On 9/2/2014 1:35 PM, Janet Bostwick wrote:
> In the meat case today was a commercial-looking box entitled "Hormel
> Pig Wings." 4 pounds . The directions were to put them in the crock
> pot for 4 hours, pour off extra juice and add barbeque sauce. Serve.
> I've gotten commercial stuff before from Cash and Carry. It's a plain
> white box and inside is one large plastic bag holding the meat
> contents. That's what this was. The 'wings' looked like pieces of
> rib. Anyone else seen this?

Invented by Bob File, who also trademarked the 'pig wings' name. The
Apperts (the commercial food production company that is the primary
pig wing producer) mentioned in the article at the link below is one
of the places I regularly visit on my foodie runs. I've never bought
the pig wings, though I've thought about trying them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/di...stes.html?_r=0

From the article:

Appert’s gets the fibulas from a plant in Sioux City, Iowa, that
separates them from the rest of the shank and cuts some of them into
two-ounce portions, using a saw developed by Mr. File. Appert's
workers tumble 2,000-pound batches in a paddle mixer that helps force
a marinade of water, salt and "natural pork flavorings" into the meat.

Mr. File calls this process "the plump."

"Pig Wings are really lean," he said. "If we didn't give them a plump,
you wouldn't be happy with the product."

From there, workers roll the wings into convection ovens. After six
to eight hours at 180 degrees, they emerge plump and brown, ready for
restaurant cooks’ interpretation. During that long berth, the meat
retracts to form a mass at one end and, at the other, a virtual bone
handle: the so-called stick that defines Mac’s Eskimo pie.

That bone-as-handle notion is integral to the appeal of Pig Wings. It
recalls the drumette portion of a chicken wing. It plays off the
popularity of stick-mounted foods, from old-school fried corn dogs to
new-school fried chicken gizzards. With that in mind, some restaurants
have begun selling deep-fried ham shanks as carnitas-on-sticks or
carnitas lollipops.