While we certainly have no qualms or problems in cutting into and cutting down a full dressed hog for our charcuterie and smoking projects, we think we should make it known up front that none of us involved in Les Noiracochon are big fans of any of the organ meats (except where used in sausage) or any of the products of the head, beyond the jowls for bacon.  What this means is no blood sausage (although Big Dog has an interest in trying this sometime), very little use of organ meat, and for certain no headcheese or snoots (fried pig snout), or use of trotters to be had from this project.  We will be using all of the fat for sausage and/or lard or for confit, and as seen in the podcast, a portion of the rind will go to fried pork rinds.

We acknowledge and respect the traditions of folks who use every single last scrap of the pig when undertaking a similar project.  We wish we could be so resourceful and true to the craft, but honestly, there's not much about ground pork head that turns us on and so those parts will not be incorporated into our weekend.  In a way, we feel like we are not being true to the 'craft' of charcuterie and sausage making, but we also want to be honest and truthful with those who might follow our projects and experiments.  So, with that in mind, we are only days away from undertaking the Berkshire hog project and everyone is getting stoked about working on this particular breed of pig.

I think we have our itinerary and individual cuts set for the weekend, so we'll get those posted in the next day or so.