This is why there needs to be more information about the differences between butchers and meat cutters. Meat cutters (which I was for almost 7 years) open boxes and cut mostly pre-trimmed, subprimals into roasts and steaks. They mostly work with pre-ground products for burger and only the little bit of trim they produce from steaks and roasts is truly ground fresh in store. (I’m only commenting on things in the USA by the way, other countries can be very different.) These hardworking guys and gals make up the vast majority of what people mean when they say “butchers”. While the amount of knowledge they may have varies on the individual, they just don’t work with the same products or produce the same materials. Butchers (which I am now) on the other hand, work with primals, whole carcasses and even the living animals. Because they work at the beginning of the process, they often have access to all of the animal (in cases of plants where slaughtering is also done) or at least more bones, fat, offal and specialty cuts (like hanger steak ect.) then a meat cutter would. Often shops focused on retail direct to customers, do not have butchers, but meat cutters. If you are looking for fat (or anything else your local meat cutter can’t get for you) look for a USDA inspected butcher. Call and see if they can put some aside for you or even ask them which of their customers sell it. Especially, with smaller plants who do a lot of butchering for people that buy whole, 1/2, or 1/4 animals, there is usually a surplus of “by-products” like fat.

Professional deer processor, full time whole animal butcher in central Michigan. About 8 years experience in the meat industry. Sausage and jerky making hobby.

I have done my share of cleaning cubers professionally. They can be a pain. The most important thing you can do is to clean it right away. Second, soak it. Use something with a degreasser or protein remover. Dawn dish soap will work well (use the original blue formula). Use a fair amount without water and let it sit 30 minutes or so. Then spray it with water and let it soak in the saop and hot water another 30 minutes. If possible use a hose with a little pressure, if you don’t have one on your sink, use a garden hose. You can scrub it with a brush at this point. Rinse and sanitize. As a side note for the slicer, make sure you don’t let it saok where someone may reach in not knowing the sharp blades are in there. They are difficult to clean, but this is the best way I’ve found.

mars Eckkehard the German butcher in YouTube has a video on it

Do you know what breed the hog was? Some breeds are known as lard breeds. They are bred more for the use of the lard rather then the meat. While processing these types of hogs, their fat is extremely greasy even in cool temps and does even begin to render at room temperature. I haven’t personally cured or tried to smoke any meat from lard hogs, but would not be surprised if this was your issue. Try and find out the breed and do a little research on it.

Any suggestions on smoking fresh pork hocks? Brine or dry rub?

mars you could also try the urban butcher channel. Just watched a video on boning the pigs head where he shows trimming up the jowls

Surprisingly got an entire 5 pound batch on the small davy crockett grill.

lamurscrappy thank you

Jonathon Never had it get bitter before. It’s a fairly easy process, but very time consuming. We evaporate it in a large pan that holds over 10 gallons at a time. It takes days for a batch (often 40+ gallons of sap) to get concentrated enough to finish off. It’s a fun tradition in our family though.

My family makes our own maple syrup every year. This year I’d like to make a large batch of maple sugar and would like to use it for making bacon. Does anyone have a good recipe for making bacon with maple sugar? Can it be used as a direct substitute for brown sugar?

AaronSilves Thank you!

Any suggestions on smoking fresh pork hocks? Brine or dry rub?

Johnboy13 I don’t know the answer, but I think you should try posting this in the urgent category so you can find out sooner.

Surprisingly got an entire 5 pound batch on the small davy crockett grill.

Thanks for the suggestions! I think I’m going to look at the camp chef some more.

Tex_77 $500 or so. I have a GMG davy crockett. It’s a little small for my upcoming projects. Looking to do more snacksticks, jerky and summer sausage.

I’m looking for a larger pellet grill and trying to decide on one. Any suggestions?

Not looking to make a big investment. I’m a professional butcher and the company I work for operates several major smokehouses. I get most of my smoked products through them since I work 60 hours a week and don’t have much free time. Im just looking for something that will allow me to play around with some of my own recipes on my day off without the hassle of constantly tending a fire.