This pig is going to be harvested on Thursday. He is in the finishing acre, feasting on really good fresh picked apples (some windfall too, but not as much since we found a really good tree to pick for this week) and 10-15 gallons of whey per day between just four pigs. We also offer them grain but they are not eating much of that, opting for the delicious food instead. Next week the next round of pigs will also get pears. Very exciting change in season. :)
I'm interested in hearing how the fruit and nuts affect your finished product.
ReplyDeleteI think of your farm now when I am visiting the swine barn at our fair.
Thanks for sharing.
Pam
Without going into a lot of detail, the apples and milk and nuts affect specifically the fat sugars and acids. This affects the flavour of the meat, especially if there is a lot of fat marbling. Berkshires are known for their excellent marbling of fat and meat flavour so by combining this breed with this type of custom finish we produce a premium pork. Hopefully. :) That's the theory anyway. I have a lot of gathered research on it but they are all PDF's. If anyone is interested, email me and I can send them to you.
ReplyDelete