there would have to be a lot of soy filler since you can't get pork picnic or butts that cheap?

According to Rytek Kutas, soy is not a filler but can be a desirable component of sausage. It helps bind the meat and retain its moisture. And it (soy protein concentrate or soy protein isolate) has a higher protein content than the pork. The last soy protein concentrate I bought was $5.99/lb so it was not a money-saving move.

USDA limits soy to 3.5% of the sausage weight.

LTH,

Peoria Packing changed their hours, no longer 6 AM opening, now 7 AM. I changed the hours on the first post in this thread and the GNR thread.

Peoria Packing, 4.17.10



Peoria Packing Butcher Shop
1300 West Lake Street
Chicago, IL 60607
312-738-1800
Monday - Saturday: 7am-6pm
Sunday: 8am-3pm

Gar, you are a better still life food shooter than an architectural photographer.

Hi,

I was at Peoria Packing House on Saturday with a mission to buy a pound of pig's ears. Just after noon, I bought all they had: 0.71 pounds. The price was a bit of surprise: $1.99/pound.

I recall when these were at giveaway prices like $0.59. A floor worker looked in the rear and could not find more. I assume with the snout to tail trend, these are now more valued than ever before.

The good old days when pig ears, beef oxtails and chicken wings were cheap, cheap, cheap!

Regards,

Peoria Packing was jammed yesterday, with Moo and Oink closed and the upcoming holiday it was wall to wall pig parts and people. Picked up a bit of this and that including hot links, which I immediately noticed were now individual links as opposed to long coils, as were all fresh sausage types. PP said they changed about 2-months ago so as not to waste so much sausage when people haphazardly ripped coils to get their desired size.

Coil or link don't make much never mind to me, though I prefer coil for the smoker, but PP seems to have severely changed the taste and texture. The new Peoria Packing hot links are a finer grind and ladies lunch in Kenilworth mild, a bit of a bore.

Might be they were mismarked and I actually bought something other than hot links, and I will give them another try, but given the wealth of sausage available in Chicago fine/ok/just good enough does not make the grade.

Enjoy,
Gary

Call me crazy but how can the products be safe to eat with all these customers touching, sneezing, coughing, etc.

food borne illnesses are not transmitted by touch, cough or sneezing. Nearly all food illness is caused by improper temp storage, not cooking thoroughly and / or keeping meat past its prime. I was a meat cutter in my early post HS years at a very busy market in suburban Detroit, I can promise you that the conditions at PPH are the same as any place in the back rooms that process the meat we buy (Jewel, Dominick's etc.) Further - the turnover here means that spoilage is almost not a worry.

I hope this is not straying too far off topic, but can someone tell me how much to count smell when I open a package of raw pork and have to decide if it's fresh or bad? I am starting to wonder if I'm just someone who is put off by the smell of raw pork whether it's safe to eat or not.

I hope this is not straying too far off topic, but can someone tell me how much to count smell when I open a package of raw pork and have to decide if it's fresh or bad? I am starting to wonder if I'm just someone who is put off by the smell of raw pork whether it's safe to eat or not.

It depends.. vacuum bag packed meat / poultry can have a funky smell when opening, this is due to the meat releasing moisture (sweating) in the package. If the smell goes away after a rinse off and 10 min or so, (and the meat isn't past date or covered in green fuzz) it is probably fine.

Jessewolfe1 wrote:food borne illnesses are not transmitted by touch, cough or sneezing. Nearly all food illness is caused by improper temp storage, not cooking thoroughly and / or keeping meat past its prime. I was a meat cutter in my early post HS years at a very busy market in suburban Detroit, I can promise you that the conditions at PPH are the same as any place in the back rooms that process the meat we buy (Jewel, Dominick's etc.) Further - the turnover here means that spoilage is almost not a worry.

While it is LESS common, food borne illnesses CAN BE caused by touch, cough, or sneezing.

For example:

Hepatitis A
http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/8027797.html

Here is a standard guide from the Florida Department of Environmental Health:
http://www.myfloridaeh.com/community/fo ... oodcon.pdf

And here is an abstract from the Journal of Food Protection:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17900100

And do remember that some toxins that can be introduced to food are heat resistant. In other words, you can kill the organism and get sick from the residue.

Fair enough..

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I was at Peoria Packing House on Saturday with a mission to buy a pound of pig's ears. Just after noon, I bought all they had: 0.71 pounds. The price was a bit of surprise: $1.99/pound.

I recall when these were at giveaway prices like $0.59. A floor worker looked in the rear and could not find more. I assume with the snout to tail trend, these are now more valued than ever before.

The good old days when pig ears, beef oxtails and chicken wings were cheap, cheap, cheap!

Regards,

Pig ears yesterday were $2.69 per pound, while pig snouts were 59 cents. I am certain the price of ears is related to their new found respect on restaurant menus.

Regards,

Hi,

Peoria Packing House has greatly expanded its parking lot. I thought for a moment I pulled into the wrong driveway.

I make dog treats for my sisters dogs, I bought:

Pig ears at 2.69 per pound
Pig skin at 99 cents per pound (I need nine ounces to make fermented pork with the nam powder Rene G passed out at the picnic)
Pig snouts at 79 cents per pound

If skin and snouts work out well, I may abandon buying ears for the dogs. It is fun to observe five dogs clutching their prize ears and not moving to avoid another dog from taking it.

Regards,

Cathy, could give more details about how you prepare these for the dogs?