474450
What is Fatback?
Sun Dec 30 13:50:07 -0800 2007
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27
General Chowhounding Topics
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3247493
Is it from pork or can it be from beef? Thanks.
Sun Dec 30 13:50:07 -0800 2007
10866
kevin
1
3247568
if i remember correctly, i thought fatback only came from pork. because it is almost like bacon but just so much more fatty. and can be used as a flavoring and sort of to grease.
Sun Dec 30 14:20:59 -0800 2007
3247493
92286
vttp926
1
3247715
Fatback is salt pork. As a child I ate it in green beans (cooked for hours with potatoes), or fried crisp in a skillet. I do remember that it was good fried. But I don't advise eating it for health reasons.
Sun Dec 30 15:28:15 -0800 2007
3247493
134265
sueatmo
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3247981
Pork, not beef.
Sun Dec 30 17:23:46 -0800 2007
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13819
Karl S
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3248017
Actually, fatback is the layer of fat along the back of a pig, used as a cut of meat. It is often used to make lard. Also used to make crackerlings aka cracklins.
Where as salt pork pork is a pork product made from pork bellies; it is similar to bacon but considerably fattier and saltier. It was often used as shipboard rations. A chunk of salt pork will often be added in cans of pork & beans and or Boston baked beans.
Sun Dec 30 17:40:28 -0800 2007
3247493
141261
crt
2
3248094
Neither fatback nor salt pork is smoked, unlike most US bacon, so there is a key flavor differentiator. Like the difference between pancetta and US bacon.
Salt or corned pork was a very common ingredient until the 20th century - and still is quintessential for classic New England baked beans or chowders. The corned beef beloved of Irish Americans on St Patrick's Day is an echo of the corned pork that was more common in Ireland.
Sun Dec 30 18:07:44 -0800 2007
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13819
Karl S
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3248361
Who said anything about salt pork, or fatback, being smoked? The reference to salt pork being similar to bacon is the fact that it has streaks of lean in it.
Sun Dec 30 19:37:21 -0800 2007
3248094
141261
crt
4
3248885
I wasn't correcting, just adding further information.
Mon Dec 31 06:17:21 -0800 2007
3248361
13819
Karl S