10 by Shel_B
Clarity of intent (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

My ragu, regardless of meat, has never been silken.    I use whatever protein I have on hand, often leftover roast, steak, etc.    I "grind" meats in a mini food-processor.    The finished product is very textured and meat-centric.   Example

:

[rotuts]

Ive forgotten what a four hour group f meat simmer is like,

 

texture wise.  

 

difficult to say what those unpleasant bits are. 

 

using the times you mention ,  ground pork is going to cook in a similar fashion to 

 

ground beef , from a supermarket grind.

 

I make a ground turkey  , or ground turkey ground pork ragu

 

in an iPot .  30 Mn HP and the ragu has a pleasant texture.

 

if you enjoy the 4 hour process, terrific !   you don't ge those aromas in the kitchen

 

any other way.   

 

I was very surprised how much I liked the iPot'd turkey ragu :

 

ground turkey , jared sauce ( good quality ) additional seasoning ( Penzey's Tuscan blend )  etc

 

its done in 30 min , and after pressing start , needs no attention at all .

 

the iPot texture was about the same as the ragu I used to simmer for hours.

[weinoo]

I'm sure you've seen Kenji's Serious Eats post about his allegedly supernal Bolognese. (I wonder if the harder and chewier bits were perhaps bits of bone that got ground along with the meat Or hoof. Or ear.).
 

I have this book..

 

 

Purchased in Bologna.

 

 

I know it can be translated, just not by me, right now. Appears there is plenty of pork in the ragu, however.

Edited March 10 by weinoo (log)

[Shel_B]

19 minutes ago, rotuts said:

I was very surprised how much I liked the iPot'd turkey ragu :

 

ground turkey , jared sauce ( good quality ) additional seasoning ( Penzey's Tuscan blend )  etc

 

its done in 30 min , and after pressing start , needs no attention at all .

 

the iPot texture was about the same as the ragu I used to simmer for hours.

The idea of using the IPot for making a ragu has been on my mind. Pleased to know it's possible and to get a ballpark idea for cooking times. 

 

How do you deal with the lack of evaporation when using the IPot?

[Shel_B]

12 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I'm sure you've seen Kenji's Serious Eats post about his allegedly supernal Bolognese. (I wonder if the harder and chewier bits were perhaps bits of bone that got ground along with the meat Or hoof. Or ear.).
 

I have this book..

[...]

I know it can be translated, just not by me, right now. Appears there is plenty of pork in the ragu, however.

I've not seen Kenji's post or video. I'll look for it ... thanks.

 

The harder bits felt more like gristle .... hmm, hadn't thought about gristle before.  If it was indeed gristle, then the problem wouldn't be solved by long cooking as the gristle doesn't break down, right?

[rotuts]

you take that into account w the tomato portion 

 

for me , one ground turkey slab   ( they are 20 .4 oz , not 1 bus )

 

1 large jar tomato sauce .  but Ive since move to organic crushed , 28 oz

 

and it comes out perfect .  medium-thick .  w the canned tomatoes 

 

I just up the seasonings O use.     and I fry to find no added salt .  I adjust later.

 

I do add olive oil both at the start of cooking , and then on the dish as I use the fragu.

 

I like a rag that's a bit creamy , as if you used cream to ' parade ' the meat if you

 

were making it on top of the stove.

 

Ive been under the impression iPots dont do cream well .  ( mixed in to the ingredients )

 

what I do , when the rabbi is done   30 min --   I mix it up.

 

then dot the ragu w pieces of cream cheese , in hunks .  I iP for 5 min or so.

 

then mix the it.   this step might be very unnecessary , 

 

in my case Ill just add the cream cheese at the begging .

 

I use cream cheese that Ive vac'd and frozen as I dont keep cream in the house 

 

works fine as a sub  for me 

 

I have not done this in my 3 qt just yet.   I have vac'd fz bricks of turkey ragu

 

made in te 6 qt :   2 slabs of ground turkey ( 20 oz) ( not browned )  2 28 os jars crushed organic tomatoes 

 

dried herbs , dried garlic , onion , etc. I alternate the slabs with the cans , but dont mix  

 

dried herbs go on a slab of turkey , followed by the can of tomatoes.

 

I mix at the end of the cooking .    as easy as easy gets  texture is fine

 

flavor up to your tomatoes and added herbs and etc.

Edited March 10 by rotuts (log)

[weinoo]

51 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

If it was indeed gristle, then the problem wouldn't be solved by long cooking as the gristle doesn't break down, right?

Probably not.

[gfweb]

I have the same problem occasionally with ground pork and beef.  I always blame the supermarket, but I've never bothered to grind my own.

[FauxPas]

 

A local store sells "meatloaf mix" which is equal parts ground beef, veal, and pork. It's my fave mix for meatloaf but i also like it for Bolognese and for meatballs.

 

I don't think I've ever had an issue with the texture or quality of ground pork from that store, either. Maybe you got a bit of a bad batch? 

 

 

[Duvel]

While my method for ragù bolognese follows Marzella Hazan pretty closely, I take liberties with the ground meat very often. Germany is pork country and good quality pork is easier to come by than good quality beef. That being said I have never experienced any “hard bits” due to the nature of the protein.

[Kerala]

Harder and chewier bits after a four hour cook, I imagine, must be cartilage and such. 

[Shel_B]

A follow-up to my original post.  I didn't mention that I used pre-packaged supermarket pork, a product I've neither purchased nor used before. Some people have said that the quality of such products may be less than ideal. I didn't think anything about that when I made the purchase, as I just wanted some convenient pork.

 

I've since bought some pork from one of the two local butchers I use and the results were superior, much more in line with what I wanted and expected. From now on, I'll stick to my trusted butchers where I can get the cuts that I want ground, and packaged, to my specifications.

Edited March 13 by Shel_B
Clarity of intent (log)

[Shel_B]

On 3/10/2024 at 4:30 PM, Kerala said:

Harder and chewier bits after a four hour cook, I imagine, must be cartilage and such. 

That's pretty much what I've concluded as well. Thanks for jumping in.