Pork Fat in Bozeman?

[Levajo]

Does anyone know of any local butcher shops near the Gallatin valley (Bozeman MT) that have pork fat they are throwing away and give to hunters who come in and ask for it for doing their own meat processing? Thanks

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I couldn't find any a couple of years ago and just ended up using pork shoulder from Costco.

 

[BrentD]

I'd look for lamb fat instead. Tastier too. But probably not any easier to find.

 

[Doublecluck]

I have got it from town and country a few times.

 

[rustneversleeps]

Daniels - they dont throw it or give it away, but it is only a few bucks for a lot of it

 

[2rocky]

A successful butcher shop sells or uses everything they trim. You wouldn't want what they send to the renderer.

If sausage is your goal, many recipes use ground pork butt (shoulder) as half the meat with the wild game as the other half.

Beef fat to add to ground meat is pretty standard. 20% makes a juicy burger.

I'm a little puzzled by the lamb fat suggestion, and I like lamb. Many people find the flavor off-putting.

Most supermarkets are buying boxed primals. Very few are doing whole carcass breakdowns. Your best bet is developing a relationship with a Custom cut and wrap place.

 

[MThuntr]

Unfortunately i don't think anyone will give it way...everything costs something these days.

Costco boneless shoulders are probably the best route unless you can find them on sale somewhere

 

[HSi-ESi]

Your best bet is developing a relationship with a Custom cut and wrap place.

This is what I do. August / September (right after the county fair's) is a great time to work with businesses that are processing 4H pigs. I get about 20 pounds of pork fat a year through one here (render lard, use in all of my home processing).

I'd call around Bozeman to see if they have any - if not the Costco pork butt option will work (for sausages and the like).

I don't mix fat into my grind. If I'm making burgers, I have some ground bacon ends that I'll mix in while I'm making dinner. I use most of my grind in sauces.

 

[2rocky]

This is what I do. August / September (right after the county fair's) is a great time to work with businesses that are processing 4H pigs. I get about 20 pounds of pork fat a year through one here (render lard, use in all of my home processing).

I'd call around Bozeman to see if they have any - if not the Costco pork butt option will work (for sausages and the like).

I don't mix fat into my grind. If I'm making burgers, I have some ground bacon ends that I'll mix in while I'm making dinner. I use most of my grind in sauces.

^ Good point.

 

[RobG]

Daniels - they dont throw it or give it away, but it is only a few bucks for a lot of it

Yeah, I got some there last year.... over on Griffin

 

[Levajo]

Thanks for the tip guys I am only 21 and this will be my second year doing all my own meat processing. Last year I did way too many deer/elk sticks and not enough brats or burgers so this year I will be putting all the grind meat off my 2 elk, antelope, bear, and 3 deer into brats and burger. Last year I did 50/50 on my burger with beef. But this year I will do about 40% beef for my burger meat. The cheapest ground beef I can find is 2$ per lb at Walmart. Anyone know of any ground beef thats cheaper? For my brats last year I did about 40% pork shoulder from Costco. This year I am planning on doing about 20 -25% pork fat for my brats I ordered 100lbs worth of brat casing/seasoning kits from Waltons along with 25lbs of breakfast sausage seasoning. I called around and found a shop in Bozeman that is willing to save their pork trimmings/fat for me but said they could only get me about 10lbs worth so I will probably go to TNC to buy the other 15lbs for the brats. I may have to shoot a few more deer!

 

[RobG]

I wouldn't sully venison with beef. Most just run it straight for most dishes, or mix in a little fat if you are making burgers.

 

[HSi-ESi]

Last year I did 50/50 on my burger with beef. But this year I will do about 40% beef for my burger meat.

Growing up, we always had beef trim mixed in with our burger. I quit doing that when I left the house and began processing my own. It was an extra expense I couldn't really afford at the time. Now I really prefer nothing added in my burger. You spend all the time acquiring the meat, carefully processing it - it doesn't make sense to add cheap filler that is only going to take away from your product.

I really don't have issues with the burger falling apart on the grill, but if I do (some animals are leaner than others) - then I add an egg to my mix (or bacon ends if I have it thawed out).

I've found that just deer / elk / moose / whatever burger stands by itself. My kids prefer my burgers, although it's tough to compete with a happy meal toy.

 

[MThuntr]

Thanks for the tip guys I am only 21 and this will be my second year doing all my own meat processing. Last year I did way too many deer/elk sticks and not enough brats or burgers so this year I will be putting all the grind meat off my 2 elk, antelope, bear, and 3 deer into brats and burger. Last year I did 50/50 on my burger with beef. But this year I will do about 40% beef for my burger meat. The cheapest ground beef I can find is 2$ per lb at Walmart. Anyone know of any ground beef thats cheaper? For my brats last year I did about 40% pork shoulder from Costco. This year I am planning on doing about 20 -25% pork fat for my brats I ordered 100lbs worth of brat casing/seasoning kits from Waltons along with 25lbs of breakfast sausage seasoning. I called around and found a shop in Bozeman that is willing to save their pork trimmings/fat for me but said they could only get me about 10lbs worth so I will probably go to TNC to buy the other 15lbs for the brats. I may have to shoot a few more deer!

that's an ambitious list! If you're going to run that much beef with it I think I'd buy the cheapest meat at whatever store and grind it myself.

EDIT I'd also suggest, if you can afford it, to buy some high temp cheese for those brats...cheese makes everything better.

 

[Jamen]

Cheapest I have found for pork butts was $0.79/LB. Almost needed to buy another freezer when I saw the price lol But I can normally find it for .98 or 1.09 on sale. Not sure what prices are across the country.

 

[Jon Boy]

I bought town and country in livingston out of there pork trimmings on sunday. The butcher was hoping to get some more but he says it gets hard to find this time of year as we start approaching the end of the season. He also had beef suet in bulk 40 lb boxes for sale.

 

[Hunting Wife]

I honestly had never heard of anyone mixing ground beef with their venison for burger. We used to add beef fat, but we stopped doing that years ago. We find that the straight venison tastes great and we never have any trouble with patties not holding together. That would save you a significant chunk of change right there that probably would be better spent buying some nice fatty pork cuts (shoulder or whatever is on sale really) to add to brats/sausage. More bang for your buck in the end product IMO.

Good luck! Sounds like you have an ambitious processing schedule

 

[MTGomer]

When I was in high school I worked at Daily’s bacon in Missoula. I could buy a 40# box of pork belly trimmings for next to nothing. Those were the days. If anybody knows a Daily’s employee ask them to get you a box of trim from the press.

 

[PrairieHunter]

Lard is another option, stores better than fat as well.

 

[Hem]

Do not mess with straight fat. Get pork belly/pork butt. Pure fat is challenging to work with. I have found the pork butt to be easier 50/50 lean to fat.
Tough to find locally this part of the fall...buy it from Costco and split the over sized chunk with someone else.