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Pork Back Fat

Mussina

By Mussina
in Kitchen Consumer

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ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted

Sausage casings aren't too heavy, but I wonder if you still might have some luck finding the fat locally to avoid shipping.

Do you have any markets/grocery stores that cater to ethnic groups that might use pork fat on a regular basis? Any hispanic or asian markets, german or polish butchers? For instance, out here, the easiest general supermarket for me to find pork fat in is at the "least' upscale one. I also happen to have options at other ethnic butchers or markets, but I know that it is still possible to get pork fat at some supermarkets if you ask. The latter option might requre some arrangement ahead of time with the market butchers.

I wonder if Whole Foods will ever get enough requests to add it to their stock or at least make it available upon request.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted (edited)
Is fatback just pork fat? Or is there more to it? Is it just for sausages or are there other applications?

Good point, for certain applications, one might want fatback specifically. One example would be it use in lining a terrine.

A German butcher/deli and some Chinese markets in my area sell fatback.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

Posted
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I believe it's supposed to be the best fat from the pig -- very creamy and light in color -- and can be used for making Lardo, which is essentially cured fat, Italian-style.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

Posted
Posted
Look up leaf lard, made from the fat around the kidneys.
I believe it's supposed to be the best fat from the pig -- very creamy and light in color -- and can be used for making Lardo, which is essentially cured fat, Italian-style.

=R=

Yes, leaf lard is often cited as the best lard for pastry -- especially pie crusts. I really don't know if it can be used to make Lardo and my guess is that it's a waste to use it in sausage-making.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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Werdna

Werdna

Posted
Posted

I got funny looks from the Whole Foods people when I asked for fatback there too. Yet they sell soy oil, go figure.

But a local mexican meat market was happy to supply me with 10 lbs of the stuff for 5 bucks after some hand gesturing on my part, now my sausages are coming along and I've got a huge batch of rillettes and pork confit ageing away in my fridge :smile:

I got the casings for my sausages from this place about 2 weeks ago, fast and free shipping:

http://www.makincasing.com/

(yes, I've been drooling over the Charcuterie thread too :biggrin: )

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Mussina

Mussina

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Thanks for the suggestions. I ordered my casing and sent Whole Foods an email. Perhaps if enough of us ask it will be stocked. For now I am stuck ordered back fat from Niman Ranch (I'm also going to throw in some caul fat as well) as I am not familiar with any local butchers that carry it.

Many thanks!

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dans

dans

Posted
Posted
When I ask for this at Whole Foods I am handed salted pork fat.  Not cool!

Oh how I know that feeling! I visisted every market in the area and asked about fat back. Every time I was handed salt pork. A few places even had it labeled "salt pork/fat back" Huh?!?!

We wound up calling a few a the small markets in the ethnic communities near us. Try some Italian, Portugese, Spanish, etc. markets and see if they have any.

Best of luck.

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  • 6 years later...
larryroohr

larryroohr

Posted
Posted

I asked for back fat at my butchers yesterday, he sold me a bag of scrap pieces of fat and I'm wondering is this what I should expect? I imagined it would be one large cut, that's based on nothing though. It worked fine in the bratwurst I made but I intend to render some non hydrogenated lard to have around and would like to be sure I have back fat as it's reportedly better than others (except leaf). Next time I'll ask when I get it, but for now I'm wondering what I've got here.

So happy to have a local butcher around these days.

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sheepish

sheepish

Posted
Posted

You need to find someone who raises pigs, or a butcher who knows someone who does. Any contacts through a farmers market perhaps? Problem is modern pig breeds have been engineered for lots of lean meat. You can make pigs fat but you need to feed them a lot. And pig feed is expensive. And most folks have been brainwashed into thinking fat is bad. So pig growers aren't growing fat pigs.

To get decent backfat you need fat pigs, otherwise you can scavange fat from pigs but it won't be in the nice big pieces you want. Good sausages need fat and butchers I've talked to are loathed to give up much of what they have, because fat pigs are rare and they want the fat too. There's a fair bit of fat on the head, and it's fine to add to make fatty sausage meat, but I find it a bit soft for using in salami or cutting to line a terrine.

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tikidoc

tikidoc

Posted
Posted

Where are you located?

I agree with those who say to start with either a good independent (not grocery store) butcher, an ethnic grocery (particularly Hispanic), or the meat department of a grocery in an area that serves a large Hispanic population. Depending where you are, you could also try to see if there is a local slaughterhouse. Not the kind of place associated with large factory farms, but a place where smaller farmers bring their animals for processing. You should be able to locate it on google, or if you have a farmers market with people who sell meats (another good source) you could also ask them where they get their animals processed.

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BadRabbit

BadRabbit

Posted
Posted (edited)

I mentioned this in the duck fat thread but I'll reiterate here:

I've found that you can get it in just about any grocery (I've tried Piggly Wiggly, Publix, Kroger, and Winn Dixie) if you just ask to talk to the meat manager. I had trouble getting it when I just asked for fatback from one of the meat counter guys but once I changed strategy I had no problems finding it everywhere.

Basically, just tell the manager you want them to save the fat that they trim off of loins and give you a call when it's ready. I usually buy 5lbs at a time for $.25/lb (they usually just throw it away so they'll practically give it to you).

The fat generally comes in rectangles about 4"x 2.5" with some additional smaller scraps mixed in.

Edit: Looked in my freezer and realized I mistated size and shape of pieces.

Edited by BadRabbit (log)
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