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I just made Michelle Tams Kalua pig in my slow cooker, and tonight came home to take it apart and cook some cabbage in the leftover liquid. I cut several large slabs of fat off of the pork after it had cooked, and also then cooked th cabbage in the liquid in the slow cooker. There is so much fat and grease! Don't know if I can re-use any of it, or if I should have cut the fat off before I cooked the pork to avoid so much greasiness afterwards. I've now put the liquid in the fridge, hoping I can skim off the fat and use the liquid for something. Would normally give stuff like this to my dogs, but this much greasiness might lead to, ahem, unfortunate digestive issues for the pooches.

Any advice from veteran Kalua pork cookers?

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I would say it depends on the quality of the pork you used. Unless it's an all-natural pork raised without antibiotics (or whatever it is they do on commercial pork farms), then you're probably best not ingesting copious amounts of the fat. I've been under the impression that the fat stores are where a lot of the chemicals that the animal ingests are stored. So, if your pig was raised cleanly, using that reasoning, there isn't any reason you can't re-use it.

 

I don't think you should cut it off before you cooked it (because isn't that what makes kalua pig so delicious?!) but I would be interested in hearing other opinions.

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I leave the fat on my pork shoulder, rub it with spices, slot a few cloves of garlic into the creases, and line my crockpot with bacon before putting the pork in and cook on low overnight - usually somewhere between 12-15hrs.

 

The fat & the bacon are generally completely broken down by the time I take the pork out, and I store the liquid for cooking.

When I've cooked cabbage with the pork fat I've always braised it very gently in a pan rather than putting it all into the crockpot, that way I use only as much fat/liquid as I need and I can keep the remainder to use elsewhere.



ETA: I buy all my meat from a local farm shop so I know it's source. 

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My favorite method for Kalua Pig is in the Pressure Cooker (90 minutes), then braising the cabbage in the liquid after removing the pork. I save some of the liquid. I usually trim some of the fat off the pork before cooking, unless it's pastured pork.

 

It may be all in my head, but I believe the aroma of raw pork varies depending on the quality of the meat. The better it smells (to me), the more fat I leave on. Same with poultry. I think I may be channelling my early childhood in a rural setting where we raised our own meat. ;)

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Thanks, Rebe, jmcbn, and Larry. The pork was locally sourced and organic, but some of the fat did not break down, even with 16 hours of cooking. Wondering if I refrigerate it, can I use it as suet for the birds? The "stock" which appears to be about half fat, is in the fridge so I can skim off the fat part and use the broth for something, even if THAT goes to my doggies on top of their dry food.

Next time I will follow your lead jmcbn and braise the cabbage separately using just a little of the broth.

Not bad for the first effort, but still have lots to learn!

I also source all of my meats of all kind from local farmers, except for seafood, which I source from a local company where the guys go to Alaska, catch the fish themselves, flash freeze it, and sell it ASAP here. I just got my winter share from them, about 35 pounds of fish! Meadow Lily would be dancing if she looked in my freezer.

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I don't use this exact recipe but I do a pork shoulder in the crockpot often.  I always put it in with the fat cap up (so that it seeps into the meat) and cook it for 12-16 hours on low.  I have never had all the fat dissolve and will typically scrape 90% of what's left off before shredding the meat up together.  I find if I leave just a small amount of the fat plus whatever is in the broth and mix the broth with the meat, it is moist and rich enough.

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