Sausage: Pork Back Fat

[Jmnhunter]

the recipes i've been looking at from hank shaw or rinella's book call for pork back fat but the grocery stores dont carry it and neither does the butcher shop--butcher shop says they have a picnic trim of 80/20 for 2.50 a pound?

any other alternatives?

I guess I didnt think this would be that tough to find so maybe I just need to find a decent butcher shop the next time I go to the cities?

 

[Stay Sharp]

So many places now get their pork already trimmed and dont actually "butcher" hogs on site making fat harder to come by. If you are looking for pure fat, overpaying for 80% meat is not wise. Buying your own 72% lean pork butt (picnic shoulders) by the case (I buy 60# cases) is the better option unless yo can locate an actual butcher that also slaughters hogs.

 

[Lmwmihunter76]

So I have used fat back and a picnic roast when making sausage and honestly I can not tell any difference between the two. My suggestion is just to use a picnic roast or a shoulder roast.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Fat is impossible to come by anymore, well almost.

Here is what I have found works:

• Small local grocery stores with a butcher will sometimes have really fatty pork trim that they haven't mixed into a sausage yet. But will still cost the same as their sausage usually.
• What I found is the best solution: Find someone who does a lot of smoked meat catering, they always trim their cuts down and usually just throw away their trimmings. This is how I got like 20 lbs of beef fat for free.
• Also, pork loin usually has a fat cap on it that I cut off and save for deer. Usually you can get loin for 0.99$ around my part of the world so it works a little too. Same with boston butt.

 

[wayno945]

I ended up buying a hog a few weeks back and slaughtering it myself. Plenty of fat for my game sausage this year. Wasn't very hard to do either.

 

[BucksnDucks]

What are you paying per pound, if you don't mind?
I recently found a Mexican market with some beautiful fatty pork but partially due to language barrier I paid way too much

So many places now get their pork already trimmed and dont actually "butcher" hogs on site making fat harder to come by. If you are looking for pure fat, overpaying for 80% meat is not wise. Buying your own 72% lean pork butt (picnic shoulders) by the case (I buy 60# cases) is the better option unless yo can locate an actual butcher that also slaughters hogs.

 

[Stay Sharp]

It fluctuates wildly week to week. $0.99 a lb. up to $2.15 lb depending on the market. Draught and other such things can make pork crazy high. Search with this term "60 lb case pork butt" and see what costco and sam club and others are charging. (it will be based on your zip code.

 

[kwyeewyk]

You might try something like craigslist and find a local small scale hog farm. If they don't have any around, one of their customers for a whole or half hog might be willing to part with some. I have a small hog operation and have a ton of back fat in the freezer. I could mail you some but you can probably find it cheaper than the cost to ship if you search a bit. Search some other meat processors and ask them if they are processing for local hog farms. Some people don't want it and they toss it.

 

[ImBillT]

All our grocery stores other than Sams and Wal-Mart have it. Around hunting season they’ll often put it out on the counter with a price tag on it, or the managing butcher will put a price tag on it. In the off-season they’ll usually just give it to me for free. I’ve found beef fat to be easier to come by in the peak season and perfectly fine for use in ground meat.

The small custom butchers around here usually use it themselves or sell it all under contract.

It’s not convenient, but shooting a wild hog is a great source. I shot a small one that gave me enough back fat for all the grind on two deer.

 

[JEL]

This fall I was able to find all we needed at Winco. That said I went there the other day to get some for a batch of breakfast sausage and they didn't have any. Ended up using fatty country style ribs.

 

[Jmnhunter]

geees, i didnt think it would be this complicated! i found a smaller grocery chain nearby and after talking to the meat manager, he made a call to his distributor and they have some for 1.50 a pound; the other grocery store and butcher wouldnt even look into it for me.
thanks for the info!

 

[blueridge]

I get my pork fat from a small independent grocery for $1.65/lb. Another small independent grocery gives me beef fat (for mixing with venison burgers) for free.

I did make the mistake of calling a fancy organic butcher and asking if they had any pork trimmings to make deer sausage with. He said, “Sure, I have some good back fat for you. Just cut some up.” I didn’t ask the price. Went to pick it up and he wanted $4.55/lb. ... For less that that price I would just buy a boston butt.

 

[Oregon_Ryan]

Also check out Mexican carnicerias and larger Asian grocery stores. They will typically have better prices and usually have things like back fat for sale.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

I use Pork shoulder/butt @.99c lb.,have 4 in the freezer as backup. 〽

 

[ImBillT]

I have ground deer flank/rib roll with their own fat. Most deer have perfectly good tasting fat. The real issue is the mind of fat. When it isn’t hot, it becomes waxy and coats your mouth and tongue in a very unpleasant way. If you’re gonna eat deer fat, you gotta eat it HOT. Also, it’s high in omega-3s which oxidize easily. It will develop a fishy taste over time.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I have ground deer flank/rib roll with their own fat. Most deer have perfectly good tasting fat. The real issue is the mind of fat. When it isn’t hot, it becomes waxy and coats your mouth and tongue in a very unpleasant way. If you’re gonna eat deer fat, you gotta eat it HOT. Also, it’s high in omega-3s which oxidize easily. It will develop a fishy taste over time.

That's why I never use deer fat for anything.

 

[ImBillT]

That's why I never use deer fat for anything.

But it only does that when it’s cool. I enjoy it when it’s hot.

 

[Sask hunter]

I bought a case of 50/50 pork trim I use. It’s pretty fatty and was cheap. 1.15/pound I think

 

[Trial153]

I am lucky to have acess to fresh pork belly, and untrimed shoulder, as much as I want to buy. Pork belly and fat back you can interchange in most game sausages. However if you using trimmed supermarket pork shoulders for fat you better up the ratio of pork to game or add some additional fat.
Untrimmed shoulders will have about 65/35 raito. Trimed supermarket butts will be about 80/20.
You can always cook fat out but you cant add it in after.