December is a crazy month for me at the church office, so between work and other obligations around the home (the Christmas Honey-Do list), I’ve had little or no time to make meats of the tubular variety.
But I had a chance this weekend to do some grinding & stuffing, so I asked the troops in my household what they’d like me to make as Christmas is approaching fast. The popular choice was having me make PORK ROLL — aka “Taylor’s Ham.”
Many of you know what I’m talking about here. If you’re not familiar with this tangy & porky delight, do a quick internet search & you’ll discover all you need to know about the tasty stuff. It’s big back east (my wife’s family is from New Jersey), and around Christmas, it was a popular treat for her family. My boys & I have enjoyed it as well—even though we’re native Californi-yuns.
It was a big hit the last time I made it (waaaay back in July of 2011).
So enough of the blather…on to the fun stuff!
Start with three pounds of nearly-frozen hickory-smoked bacon…
Also needed is about 7 pounds of fresh pork shoulder, cut up & iced for the grinder…
Start by grinding the bacon. I’m using a 4.5mm plate for the initial grind…
Next up is the pork shoulder grind. Same plate size…
SPICES lined up. Simple & few ingredients.I upped the amount of salt and the ECA I used last time. The pork roll last time just needed a bit more of the saltiness & tang…
I added the dry ingredients to the meat, with the exception of the ECA
—which shall be added just prior to stuffing. Before mixing, I add the port…
My Custom Mixers are primed and ready to go. Thickly-insulated gloves make this job easy without the pain of frost-bite…
After 10-12 minutes of robust mixing, the meat has developed into a nice, sticky paste…
Before stuffing, however, I want a finer texture and so I run the meat paste through the grinder using a fine plate (3.0mm). This hopefully will ensure a very uniform texture in the final product…
Comparing the before & after of the single grind (4.5mm) and the meat following a second fine (3mm) grind…
One last addition & mix— the ECA is added now and I’ll gently incorporate this thoroughly into the meat paste. A quick test-fry of the mix got thumbs up from the lucky tasters…
While all this mixing & grinding was going on, I had three fibrous casing soaking in warm water. In the past I’ve used muslin or cotton bags for pork roll, but since I was without, I opted to use these 3x20” fibrous from Butcher & Packer…
My son helped with my little 5lb Grizzly stuffer & in no time we had 3 good-sized chubs hog-ringed & ready to go in the fridge…
Since I’m booked all day tomorrow, it looks like these chubs will have to wait a day or so before they hit the smoker & poacher.
More to come…
Kevin
But I had a chance this weekend to do some grinding & stuffing, so I asked the troops in my household what they’d like me to make as Christmas is approaching fast. The popular choice was having me make PORK ROLL — aka “Taylor’s Ham.”
Many of you know what I’m talking about here. If you’re not familiar with this tangy & porky delight, do a quick internet search & you’ll discover all you need to know about the tasty stuff. It’s big back east (my wife’s family is from New Jersey), and around Christmas, it was a popular treat for her family. My boys & I have enjoyed it as well—even though we’re native Californi-yuns.
It was a big hit the last time I made it (waaaay back in July of 2011).
So enough of the blather…on to the fun stuff!
Start with three pounds of nearly-frozen hickory-smoked bacon…
Also needed is about 7 pounds of fresh pork shoulder, cut up & iced for the grinder…
Start by grinding the bacon. I’m using a 4.5mm plate for the initial grind…
Next up is the pork shoulder grind. Same plate size…
SPICES lined up. Simple & few ingredients.I upped the amount of salt and the ECA I used last time. The pork roll last time just needed a bit more of the saltiness & tang…
I added the dry ingredients to the meat, with the exception of the ECA
—which shall be added just prior to stuffing. Before mixing, I add the port…
My Custom Mixers are primed and ready to go. Thickly-insulated gloves make this job easy without the pain of frost-bite…
After 10-12 minutes of robust mixing, the meat has developed into a nice, sticky paste…
Before stuffing, however, I want a finer texture and so I run the meat paste through the grinder using a fine plate (3.0mm). This hopefully will ensure a very uniform texture in the final product…
Comparing the before & after of the single grind (4.5mm) and the meat following a second fine (3mm) grind…
One last addition & mix— the ECA is added now and I’ll gently incorporate this thoroughly into the meat paste. A quick test-fry of the mix got thumbs up from the lucky tasters…
While all this mixing & grinding was going on, I had three fibrous casing soaking in warm water. In the past I’ve used muslin or cotton bags for pork roll, but since I was without, I opted to use these 3x20” fibrous from Butcher & Packer…
My son helped with my little 5lb Grizzly stuffer & in no time we had 3 good-sized chubs hog-ringed & ready to go in the fridge…
Since I’m booked all day tomorrow, it looks like these chubs will have to wait a day or so before they hit the smoker & poacher.
More to come…
Kevin
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