I am not keeping pigs at the moment – but do so again in the future
I keep heritage/traditional breeds of pigs – they range outside and grow slowly – developing more flavour than the bulk of intensively-reared animals that are marketed through shops/supermarkets. They love to root around for goodies in the soil (have you heard the one about the ‘grass-eating pig that doesn’t root’?!) – my pigs will never be nose-ringed.
I have not yet finalised bacon production arrangements, and so I have decided to make available some cuts suitable for home-curing, for those who would like to try their own bacon/gammon-production.
Love Sausages?
I am currently offering two types of sausage (minimum 70% meat) from my pigs, made by butcher Michael Howard of Moretonhampstead to highlight the superb taste of the slow/outdoor-reared traditional pig; these have been made with Certified Organic sausage mixes and breadcrumbs to reflect that fact that the only bought-in food that was fed to the pigs (to complement their rooting and natural feeding on the land) was Certified Organic:
- a simply-seasoned Pork; and
- Hot & Spicy
See the table below for availability and prices.
Chops & Joints
The following joints and cuts are produced from my pigs – see the table below for availability and prices:
- Belly, some cuts with Ribs in – e.g., for roasting or curing (Streaky Bacon, Pancetta, etc.)
- Chops & Steaks
- Leg cuts (boned and rolled) – e.g., for roasting, curing or cutting steaks
- Loin cuts (boned and rolled) – e.g., for roasting, cutting for chops, curing (cure-roast?!)
- Loin cuts (bone in) – for roasting, cutting for chops, curing
Current Availability
It will be a little while before I buy in some more weaners; the price of feed (particularly Certified Organic feed) does not make it viable for me to raise pigs at the moment – when I have designed and implemented an economically viable system for growing the feed myself, then I will get some more weaners in. When it is available, pork prices (per Kg and for a typical cut/pack) will be shown in the table below.
| Cut/Pack | £/Kg | Typical Cut/Pack Price |
Ever Wanted to Cure Your Own Bacon/Gammon?
Some of the joints from the first Large Black have been cut with home-curing in mind. Don’t worry if you aren’t ready to go with this immediately: the joint can keep in the freezer while you research the various methods (wet and dry curing, smoking) and build your confidence – as usual, the River Cottage Meat Book or Cook Book are good places to start, or maybe the online Accidental Smallholder – and defrost the joint when you are ready to go.
Links for Inspiration
Below are a few links that I have found that provide information on various aspects of preparing, curing or cooking cuts of meat from a well-raised pig (more links to be added in due course):
- to make Pancetta/Streaky Bacon/Salt Pork from a belly cut, click here – this includes a link to a good youtube video of how to remove ribs;
- for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s take on curing a ham click here.
- … and to then cook the perfect ham or gammon, click here.
- finally, to make Pork Scratchings, click here.