Pig Brother

[Hilary B]

Fresh yeast DOES freeze, although not for TOO long, but you do need a bit more when it comes out of the freezer (unless the time it was in there is so short it might not have been necessary), and it needs to defrost SLOWLY (overnight). Freeze in 'one batch' quantities (about 1½ times what you would use normally, if keeping it more than about a week).

[BrideXIII]

That'll save you a few trips It will freeze too (or so I'm told, never tried that)

I have always frozen mine, in one batch cubes, defrost overnight, use next day

[coreopsis]

all my meat comes from the butcher, supermarket meat only appears cheaper in some cases, i know full well my butcher does not stand there with a syringe pumping chicken breasts full of water for a start, unfortunately sometimes what does happen, is what should be a cheap cut of meat, is not, because there is no call for it they have to buy it in especially, and that costs.

we always eat pork belly, its a fantastic cut, we will be trying shoulder this weekend if we can get it at a decent price, and the neck fillets looked really good too. I am not a fan of loin,not enough fat and comes out too dry for my taste.

You are right here,Bride,when I look at the prices,the butcher is sometimes cheaper,sometimes more expensive but the quality of meat is far better than the supermarket.

I put some nice pork shoulder into spices and going to roast it tomorrow.Makes excellent cold meat

[BrideXIII]

You are right here,Bride,when I look at the prices,the butcher is sometimes cheaper,sometimes more expensive but the quality of meat is far better than the supermarket.

I put some nice pork shoulder into spices and going to roast it tomorrow.Makes excellent cold meat

it was hard, to get a piece of shoulder, for 3 people, that is not a big piece of meat definitely not a JO exhibition piece but we will be cooking it the same way, slap a load of veg and garlic in the pan, whack the joint on top and shove in the oven and slow cook, easy, delicious, and only one pan to wash up

[maytreefrannie]

But is that a good or a bad thing? Are you shocked at what you saw and how does that make you feel? Do you feel that pigs should be treated better or that this kind of thing shouldn't be shown on TV?

I saw part of the programme - I switched over at the ad break after the people were put in cages.

My father kept pigs when I was growing up, even though we lived in the city. TThey had a house with windows and a door where they could go outside whenever they wanted into a penned area (not that large but big enough for two sows). I don't know how long the little piglets were kept with their mother but I do know that the pig giving birth needed quiet and no disturbance - even after the birth, we would be only allowed to look in the door and window of the pigshed and had to keep quiet, to allow the mother and little 'uns to get on with feeding and being fed.

I found it quite disturbing that Jamie saw nothing wrong with having a sow giving birth in the full glare of the studio, to the accompaniment at time of the audience's laughter. He even at one stage suggested to another man to put a piglet on to the teat - surely Jamie should know that the least interference or if possilble, none, should apply between the mother and piglets; they should be given a little time and will find their own way there, and only if one or more are missing out would it be advisable to 'help them on.'

I found the programme implied we were all somehow stupid - it's not enough for us to know that caging and lack of opportunity for natural behaviour like rooting is bad - he seems to think we are too thick to take this in unless it's graphically displayed.

Some friends told me the later part of the show (which I missed) involved method of extracting semen - poor sows of today! - in my dad's time, the two sows would be sent off 'on their holidays to the country' for a couple of weeks and when they came back, in a while we'd hear they were expecting. They'd got the real thing!

[Hilary B]

I saw part of the programme - I switched over at the ad break after the people were put in cages.

My father kept pigs when I was growing up, even though we lived in the city. TThey had a house with windows and a door where they could go outside whenever they wanted into a penned area (not that large but big enough for two sows). I don't know how long the little piglets were kept with their mother but I do know that the pig giving birth needed quiet and no disturbance - even after the birth, we would be only allowed to look in the door and window of the pigshed and had to keep quiet, to allow the mother and little 'uns to get on with feeding and being fed.

I found it quite disturbing that Jamie saw nothing wrong with having a sow giving birth in the full glare of the studio, to the accompaniment at time of the audience's laughter. He even at one stage suggested to another man to put a piglet on to the teat - surely Jamie should know that the least interference or if possilble, none, should apply between the mother and piglets; they should be given a little time and will find their own way there, and only if one or more are missing out would it be advisable to 'help them on.'

I found the programme implied we were all somehow stupid - it's not enough for us to know that caging and lack of opportunity for natural behaviour like rooting is bad - he seems to think we are too thick to take this in unless it's graphically displayed.

Some friends told me the later part of the show (which I missed) involved method of extracting semen - poor sows of today! - in my dad's time, the two sows would be sent off 'on their holidays to the country' for a couple of weeks and when they came back, in a while we'd hear they were expecting. They'd got the real thing!

I didn't watch the program, but.... none of our sows were ever bothered by being watched, or even helped (they were pretty tame anyway).

The problem is that a lot of people ARE that stupid, and just 'don't want to think about it'.

On big pig farms these days, even with 'the real thing' sow and boar do not really get any chance to meet. All he ever sees of her is her blunt end sticking out from a box. No wonder boars are reputed to be bad tempered! Ours weren't, even the 'commercially bred' Landrace, but he got to live in a pen with his ladies for a couple of weeks at a time. It was quite interesting to see the 'courtship' that commercail farms deny them.

[maytreefrannie]

The problem is that a lot of people ARE that stupid, and just 'don't want to think about it'.

...No wonder boars are reputed to be bad tempered! Ours weren't, even the 'commercially bred' Landrace, but he got to live in a pen with his ladies for a couple of weeks at a time. It was quite interesting to see the 'courtship' that commercail farms deny them.

You may be right, but I felt the audience thought it was more of a laugh than anything, so I don't think showing them made any difference.

Re the paragraph on the boars: - I didn't get to see this as a child, but when we were a bit older we learnt that the sows went to a farm where they were in a field with the boar (and probably other sows) for a couple of weeks. That gave them time together. From your post, this approach worked well with yours, living together and 'getting acquainted' - I can believe it made for happier pigs!

[Alison]

I've recorded it but not watched it yet (not had time) but funnily enough was talking to the organic pig man at our farmers' market on Sunday and he was saying that the programme had done the UK pig industry a world of good as he's been getting loads of phone calls ever since asking how he keeps his pigs and what meat he has available. Re the price thing, on the whole his meat is about 2/3 the price of the rubbish in the supermarkets (when bought direct) and infinitely better quality. You can visit the farm whenever you want and meet the breeding pigs. Totally open and honest and therefore I'm much more comfortable eating his produce - had a lovely liver and bacon caserole earlier, really cheap and tender.

[Two_Sheds]

Not everyone is interested in where or how their meat is raised, or how many additives are in their processed pies and ready meals. Hence why the producers make so much money producing them.

Mr Sheds has never read a food label in his life.
He didn't know the difference between battery & free range hens until he met me. Neither of us knew about Sow Stalls until we watched Jamie's programme (I'm a veggie so never bought meat until I met OH).

Mr S likes to buy British, so it's British Pork & Bacon for us in future.
I would reallhy like to buy from a local butcher, but the smell makes me gag.

[SlugLobber]

I think the guy should get an award for making people aware of what they are actually eating. There were things that I learnt and I thought I was quite savvy about farming, so poor OH had a right education. He didn't like to see the slaughter, either, but I told him that if he wanted to eat meat, then he had a duty to do so knowing what goes on.

I was enlightened about some of the food labelling, although I don't buy meat from supermarkets anyway. I also didn't know about the castration. I DID know about the sow stalls but didn't know that they were a permanent fixture on most European farms.

I do see the point about the pig giving birth in the studio, but the man who Jamie spoke to did tell him that it was not good to interfere and left the pig alone. Overall, I thought this was a brilliant programme for its education value, despite the glamourisation. I think they should have been able to give the 'Pig Brother' volunteers the proportional space, too - Health and Safety be damned!

[allotmentlady]

my 12 yr old son and his friends were talking about this programme the other day, it was interesting to overhear their conversation, some had never seen a pig give birth until then, some were horrified at how pigs were treated, the castration etc...it also gave them more insight into what they eat, one child who remains nameless said that his mum was now going to shop at the local butcher, rather than the supermarket.
Jamie's programmes are an eye opener, they let us on things we take for granted. I am sure that if the sow was going to suffer under the studio lights, it would not have been permitted. People also laugh when they are nervous, although there was humour in the show but whats wrong with that? Yes, there were upsetting moments but hey its life and it was advised at the beginning, adverts that the show contained distressing scenes, so people were prepared for it.

Overall a good programme in my opinion.

[Two_Sheds]

I just went to Morrisons and 90% of the bacon & gammon was Danish and from somewhere else (Finland maybe).
I managed to find ONE British bit ... £4 for a kilo of gammon. Half has gone in a Cassoulet, and the other half will be roasted tomorrow. All in all, I will get 5 or 6 meals out of that.

[miffy]

I am a veggie but understand that people will always eat meat and indeed many of the creatures that are around are due to the meat industry. However just because they are eaten doesn't give people the right to treat them appallingly first.
Pigs are intelligent, sentenant beings and hopefully programmes such as this raise the awareness of people to where their food comes from and what these clever, engaging animals go through so that they can have a bacon butty!
My hubbie says that the free range bacon i get him if i shop for a treat for him tastes so much better, so happy pigs make for nicer meat so it benefits the consumer to treat the pigs better too.

[Hilary B]

When we kept pigs, we never castrated any of them (well, only the first litter, before we learned why it isn't necessary). It is daft really because pork pigs don't usually get old enough for the hormones to affect the meat. Even bacon pigs these days are usually killed before that age, and leaving them their hormones actually helps them grow lean meat rather than fat, which is what people want these days!
Yes Miffy happy pigs DO taste better. It has been proved that stress (especially stress just before killing) has an effect on the body chemistry (not exactly surprising), and the result of this not only slightly spoils the flavour of pork, but also has a bad effect on the 'curing' process for bacon. With other meat species, stress at, or just before, killing tends to make the meat tougher.

[SlugLobber]

Yes Miffy happy pigs DO taste better. It has been proved that stress (especially stress just before killing) has an effect on the body chemistry (not exactly surprising), and the result of this not only slightly spoils the flavour of pork, but also has a bad effect on the 'curing' process for bacon. With other meat species, stress at, or just before, killing tends to make the meat tougher.

Can testify to that effect. A colleague of mine years ago was part of a cancer research study into a certain protein. They discovered by accident that when mice were in the same room as a mouse that was killed (in order to harvest the protein and enzyme), the protein being studied was phosphorylated. It completely screwed up their results, but turned out to be a crucial paper for animal welfare. Hurrah!