Brace yourself: The bacon shortage is coming

Hotair ^ | 04/09/2014 | Mary Katharine Ham

[NFHale]

Well, that’s their loss then...

Bacon is life; life is bacon. And now someone informed me on another thread that there is bacon-flavored Vodka...

Life keeps getting betterer and betterer...

[knarf]

what the hell is pseudo rabies ?

Is it or is it ain't rabies ?

[NFHale]

And if he just cranked up the vintage Marshall and used volume to take them out, I’d say he was “The God Of Axes”...

Of course, I’d have used my old Mesa Boogie Mark III to do that... there was a reason it was nicknamed “Pure Screaming Hell” back in the day.

[ketelone]

Is it because of these guys?

[Texas Fossil]

Feral hogs are a plague in TX too. I have not heard about any diseases that they carry. I don’t pass up a chance to kill one, they are very damaging to crops.

We have a place at out farm that is set up to process wild game. Only family and friends use it, but it is well equipped.

There are a lot of indicators that food prices will get higher this year. Some because of drop in value of dollar, some from effects of drought and changing weather patterns (natural variation, not man made) and some due to cost push on production costs due to concentration in industries (anti-competitive regulation).

[Roman_War_Criminal]

Smart man! The younger, smaller ones do taste better though!

[cripplecreek]

There’s always vegan bacon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0kRyv3RRH4

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

cuban leaf:" ..just slaughtered three pigs. We have plenty, thank you..."

I hope he has replacement piglets already , because the infection rate is remarkably high ,
and the piglet survival is remakably low .
The virus was first identifed in the U.S. in Ohio last year.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Google is your friend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudorabies

http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/health-disease/pseudorabies/

http://www.nimbios.org/press/feralswine

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Here is another! Swine brucellosis.

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/felsenthal-nwr-feral-hogs-infected-with-swine-brucellosis-and-pseudorabies-in-arkansas/

You sure you wanna eat that wild hog?

[knarf]

Swine brucellosis is transmissible to humans. Humans with this disease typically have flu-like symptoms including intermittent fever, chills, sweating, headaches, muscle and joint soreness, and weakness. Although few human fatalities occur as a result of infection, the disease is often chronic and debilitating. Hunters should be advised to wear rubber gloves and to wash with soap and hot water as soon as possible after handling a feral pig carcass and to ensure that the meat is cooked thoroughly before consumption.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Processed store bacon isn’t as good as homemade. But the essential ingredient, #2 curing salt, is uncommon in retail stores, but available online. #2 curing salt has both sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite in it, which are essential.

Here is the recipe:

1 Pork Belly
Large zip lock bag
Cure Mix

Here is the standard ratio, quantities can change depending on how much pork belly you want to make, scale up or down accordingly.

Salt 3 tbsp – sea salt, kosher salt are preferable
Sugar 1.5 tbsp – brown sugar, or maple sugar if you have it
Pink Salt #2 Curing, 5 grams. Some kinds include table salt, so adjust recipe accordingly

Mix the cure mix. Put pork belly in ziplock bag with several tbsp cure mix and rub it down completely.

Seal the bag, wrap it in another plastic bag like a grocery bag, and place it in the fridge. After a few days there will be a juice/liquid forming, this is the brine solution. Be sure to the flip the bag at least once to get even distribution. It will take about 7-10 days to cure.

After a week or more, take the pork belly out of the bag and rinse it in the sink under cold water. It is now cured.

Preheat oven for 200F. Place the pork belly on the top rack, with a tray underneath to collect any dripping. It will take about 2 hours; this simulates the smoking/cooking of the pork belly and makes it bacon. The internal temperature should get to 150 F, but I have found this is not completely necessary after 2 hours it should be done.

Let the bacon cool at room temperature for about half an hour. Now cut off the pork belly skin, while the meat is still warm. It should come off easily, but may not.

Freeze it so that it cuts easier with a meat slicer.

[knarf]

cook the hell out of it (get it ?)

[Vaduz]

Rustling to ensue.

[dragonblustar]

Those feral hogs have tons of parasites. Be careful.

[dragonblustar]

I wonder if some of these viruses were brought in to get rid of the wild hogs?

[RitchieAprile]

the sages were not kidding when they decided what animals were unclean..

[Osage Orange]

We got hogs all over the place here!!

[CSM]

Maybe, just maybe, a bacon shortage will wake up the low info voters! Once their comfy lives get disturbed a little bit, that might remove the blinders they willfully don each morning! I kind of doubt it tho, for they will simply blame the Tea Party for their bacon woes....