# Old Sow?



## PreparedRifleman73 (Nov 2, 2012)

So my wife's uncle basically have us an old sow. He delivered it to the butcher for us. It weighed in at 525 pounds and they figured we'd get 2/3 of that as finished product.

The butcher said the meat would be too tough for anything but just ground pork. Is that really the case? If so,what the hell are we gonna do with 350 pounds of ground pork!?


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

Pressure can it . 

We cube it, can it raw without liquid and then use it for all sorts of things. My favourite is to tip the meat out of the jar and gently toss in a mix of flour and assorted spices, then fry in peanut oil and serve with stir fried veg.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Wellrounded said:


> My favourite is to tip the meat out of the jar and gently toss in a mix of flour and assorted spices, then fry in peanut oil ...[\QUOTE]
> 
> I wonder how it would do in the slow-cooker/crock pot


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

LincTex said:


> Wellrounded said:
> 
> 
> > My favourite is to tip the meat out of the jar and gently toss in a mix of flour and assorted spices, then fry in peanut oil ...[\QUOTE]
> ...


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

345 lbs of sausage, and you have six months to eat it....aaand GO!

We eat a lot of sausage. We have some recipes that we use of our own, but we also buy some LEM brand seasonings.

You can get some of it cut into stew meat. We make it just like beef stew, but use pork. 

For an old sow, we cube (tenderize) some, make stew meat, and the rest is sausage. I've never tried making any into anything like pork chops and use the pressure cooker.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

hawkmiles said:


> ...
> The butcher said the meat would be too tough for anything but just ground pork.


B.S, like mentioned ground pork is useful, Heck Germans eat it raw it is very useful for many sausages and other dishes. An old sow will have some flavour but pork is still a pretty neutral meat.

On the other hand, if you want to cook it there are MANY options, like those already mentioned. Soups are also a great use, save all those bones too, cut small the meat will not be tough. Real marinades though, are perfect for this, they can add some great flavour and do some real tenderizing too if given enough time (while also keeping it from getting dry).

If using a slow cooker, you will likely want to make sure it gets hot enough (internally) at some point during the process. Often slow cookers don't get/stay hot enough to break down the collagen completely, and that can result in tough meat. Searing the meat first does much for flavour but little for tenderness, throwing the meat on the grill or in the broiler for a few minutes _after_ the slow cooking can sometimes work wonders. The thing about tough cuts is that there is always a sort of fine line where what you are doing can backfire. For instance pressure cooking a roast can turn out ridiculously tender and moist, or a brick

The other thing that is important is the way the meat is cut, with tough stuff cutting along the grain can leave you with ropes of meat that may be less than appetizing for some :dunno: kinda like pulled pork Stew sized chunks or slightly longer strips for marinade and/or stir fry are relatively safe. Chops or steak sized pieces can be problematic, roasts are sort of better because you can slice it after the fact (though they are harder to marinade thoroughly).


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

thats lots of tasty egg rolls...mumm..

id can it as a boat load of ground pork and Ive canned sausage too...mumm...yum yum..


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

I would think the bacon would be ok as well. Cut thin, it couldn't be too tough.


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