# Fresh butchered meat smells of Urine (or perhaps the evisc)???



## minifarmer (Mar 28, 2008)

Just butchered 2 Hampshire gilts, 7 months old. This is our 6th butcher process and I'm not getting it right! I hung the bellies in my fridge using fish hooks and line (ghetto style, I know) Some areas touched each other because it was crowded. After hanging two days, I rubbed them with salt/sugar cure and put them in a zipper bag to cure. Flipped the baggies daily for a week. Now some of them still smell like the evisceration or like urine, it is foul and I don't like it at all. Anything I can do for them. or are they just dog food? Also, anything I can do differently next time? I hate to waste our hard work and the pigs life like this! Thx


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Where did you get the instructions to use a zipper bag? I have never seen those instructions. I cure meat but either in air or in plain non waxed brown paper and /or cotton sacks.


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## minifarmer (Mar 28, 2008)

hello agmantoo,
got the instructions off the internet, I've never tried it before either, but the bellies smelled yucky before I cured them, and only 2 of them, not the whole lot


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## 65284 (Sep 17, 2003)

Any chance you accidently punctured the bladder during evisceration and let urine contaminate the carcass? 

In my opinion a fridge isn't a good place to try to cure meat, and if by zipper bag you mean a plastic bag that may be your problem.

Curing meat is in essence a drying process, you are getting rid of excess moisture that allows bacteria that causes spoilage to thrive, a fridge is too humid and a plastic bag traps the very water you are trying to get rid of. We wrapped ours in white cotton cloth and put it in white cotton bags and hung them after we rub in the cure, the meat needs to be able to drip, and drain and the wrappings need to &#8220;breathe". 

We never butchered this early (late) we always did ours in November early December, unless you have a totally humidity and temp controlled environment to cure in I think you won't have much luck this time of year.

Just my opinion, it's free, so take it for what it's worth.

BK


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I can cure under refrigeration. I need to hold the temps low at 36 to 40 F and I use a pre-prepared cure mix. I apply the cure and place the meat in the refrigerator. At 7 day intervals I remove the meat and make a second and third application of the cure. Once the cure is complete I remove the meat and soak in warm water for an hour and then dry off the meat and return to the refrigerator, hams for an additional 20 days and bacon for a couple of days. I just completed a hog jowl cured to bacon recently. Works for me! Do some reading a www.mortonsalt.com


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## minifarmer (Mar 28, 2008)

*Any chance you accidently punctured the bladder during evisceration and let urine contaminate the carcass? *

:flame:This is possible. I remember some extra 'liquid' during evisceration, didn't smell of urine, but the evisc smells pretty bad and probable overtook my senses! :hammer:

Do you think I can do anything with the affected belly? 

The last 4 hogs we've butchered (and these 2) have been a learning process and we've always just ground up everything. except the loin section, into sausage because we didn't have all the equipment to hang and cure our cuts. This was our first attempt at hanging and curing. On a side note, the other 2 bacons cured fairly well in the zipper bags, I cooked up some today and it tasted good, a bit salty, but good. Haven't smoked them yet.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

You could try a vinegar wash and see if that helps. If the meat has a slick somewhat slimy feel I would say it is the zip locks and the meat is spoiling. I have read that a gilt in heat will give that smell but I do not believe it is anything but a wives tale. A boar with boar taint will produce that smell. Not to insult you but I had a man come to my farm and wanted to trade 4 barrows for 2 gilts and a boar. I went to look at his animals and they were all gilts and all he needed was a boar. You are certain of the sex of the slaughtered animals aren't you?


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

A couple of years ago we had a visit from a government agricultural official who was "here to help us". She was of the know it all type which made for some interesting bloopers on her part. I was showing her around the farm. We went over to the winter breeding corral for the pigs and she said "My, that is a very big sow!" She was looking at a side view of our boar Archimedes and all of his equipment was on display in all of its glory. Okay, I thought to myself, she's a little sheltered... but I won't embarrass her by correcting her... On we went. Later she said she had cattle and bragged about knowing all about breeding livestock. I bit my tongue.

Here are photos back and side views of sows and boars with proper equipment displayed:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2006/07/essential-differences-pig-spotting.html

Cheers,

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa


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## minifarmer (Mar 28, 2008)

There was no slimy parts at all, just smelly and only on one side (the side that faces the innards. 
They are certainly gilts. No boy parts at all, we butchered a barrow last time and it was good, but I noticed that same smell on the rib section last time and just didn't eat them, I thought I didn't wash enough, or that his testicles were not all the way removed. DH said it was a gamey taste, I thought it was gross. Im a wimp. 

I am smoking the rest of the bacons now and hoping it will be tasty.

Walter: funny story about the know it all ag lady. Thanks everybody for the help. Happy eating


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

I would not have it in a platic bag not at all! 

kind of sounds like they where going off the way you age beef. at least one way that is.

"Wet aging is the aging of meat in vacuum bags (usually the middle meats) under refrigerated conditions of 32-34Â° F. Obviously, humidity and air velocity are not necessary requirements for proper wet aging. Because most beef is vacuum packaged at the site of carcass fabrication (cutting), wet aging is the predominant method of postmortem aging today."

from http://www.goodcooking.com/steak/aging/aging.htm

the old way of curing was to put your "cure" on wrap in burlap and hang in a well ventilated area, the cure draws out moisture and then if desired you can smoke it for added preservation propertys further drying the meat. remember smoking is a low temp 
deal, when its hot its bbq! 100 degrees no higher then 120 is my rule. 

if you do the frig cure keep it on a rack so it does not sit in the expelled juice.

as far as the smell ya sounds like you gut busted it during processing and the bacteria have taken hold. I dont know if I would trust it.
if I ever gut bust a deer any meat that may have got contaminted gets a good wash and cooked that night and well or fed to the dogs. have never had any ill effects takes time for the bacteria to get a hold if you act quick enough IMO no danger. but if you wait and or let it contaminate other meat well thats just asking for it.

get a good knife with a gut hook on it , I would say something for larger game as pigs have a decent hide on them, you will be able to avoid that in the future.

noter tip is once you get the anus and other equipment free of the carcass tie the two tubes off or use some sort of indescript cinch ring. when you open the abdomen you can then gently pull the tied off tubes avoiding any contamination with out haveing to split the pelvis.


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## Bat Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

I know you can soak the urine out of shark and venison using milk, maybe it's worth a shot? Maybe try a small piece just to see if it helps?


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## metam (Aug 13, 2009)

Ditto on the milk soak, Bat Farm. It takes the fishy smell out of strong fish, as well.


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## Welshmom (Sep 7, 2008)

I see you went ahead and smoked them, how did they turn out?

The cure inside a zip loc bag is well known and I have used it many times to good satisfaction. Sometimes the meat is a little saltier than I like in the finished product, that tells me I need to rinse it better (or soak it a while) between cure and smoke. I chalk that up to operator error.

Curing in a bag in the fridge is very easy and convenient! You can turn it over once a day and make sure all sides get equal coating, etc. I've also seen it on the internet, and it's outlined in the book _Charcuterie._


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## minifarmer (Mar 28, 2008)

I threw out the smelly bellies (lol) and did fridge cure the good ones in the zipper bags. I smoked them and I am quite pleased with our efforts! I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed the salt off. I thought they would be too salty, but for some reason smoking took away the saltiness  Right now we are smoking the hams after a 2 week cure in brine in the fridge. Now we are scouring the classifieds for weaner piglets because we absolutely MUST do this again My freezer is full of homemade sausage, bacon, chops, loins and soon hams!


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## Welshmom (Sep 7, 2008)

:goodjob: mwah ha ha ha haaaaaa!
And now you are one of the HOOKED! 
Time for some of that famous Texas Barbecue, sounds like!


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