If you're exhausted of paying grocery store prices intended for questionable meat, purchasing a 1/2 hog directly from the local farmer might be the greatest decision you make this year. This sounds like a massive undertaking with first—especially if you've never seen forty or fifty lbs of pork all in one place—but once you obtain the hang of it, you'll most likely wonder why you ever bothered with those plastic-wrapped racks at the supermarket.
Buying meats in this way is a bit of a throwback. It requires the little bit of planning, a decent chunk of freezer space, along with a little bit of a budget upfront. But the payoff? Quality, helping someone inside your local community, and the sheer convenience of having a "grocery store" right within your garage area or basement.
Exactly what does the 1/2 hog actually look like?
When you inform someone you purchased a 1/2 hog , they usually image half a pig carcass swinging on a hook. Thankfully, that's not what you're picking up. By the time you get your hands on it, the grocer has already done the heavy raising. Your meat will come neatly wrapped in butcher paper or vacuum-sealed in plastic, ready to end up being stacked.
Usually, a half pig results in somewhere among 60 to 80 pounds of real meat which you put in your freezer. This depends seriously on the size from the pig and how you decide to have it cut. If you love bone-in chops and want to keep the hocks and soup bone tissues, you'll have even more weight. If you would like every thing boneless and lean, that number falls a bit.
It's enough to fill about two or three large grocery bags. In case you have a standard "top-freezer" refrigerator, a 1/2 hog may take up most of the fridge compartment, leaving extremely little room intended for your frozen pizzas or ice cream. This is the reason most people who do this ultimately invest in the small chest refrigerator. A 3. five to 5 cubic foot freezer is usually lots of area for a half share and leaves a little respiration room.
Understanding the "weight" video game
This is the component that trips almost all people up. When you buy a 1/2 hog , you're heading to hear three different weight conditions: live weight, hanging weight, and take-home weight.
Live weight will be exactly what that sounds like—what the particular pig weighed whilst it was nevertheless walking around. You don't pay based on this. Hanging fat is the excess weight of the animal right after it's been outfitted when it's already been cut into personal steaks and roasts. Most farmers and butchers charge you based on the hanging weight.
Finally, there's the take-home weight. This is actually the actual quantity of meat that will goes into your own boxes. You'll always lose a little bit of weight through the hanging phase to the final stage because associated with bone removal, fat trimming, and humidity loss throughout the aging process. Don't feel cheated when your own 100-pound hanging pounds turns into 75 pounds of packaged pork; it's just the particular nature from the animal.
The pleasure of the lower sheet
One of the coolest parts regarding getting a 1/2 hog is that you get to decide how it's butchered. The grocer will give you what's called the "cut sheet. " If you've by no means seen one, it can be the little intimidating, but it's basically just a menu for the pig.
You'll get to make options like: * Chops: Do you want them thick-cut (1 inch or even more) or slim? Do you need two per pack or four? * Roasts: Perform you want big shoulder roasts intended for pulled pork, or even would you rather have associated with that will meat ground into sausage? * The Sausage: This is the big one. Do a person want it sliced thick or regular? * Sausage: Most butchers provide a few varieties like breakfast links, zesty Italian, or also ground pork with no seasoning with all.
This is your chance to customize the meat to how your own family actually eats. If you dislike ham but like pork burgers, you can usually tell the particular butcher to work the hams. It's a level of control you just don't reach the store.
Could it be actually cheaper?
The short answer is: usually, indeed. But it's not just about the uncooked price per lb. Once you buy the 1/2 hog , you're paying a flat price per pound throughout the board. Which means you're paying the same price for the particular expensive tenderloins plus bacon as a person are for the particular ground pork and soup bones.
When a person average it out, you're often getting high-end, pasture-raised, or even locally-sourced pork with regard to the same price you'd pay for the "budget" stuff at a big-box store. Plus, you're skipping the middleman. The money goes straight to the character as well as the local butcher shop.
You might also need to issue in the "convenience tax" you aren't paying anymore. A person won't end up running to the store at 5: 00 PM because you forgot to purchase something for lunch. A person just go in order to the freezer, get a pack associated with pork chops, and you're all set. That will saves gas, period, and those "impulse buys" that often happen when a person walk into the grocery store hungry.
Quality a person can taste
Let's be honest, grocery store pig has become pretty bland over the last few decades. It's often carefully bred to be so lean that it loses all its flavor, and after that it's injected using a "solution" of salt and water to continue to keep it through drying out.
When you obtain a 1/2 hog from the local farm, the particular difference is night and day. The meat is generally a darker, richer pink rather than that will pale, ghostly grey you observe in the styrofoam trays. The particular fat actually has flavor. If the pig was pasture-raised or fed the specific diet, you'll notice that within the finished product.
There's the peace of thoughts that comes with it. You understand exactly where the dog came from. A person can often talk to the player, ask what they will fed the pigs, and see how these people were treated. Intended for a lot associated with people, that link to their your meals are worth more compared to the cost savings.
Techniques for your first order
If you're prepared to jump in and find a 1/2 hog , here are a few things to remember. First, talk in order to your neighbors. Often, farmers prefer to market a whole hog and have two people split this. If you may look for a "pig friend, " it makes the process simpler for the farmer.
Second, don't be afraid to inquire the butcher questions. If you don't understand what a "Boston Butt" is as opposed to a "Picnic Make, " just inquire. They've filled out thousands of these bed linens and they'd instead spend five a few minutes explaining it to you than have got you unhappy along with your order later.
Third, make sure you have your own freezer ready before you receive the particular call that the particular meat is completed. You don't need to be scrambling to clean out your own garage or purchasing a new equipment while eighty pounds of pork is definitely sitting on a loading dock waiting around for you.
Finally, keep in mind that you're going to get some "odd" bits. You might get the leaf lard (which is amazing for pie crusts), the hocks, or even the head if you request it. Even if you don't think you'll utilize them, give them the try. Smoked pig hocks make the best pot of beans you'll ever consume, and once you start cooking with actual lard, you'll never ever go back in order to the tub of vegetable shortening once again.
Purchasing a 1/2 hog is a bit of an investment in your kitchen and your community. It changes the way you cook and the method you think regarding dinner. Instead associated with "what's for sale? " it becomes "what should I pull out from the fridge today? " It's a much more satisfying way to eat.