Gloucestershire Old Spots - Meat

Meat

The Gloucestershire Old Spot pig today has a very fine carcass and produces top quality meat for all purposes be it pork chops, roasting joints or sausages. Meat of this quality is in demand by the more discerning public and many butchers are now specialising in it ensuring the breed’s future.

The biggest single factor in the regeneration of the GOS breed has been the increasing awareness of the eating qualities of its produce and the growing niche market as a result. It is a mistake to assume that pork is pork and that the breed it is derived from does not matter. Almost everyone could immediately tell the difference between the flavour of a Cox’s apple and a Golden Delicious. This difference comes from the genes that go into making these different varieties. Similarly, there are differences between pig breeds but most especially between traditional breeds such as the GOS and modern hybrids used to supply the mass market.

A big part of the difference lies in the fat. Modern pigs have hardly any fat whether as visible backfat or as marbling within the muscle. The GOS does have a distinct layer of backfat and marbling within the meat. That layer of backfat means that it is hardy enough for outdoor production but it also means that when the meat is cooking, it is being basted in its own fat making the meat succulent and full of flavor. GOS pork is red-colored just like beef and marbled; the marbling keeps the meat from drying out during cooking and adds taste as the fat renders. The levels of backfat do not need to be excessive and a well-finished pig of around 75 kg liveweight should have a backfat measurement of around 12-15mm at P2. Excessively fat pigs are usually caused by poor diet or mismanagement. To carry this level of fat, the eye muscle (as seen in the round of lean meat on a loin chop) must be full and large and the GOS breed is well able to meet this demand.

For everything written here about pork, the same principles apply to quality bacon. The Old Spots has often been referred to as a "bacon" pig, due to the significant depth of body that provides a larger percentage of bacon per hundredweight of carcass. They often carry more bacon fat than breeds that are more popular commercially.

Back in 1999 the committee of the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders’ Club were far-sighted enough to set in motion the processes to register meat from pure bred GOS pigs as a special product in Europe. It was just as well because today traditional breeds such as the GOS face challenges from supermarkets wanting to sell the produce of cross-bred pigs labelled as "Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork & Bacon".

In 2010, the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders' Club was awarded Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status by the EU Commission. The Club actively pursues traders who mis-label meat and try to pass off produce as being GOS which does not come from purebred, pedigree GOS pigs Small breeders exist for those interested in ordering real GOS pork.