Broken Blood Vessel

[Shawn Morrill]

I'm a newbie at this so forgive me if this is an obvious one. I picked up my half pork from the butcher this morning. The jowel has a broken blood vessel and there is some blood on the meat. The butcher said that it must have happened during the slaughter. I was planning to make Guanciale and wonder what I should do, if anything about the blood vessel. Or if there is anything I should be concerned about.

 

[Geir Widar]

Remove as much blood as possible with cold water, and use your meat as planned. This is not dangerous. If it will make you feel more comfortable, you can cut away a small amount of meat around the area, but there is no need to do it.

Remember, blood is used in many traditional dishes around the world, in sausages, as blood pudding and so on. A small amount of blood won't hurt you.