Why is Our Pork Pink?

Our tent outside the Taste of Ohio

Some people ask us at the fair how we make our pork loin taste so absolutely delectable!  Trust me when I say we do nothing special with it.  We do use one of these:

Our Smokers

They are our smokers.  They give the pork a slight pinkish tint, which is good.  Most people want their steaks with a little pink in the center and pork is no different.  This is easily achievable on your grill at home.  Just grill a pork loin until it gets to around 145-150 degrees and take it off the grill.  Don’t worry about getting to that 165 degrees, the pork will continue to cook after you take it off.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes so that your pork is really juicy and cut and serve!  It’s all in the cooking temperature to get something that looks like this.

Trust me when I say we are doing nothing special. Okay except for maybe this picture!

You can find these shirts on Facebook under Ohio Hog Farmers!

What can I say… you got to have a little bit of fun!

-B

Pig Wings?

No, not this type of pig wing…

How about this type….

This little baby comes from around the ham bone and the meat is in fact made of ham.  Pig wings became a very popular fair food at the Ohio State Fair this year (stand back deep-fried Twinkies).  They were on the radio, television, and were photographed more than Brittany Spears on vacation!  It may look completely innocent but when pig wing and its fellow pig wingers (I just made that word up) were gone they caused exasperation, jealousy, and even anger.  All for a piece of ham!

I had my share of the pig wings during the fair and I can understand the excitement.  They proved to be juicy and delicious each time with or without the barbecue sauce, with or without the use of utensils, and without or without trying to eat it all in one bite… not that I would know.

What’s your favorite fair food?

-B

“Calling All Grillers with Groupies” Giveaway

I decided to take a little break from the State Fair talk and give you some information you just might be interested in.

You can enter the National Pork Board’s “Calling All Grillers with Groupies” photo contest and win a trip to NYC! Through August 31, visit TheOtherWhiteMeat.com to submit a photo of you and your crew around the grill, along with a 50-word-or-less caption that details how you enjoy spending time grilling-up pork with your “groupies.”

One grand prize winner and guest will be flown to NYC to cook alongside celebrity chef Melissa d’Arabian during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, October 7-10, 2010. Prize includes airfare, a two-night stay in the Big Apple and a Char-Broil® grill.

My picture would be of my dog, Max.  He is always there within milliseconds of us starting the grill.  It’s like he senses a change in the motion of the earth when we fire up our grill to put on some pork chops.  Not only is he a groupie, but he’s also the official taste tester.  Self appointed but backed by the entire family.  If this dog ever weighs 100 pounds, it will be because we just can’t say no to those ‘feed me’ eyes.

Source

Who are your grilling groupies?

-B

The Ohio State Fair!

I’m back from the 2010 Ohio State Fair! It was a crazy twelve days of selling, promoting, and celebrating pork production in Ohio.  I spent most of the time in the Taste of Ohio in the Pork Stand selling BBQ pulled pork, pig wings, and the best pork loin sandwich your taste buds will ever experience!

My Home Away From Home!

There you go!  That’s a picture of our pork stand!  (I could never catch someone dropping our plastic knives in front of the stand.  I just wanted to show them the trash can 10 feet behind them!!) Can’t you just feel the excitement and enthusiasm from the opportunity to provide the world with delicious pork!

The cashiers and I recorded the most asked questions from the fair this year.

What are pig wings?

One of the cashiers recorded the amount of times she got asked this question and it resulted in about 30 in one day.  This also happened to be the slowest day at the fair.  I’ll be sharing with you the inside scoop of the pig wings later.

Where can we buy that shirt?

We were all wearing some pretty sweet shirts.  Again, something I’ll be sharing later!

How did you cook the pork loin sandwich to make it so delicious?

Another question I’ll be answering but trust me it’s all in the temperature!

Can I have a cheeseburger?

I think the giant word ‘Pork’ on the banner should have been a little hint to the answer to that question…

More to come!

- B