Here is your quick and easy to understand guide on buying, cooking, carving and serving ham.

It is also an economical and easy way to serve a crowd on any party menu.

Before you cook a ham..you have to buy a ham. It might seem complicated..but we’ll try to simplify it here.

This is a meaty, fatty cut. It is generally dry (rubbed) or wet cured (brined) with salt and spices and is usually smoked or processed in a variety of ways.

The upper rear cut of the pig is divided into two more cuts. The butt ham comes from the most upper part of the pig leg and the shank ham comes from the lower section of the leg.

Another type of ham is the picnic ham. This cut comes from the front leg or shoulder area of the pig.

These are technically not hams but are pork shoulders that are smoked and processed in a way similar to rear end hams.

Hey, it’s all pork goodness. Which is best is generally a matter of taste and how you want to serve the meat.

The butt end is meatier and has more fat and membrane then the shank end. Because of this, it can be more flavorful.

The shank end has a straighter bone and less fat and membrane. The shank is easier to crave and makes a nicer presentation.

In reality, your choice of ham may be limited to what’s available at your supermarket and may also depend on the time of year and the size and price you desire. FYI, the whole, butt and shank cuts can be purchased bone-in or boneless.

When buying a ham, estimate the size needed based on the serving size suggestions on the packaging. In general, plan on 1/4 to 3/4 pound of ham per person depending on how you are serving (appetizer, sandwiches, main entree) and what else is being served, especially meats.

When shopping for a ham for your next party menu, be aware that whole and half hams can be fully-cooked, partially cooked and raw. Be sure to read the label and ask the butcher or grocer if you are unsure.

Fully-Cooked HamMost hams purchased in the supermarket are smoked and fully-cooked. The smoking process cooks and flavors the meat.

Also, nothing is better than a fresh, hot-baked ham.

Reheating Times for Fully Cooked Hams. The internal temperature, as measured with a food thermometer, is the best indicator of doneness.

Partially cooked hams are processed to an internal temperature of 145°F to kill parasites. The purchased ham still requires additional cooking and must be reheated to an internal temperature of 145°F.

Just like other hams, it must be cooked to a temperature of 145°F.

Whole leg, bone in hams of 12-16 pounds are cooked from 22 to 26 minutes per pound.

Makes leftovers so much more manageable. Ham is extremely versatile and flavorful.

It goes with pasta, potatoes, rice, bread and most vegetables. Once properly carved, ham becomes a very easy protein addition to any meal.

Tasty ham recipes and serving suggestions.

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We process all of our home-raised meat here at the farm. A common question we get when doing large animals is how do you know what cuts of meat come from where on the animal.

Hopefully I can help clear that up for you with this post. If you’re looking for information on the first part of the pig butchering process (dispatching, skinning, gutting, halving, and hanging) you can find that by reading my post How to Butcher a Pig.

If you’ve ever processed another large animal (like a deer), don’t stress. You’re going to have an advantage going into this process.

To make the cuts of meat properly, it sometimes helps to have a vision of how a pig is put together. Thanks to my son for making this lovely graphic.

Now that you understand that, let’s do this.

We like this processing kit by Outdoor Edge, and we keep the knives sharp with this electric knife sharpener. With the right tools, you can now start by trimming off some of the pig fat.

Don’t get rid of that fat, though. That’s what you can make lard with.

We double bag all our fat in thick garbage bags, put the bags in a cardboard box, and then put the box in our chest freezer. Ready to do this.

First, we separate the front shoulder from the ribs.

Here you can see the hog separated into front shoulder, middle section (ribs, chops, and belly) and back leg (the ham).

We’re starting to see some of the pieces.

This, my friends, is where the bacon comes from.

The ribs are on top of the bacon.

Here is a rack of ribs….

I’d say he’s got every reason to be proud. There is nothing like homemade bacon from a home-raised pig.

Now it’s time to cut pork chops. Our first year processing our own pigs, we did bone-in pork chops.

…and used the meat saw for cutting through the bone.

Ta-da. Pork chops.

Update: We no longer cut bone-in pork chops. And oh-my-word, these pork chops had a lot of fat left on them.

For the front shoulder and back legs, we chose to cut smaller roasts instead of giant hams.

Feel around for the natural separations in how the muscles are put together. Follow the separations to make roasts.

You’ll end up with hunks of various sizes. If you’re worried about where to cut, remember—it all tastes the same after it’s cooked.

So, don’t be afraid of how to cut the roasts. Making those cuts of meat is all about getting in there….

… and separating it into muscle “globs”.

After this post was first published, we added a stainless steel electric meat grinder to our set up, and it’s awesome.

And I’m always sure to add little sayings to each package. It’s always fun to smile when you read the package later in the year.

So, there you go.

You’ve also got a slab of belly meat that’s ready to be turned into bacon. You’ve got a pile of pig fat to render as lard.

And remember—that was only half of your hog. Take a break, and repeat the process.

10 Tips for Home Butchering. For the Love (and Butchering) of Animals.

Great blog. This is so fascinating to me.

Thank you so much.

Good job Jenny. Personally, I take different approach regarding the relation between “meat cutter/consumers” To me show a person how any animal is cut is, like go to Detroit to see how a car is built.

When we need a car, we buy it not, built one our self. World is changing at amazing speed.

Telling them what to do with a chunk of meat when they get home it is a most. When a consumer tell me he/she has BBQ all their life.

Me, selling the best does mean nothing if, then best is been screw up at home. Don’.

The person the came out with the line: ” the costumer is always right” was an ass hole to say the least. At my business.

A good chunk of meat does not have to be marinated for quality. Quality, to me, has to be there before anything is done to it.

Never assume they know 90% do not and those who think they do. are the worst.

Angelo. Angelo, thank you so much.

So I continue. I love your video on boning and stuffing the hog.

I will have to come by the next time I am in the area.

Last night I watch myself one more time alone and, I did enjoyed it more then times before with company. This business I started, it goes in the direction to get me in trouble, This weekend I have 4 to do and the pressure is building up at a speed the make me uncomfortable.

I never dreamed the pigs could do the same and worse. lol.

Keep doing it, you are great. Angelo.

I want some. Awesome blog.

Keep it up.

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Illustrations by Pearl Law.

Cats look down to man. Pigs look us straight in the eye and see an equal.

The humble pig trotted into man’s world more than 11,000 years ago, with archaeological records showing Central Asia as, most likely, the birthplace of the modern domesticated pig. A flood of retrogression in the 18th century created the standard European pig, a mixed breed between Central Asian domesticated pigs and native wild boars.

China’s Emperor Fo-Hi decreed one of the first books on pig husbandry in 3468 BC.

Deity-like pig imageries can be found on pottery dating back to Mesopotamia, and clay pigs were buried with Chinese emperors to accompany them into the afterlife. Today, pigs make up a key portion of our protein intake and create relatively lower carbon prints when compared to cattle, thanks to their omnivorous diets and lower demand on grazing and living space.

Pork is incredibly versatile, and can be easily adapted into a wide range of dishes spanning diverse cultures. It’s difficult not to indulge in dipping into a bowl of sticky tender pork belly slow-braised for hours, crunching into crispy crackling, or devouring juicy plump dumplings filled with minced pork and cabbage.

We recently joined renowned British chef Tom Aikens at his new restaurant The Fat Pig, as well as chef Patrick Chan, the Chief Instructor at the Chinese Culinary Institute, to discuss the difference between Western and Chinese culinary interpretations of the pig.

Does opening a restaurant named The Fat Pig make you a pork lover.

Pork is, by far, my favourite meat. It’s an incredibly versatile and adaptable meat, and tastes great in all sorts of dishes and by using all kinds of cooking methods.

Which cuts of pork are your favourites.

Pork shoulder is also delicious and ideal for roasting because of the marbling.

What would be the equivalent in pork.

However, I find it quite a boring cut of meat as it doesn’t have much flavour and if you don’t cook it well, can be dry and tough.

Ninety percent of the pork we use are local, and come from Wah Kee farm in the New Territories. The farm uses minimal antibiotics and no hormones on the pigs.

What compelled you to open a pork-centric restaurant in a city that really knows its pork. Were you worried that your pork dishes would’t match up to local taste buds.

On my visit to Hong Kong, I really fell in love with the flavour of the pork here and the many ways that pork is used in traditional Cantonese dishes. Although we are a Western restaurant, we have plenty of dishes that resonate local flavours, such as our barbecue pork bun and steamed pork dumplings.

What is the main difference between butchering a pig and cow.

The joints are larger, and so is the torso, so there’s a lot more fancy terms used when it comes to beef. Pigs are much easier to butcher due to its relative smaller size, although when it comes down to it, both cattle and pigs have the same basic structure.

What are the differences between Western and Chinese styles of pork butchery.

I haven’t seen this approach in Chinese butchers, but from my observations they like to use the pork soon after it’s killed and section the cuts very differently than British butchers.

With over 40 years of experience in the kitchen, Chef Patrick Chan knows a thing or two about the art of Chinese cookery. Prior to his appointment in 2015 as the Chief Instructor at the Chinese Culinary Institute, he was the Head Chef at Zi Yat Heen, a renowned two-starred Michelin Chinese restaurant within the Four Seasons Macau.

What are the main differences between Western and Chinese styles of pork butchery.

Western-style butchery requires “hanging” the butchered animals in a cold room for up to seven days, which allows the natural enzymes to tenderise and enhance the flavour of the meat. Chinese cuisine emphasises freshness, so the pig is processed and cooked as soon as possible.

In terms of the various cuts, the key difference can be found in size. Western dishes often call for larger cuts of meat, while Chinese dishes require smaller pieces that can be easily eaten with chopsticks.

What are the prized cuts in Chinese cookery.

In Chinese cuisine, which cuts of pork are best suited for specific dishes.

Pork belly is fantastic for braising, thanks to the layers of flavourful fat, while the leg and shank, which have less fat, are perfect for soups. The ribs do well in both stews as well as in steamed dishes.

A true suckling pig should be between two to six weeks of age at the time of slaughter. The pig is first marinated with a mixture of salt, fermented bean paste (nam yue), shallots and garlic before a quick dip in boiling water to shrink the skin.

The belly should be roasted first before the back, and this traditional method requires plenty of time, skill and patience.

Although Chinese cuisine is all about freshness, pork can be preserved and its flavour intensified through the process of air-drying. Dried Yunnan ham, cured with natural salts, is a famous and very prestigious ingredient in the Chinese culinary world.

A good quality sausage is made up of pork loin with a bit of belly fat.

Three main types of knives are used when it comes to butchery. A slicer for cutting thin pieces of meat, a utility knife for chopping, and a Chinese bone knife for cleaving through bone.

What is your favourite cut of pork.

What are your personal views on Western-style pork butchery.

Western and Chinese methods of animal butchery uses different techniques, but both share a common goal. to show respect and make the best use of each part of the pig.

Have you ever wondered why bacon costs so much money. Or why there isn’t more of it.

Let’s take a look at where bacon comes from, and answer a bunch of other bacon questions.

{Referral links are used in this post.}. Bacon comes from the pork belly.

Everybody loves bacon, right. And who wouldn’t trade some ham for some bacon.

Let’s take a look at how much meat you can get from a hog.

When a hog is considered “finished,” it weighs between 200-220 pounds. Once the hog is “dressed” (internal organs like intestines removed), there is about 150 pounds left.

The chart above shows approximately how much meat you can get from a single hog. Every hog will be a little different, so these are just average numbers.

A lot of the cost of bacon depends on the brand you’re buying. Our favorite bacon comes from our local butcher shop (Dewig Meats in Haubstadt, Indiana).

We go through a lot of bacon… but not quite that much. I split the giant box of bacon up into 1-pound packages and freeze it.

Just like with all other meats and produce, the price will change a little bit with supply and demand. The best trick is to know what bacon typically sells for at your store, and stock up when you catch it on sale.

Bacon freezes very well. If you are only freezing for the short-term (less than 4-6 weeks), bacon can stay in its original packaging.

If you are planning to freeze bacon for longer than about 6 weeks, the bacon should be repackaged. Place the bacon in a Ziploc freezer bag, squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag, and seal it tightly.

Keep track of what is in your freezer with an inventory like this one. Try to use the older food in your freezer first, and save the newer foods for later.

For any other bacon questions you might have, check out this video from our YouTube channel. (And be sure to subscribe to our channel if you haven’t yet – you won’t want to miss a thing.

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Regardless of what you celebrate (or don’t celebrate), the holidays are a time of togetherness, kindness, family, and friends. So why is the centerpiece of a holiday meal often that of a dead animal.

In the meat industry, female pigs are forcibly impregnated over and over again. They’re typically kept in crates so small that they cannot lie down comfortably, turn around, or take more than a step forward or backward.

These crates are not only physically painful for the pigs, but they’re also psychological torture for them. Piglets are born into a life of pain on commercial farms.

Piglets who are too small or weak are sometimes killed by being slammed against the concrete floor. This practice is often referred to as “thumping” in the industry.

They’re typically crowded into filthy sheds, unable to engage in any of the behaviors that are natural to them.

There’s no law regulating how long these trips are, and pigs sometimes travel for days without access to food or water. Confused and terrified, these animals are likely seeing the sun and breathing fresh air for the first time as they’re prodded onto the trucks.

Pigs are supposed to be rendered unconscious with a stun gun before their throats are cut, but because slaughterhouse workers are moving so quickly, many animals aren’t stunned properly and are still alive and conscious when they’re shackled by their legs, their throats are sliced, and they’re dunked into the scalding hot water bath that’s meant to remove their hair and soften their skin.

Pigs are considered highly intelligent animals, but what’s most concerning is that they have the same capacity to feel pain and emotions as other animals do. Scientists agree on this fact, but pigs still have few legal protections regarding how they’re treated or killed.

Last, but not least, another reason not to eat ham this season is all of the delicious plant-based options you can try instead. It’s been proven that humans are healthier on a plant-based diet, and making the switch is now easier than ever.

Instead of eating ham, why not show compassion for these sensitive animals, and try one of the many vegan roasts available, or Torfuky’s plant-based ham instead.

It has always seemed funny to me that one of the most popular cuts of pork for Southern barbecue pits has an inherently Yankee name: the Boston butt.

A Boston butt has nothing to do with a pig’s backside—that’s the ham. The butt, counterintuitively, comes from the front end.

You can buy a whole pork shoulder at some grocery stores, but you’ll commonly find the shoulder cut into two pieces. The upper part is the oddly-named Boston butt (sometimes called “blade roast”), and it comes from right behind the pig’s neck and typically contains a small piece of the shoulder blade.

So, that’s the proper location for these meats. But how to explain the name.

If you believe the Internet, it came from shipping practices. Back in the colonial days, an article in Mental Floss explains, New England butchers took “less prized cuts of pork,” packed them into barrels, and shipped them off to other places.

“This particular shoulder cut became known around the country as a New England specialty, and hence it became the ‘Boston butt.'”. The New York Times and other reputable publications have repeated this story, but common sense should make us skeptical.

There are plenty of historical problems with this explanation, too. For starters, Virginia and North Carolina, not New England, were the centers of the pork trade in the 18th century until eclipsed by Cincinnati in the 1830s and then by Chicago.

The term originated in the late 19th century, as railroads transformed the commercial meat packing industry from regional to national. Butchers in different parts of the country had slightly different ways of carving up pigs and cows.

Thus we have New York Strip steaks and St. Louis-style ribs—another favorite of Southern barbecue cooks.

The pork shoulder originally had several other geographically-named cuts. In the meatpacking trade, the Kansas City Sun reported in 1892, “careful requirements are formulated for standard sweet pickled hams and shoulders, New York shoulders, Boston shoulders, California hams, skinned hams, pickled bellies, etc.”.

It was “well-rounded at the butt, and trimmed as near to the shape of a ham as possible.” This latter cut was also known as the “picnic” (for reasons I’ve been unable to discover), and that term is now the standard for the lower part of the pork shoulder.

Consider the butt of a rifle or a cigar butt. Either crafty Bostonians were putting all sorts of things in barrels and shipping them south, or “butt” was simply a generic term for, as Merriam-Webster phrases it, “the large or thicker end part of something”—the pork shoulder, in this case.

Boston didn’t have a monopoly on butts, either. The 1912 Bulletin of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign observed, “Milwaukee style butts are the same as Boston butts with the neck bone and rib left on.” My research even turned up a passing mention of a “New Orleans cut” of pork shoulder in 1911, but that one never became popular, which is a shame.

So, the next time you fire up the backyard pit, feel free to buy a couple of Boston butts if you prefer. There’s no need to giggle about the name, even while rubbing them down with your secret spice blend.

I once asked my mum what the difference is between pork and bacon, her reply was: “One comes from a porky pig, and the other comes from a bacon-y pig”. I never really thought about it much since then.

There are many parts of a pig which is edible, the loin, which are the pigs back, the belly, head, neck, leg and hand. Here’s a more detailed description about what you get from where on a piggy.

From the neck, shoulder, blade bone area you can get chops, bacon, it can make a roasting joint and the shoulder can be used for bacon. The back legs, also known as ham is what are used for joints of prime roast pork.

The pigs belly can be used for a roasting joint. The thick end of the belly can make prime bacon and the thin end can make streaky bacon.

This is one I’ve never tried, but you can boil the tail and apparently it tastes really yummy. Let me know if you’ve tried it before and if it’s worth eating.

Overview: When you order pork from the store or butcher, it has already been broken down for the home kitchen. Before that happens though, pork is broken down into first primal cuts and then subprimal cuts.

Pork has been a favorite in many parts of the world for a long time. In America, the first pigs arrived along with the explorer Hernando de Soto in 1529.

This characteristic allowed farming families to butcher hogs before winter and eat the meat all winter long. Today, people still enjoy cured pork products like ham and bacon, along with fresh cuts like pork chops, ribs and tenderloin.

People tend to enjoy some pork products, like bacon, in smaller amounts because they are so rich in flavor. Pork can also add a delicious kick of flavor to soups, stews, vegetables and other dishes.

In short, Americans love pork. It’s a staple meat product on American breakfast, lunch and dinner tables, and it can show up in a variety of ways.

We can break a side of pork down into four basic primal pork cuts. You’ll see some sources divide pork into a few more primal cuts, but traditionally, pork cuts consist of these four sections, before being divided further into subprimal cuts.

Pork primal cuts begin as large sections that typically get cut down further. Cuts that are smaller than primal cuts, but still relatively large, are subprimal cuts.

These are the individual portions you commonly find at the grocery store or butcher shop. Each cut of pork has unique qualities that contribute to the flavor and texture.

Let’s take a look at some pork subprimal cuts, categorized by the primal cuts they originate from.

Sausage comes in many forms, including links, loose ground meat and patties. Each type of sausage has a different mixture of spices or other fillers that add flavor to the pork.

Pork shoulder is also the primal section of choice for making delicious pulled barbecue pork. Slow cooking methods tend to work best for pork shoulder, since it helps tenderize the otherwise tough meat.

That said, blade steaks cut from the shoulder are excellent choices for quick cooking methods like grilling. Pork shoulder consists of five subprimal cuts.

This cut goes by a few different names, including butt roast, Boston shoulder, Boston butt and more. The “butt” label can be confusing, but the explanation is simple: The butt is the thicker end of the pork shoulder.

It has excellent marbling and can be very tender when slow-cooked. Just below the shoulder blade cut is the picnic shoulder, also known as the picnic ham, picnic roast or arm roast.

The picnic portion of the shoulder is somewhat fatty and sinewy, which makes it a relatively affordable cut, but it can become tender through slow-cooking methods like roasting or braising. Unlike Boston butt or picnic ham, there’s nothing mystifying about this name.

In Southern cuisine, chefs who prepare this delicacy often cure and smoke it, which is why some people call it jowl bacon. You can fry slices of jowl on a skillet just like bacon or use it to flavor soul food favorites like black-eyed peas or collard greens.

Between the picnic shoulder and the foot is the hog’s lower leg, known as the hock. Because of its location on the hog, this cut is tough and well-muscled, which makes it an economical cut of meat.

It’s also a great flavor addition to stews and other dishes. The shoulder primal also includes the front feet on the hog.

Pig’s feet are excellent for making gelatin, since they are naturally rich in collagen. The leg primal section consists of the rear leg up to the hip.

The best way to prepare a ham depends on the specific cut and whether it is fresh or has undergone curing or smoking before purchase. A fresh ham is a raw cut of meat that will taste essentially like a pork roast.

To get its signature taste and texture, ham goes through a curing and often a smoking process before going to market. Country hams are dry-cured and safe to eat as-is with no cooking required.

Wet-cured hams, commonly called city hams, are typically precooked, so preparing one entails heating it through. Baking is a common way to do this.

The subprimal cuts of a pork leg include the following. The butt end of the ham, also sometimes called the sirloin or rump end, is at the top of the leg primal.

It is also easier to carve because it only contains one bone. You can also find boneless or bone-removed hams.

The shank-end ham is below the butt portion. Shank-end hams have a distinctive conical shape that makes them a beautiful centerpiece at a holiday dinner.

The shank-end ham contains the shank bone and part of the femur, so it is slightly more complicated to carve. At the end of the shank, you’ll find what’s known as the hock.

You’ll need to cook raw hocks through, but you only have to warm cured and smoked hocks. You can slow-cook hocks and serve them as an entree, but it’s more common to find them used as a flavoring in soups and other dishes.

The foot on a pig also goes by the names trotter or pettitoe. Pigs have four feet, but the back feet are larger than the front, making these feet better for producing pickled pig’s feet and other trotter dishes.

Slow cooking is a must with feet, since it tenderizes the thick skin and connective tissue. The term “eating high on the hog” refers to the luxury of pork loin cuts.

Because this meat is remarkably tender, you don’t have to use slow-cooking methods. Instead, you can use dry heat techniques like grilling, baking or sauteing.

You can also smoke chops to give them that distinctive barbecue flavor. The loin can also make back bacon, a staple in some countries, including Canada, England and Ireland.

Back bacon is much leaner, though the cut includes the fat that runs along the hog’s back. People process it through curing and smoking, which gives it that signature bacon flavor, but ultimately, it more closely resembles ham than belly bacon.

The loin primal consists of three subprimals. The loin rib end section is the part of the loin that is adjacent to the shoulder.

Baby back ribs come from the part of the ribcage closest to the backbone. They are much leaner than spare ribs and more expensive.

These ribs are boneless and meaty. A popular method of preparing them is braising.

You can usually find these market-ready cuts with the bone in or boneless. Because this section of the animal gets little use, you can grill, pan-sear or braise chops and can bake roasts without needing to make special efforts to tenderize the meat.

The sirloin is the section of loin farthest back, connecting to the ham section. The sirloin contains some fat, though it is still fairly lean.

Cuts from this part of the loin tend to be more affordable than those from the loin rib end and center, but they can still be delicious. The belly subprimal also goes by the name of the side.

To better understand the amount of meat you may expect from a market hog, the first step is understanding the difference in live weight compared to carcass weight. When a market hog is harvested certain parts of the animal such as the feet, blood, and viscera (internal organs) are removed.

Dressing percentage is the percentage of meat and bone on the animal compared to its live weight and is influenced by many factors such as muscle score and fat cover to name a few (Table 1). Dressing Percentage = (Carcass weight/Live weight)*100.

Locker plants have variable methods of harvesting hogs. Some processing plants will remove the skin and leave the head for the chilling process and others may remove the head and leave the skin.

During carcass chilling and fabrication, some carcass weight will be lost from the hanging, boning, and trimming process. The percentage of carcass weight remaining as “take-home” retail meat cuts is called the carcass cutting yield.

Carcass cutting yield is variable and depends on the carcass’s fat thickness (leaner carcasses increase yield), muscling (increases yield), and the amount of bone-in versus boneless retail cuts (boneless decreases yield). (Table 2).

This may be advantageous depending on freezer space availability and eating preferences. It is important to understand that the amount of edible lean will be the same regardless if the retail cuts are boneless or bone-in.

It is important to note that even though trim carcasses have an increased carcass cutting yield, pork carcasses that are too trim can have negative consequences such as poor belly quality (bacon) and lack of tenderness. A whole pork carcass is first divided into 6 distinct primal cuts (Figure 1).

For example, the loin may be broken down into rib, loin, butterfly, and sirloin chops/roasts. The shoulder (Boston butt and shoulder picnic) could be broken into arm steaks, blade chops and a shoulder picnic.

Figure 1. Pork Primal Cuts.

Ground pork can also be further processed and stuffed into various casings to make sausage links, summer sausage, bratwursts, and ring bologna to name a few. Fresh chops and roasts can be cured/smoked by injecting a brine and allowing the cuts to slowly cook at a set temperature and humidity.

Many farmers and locker plants sell pork by halves or whole hog. When buying a half a hog that is exactly what you will get.

When determining roughly how much meat you should expect from half of a hog, take the pounds of meat previously calculated for the entire carcass and divide by two. 250 lb x 70% = 175 lb.

169 lb x 67% = 125 lb. To ensure you have enough freezer space for your pork keep in mind that 35-40 pounds of retail product should fit in one cubic foot of freezer space.

Contact your local Extension Educator. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Aberle, Elton David. Principles of Meat Science.

2001. National Pork Board ad EMI Analytics.

Typical Market Pig Today. Retrieved from pork.org/facts/stats/consumption-and-expenditures/typical-market-pig-today/ Access Date: August 27, 2020.

Buyig Beef for Home Freezer.Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service AnSi-3401. Print.

Rentfrow, Gregg. How Much Meat to Expect from a Carcass a Consumer’s Guide to Purchasing Freezer Meats.

Print. Access Date: July 23, 2020.

Kristine Jepsen. and Kristi Hetland.

Beef and Pork Whole Animal Buying Guide. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Access Date: June 10, 2020.

The following 101, on buying a whole pig, comes from HOMEGROWN contributor and Portland Meat Collective founder Camas Davis. For a taste of what PMC teaches, keep reading.

So you want to fill your freezer with pork. And you want to do so by buying a whole, or maybe a half, pig directly from a farm.

Then you want to butcher it yourself. And maybe you want to make your own bacon and sausages and hams.

OK, OK, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s say you aren’t ready for the bacon and the ham parts or the butchering part quite yet.

A good first step is buying a whole pig directly from a farmer you trust, getting it slaughtered, and then having someone cut and wrap it for you. We can deal with all of the rest later.

That means you’ll need a freezer with enough room for about 200 to 300 pounds of meat and bone. That’s not a regular freezer.

I got my first freezer at an estate sale: the best place, other than maybe Craigslist, to find one. No need to buy them new.

Second, you’re going to need to find a farmer who will sell you a whole or a half pig. In all states, if a livestock producer wants to sell meat, he or she must have the livestock slaughtered and processed at a USDA-inspected facility.

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung. In some states, though, it’s OK for livestock producers to sell “live” animals, which the customers, as the new owners, can then have processed at a “custom-exempt” state-licensed facility.

You become the owner of a live animal (i.e., your name gets tagged on the animal at the time of slaughter) and then you either hire someone to cut and wrap the animal for you or you do it yourself. Some areas of the country have a larger percentage of farmers who will sell whole or half animals directly to consumers.

So first, you need to find out if it’s possible. To do so:

You can find every state department of ag listed on this page created by The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. If live animal purchasing is allowed in your state, farmers are probably selling meat this way.

Once you find a farmer who will sell you a live animal, you want to get as much information as you can—depending on how far you want to dig into the pig’s past, that is. Me, I like to go deep.

Once you’ve chosen a farm you want to buy from, you need to decide whether you want a whole pig for yourself or if you want to go in on a pig with friends. Typically farmers don’t want to sell one animal to more than two to four people.

With pigs, I usually split one pig between two people or two families. It’s easier to divvy up that way.

This means the pig would be split in half lengthwise, down the backbone. The same cuts exist on both sides.

The farmer typically will arrange this for you. Be patient.

In addition to paying the farmer for the animal, you’ll either need to reimburse him for the slaughter, or you’ll pay the slaughterhouse directly. Photo by Becky Berry (CC BY-ND 2.0).

If you want to hire someone, most “custom-exempt” slaughterhouses also can handle the butchery for you. They’ll charge you for cutting and wrapping.

The butcher likely will have a standard “cut sheet” that tells you what cuts you’ll get. If you stray from that cut sheet, you may pay a little more, but it could be worth it.

My philosophy is that if you pay for all of the pig, you should get all of the pig—and you should learn how to use all of the pig. If you’re going to buy a whole pig, educate yourself on how to use it up, as well as on the different ways it can be cut up.

I started the Portland Meat Collective so that I could learn to butcher pigs myself. What’s a meat collective, you ask.

Photo by Becky Berry (CC BY-ND 2.0). The PMC is a one-of-a-kind meat school and culinary resource that has changed the way citizens of Portland, Oregon, think about their food, their community, and their local economy.

Students go home with a lot of good meat and a lot of very rare knowledge. Chefs and butchers have the opportunity to share their art.

The result. A growing community of informed omnivores rethinking meat consumption and production in America.

Or, if you’re farther afield, start your own. Want a preview of what to expect when butchering.

You can find these and more collaborations between Camas and Cooking Up a Story, as well as loads more CUAS videos, on YouTube. How to Butcher a Pig: Shoulder.

How to Butcher a Pig: Midsection.

Farm meat. Pork of cuts infographic.

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Still convinced you’d never touch pork bung, not even a small part of it. Well, if you eat meat there’s a very good chance you already have.

To make casings, all but the submucosa is removed. The submucosa is rich in collagen, a connective tissue, which makes it strong enough to stuff and withstand cooking, yet still be tender enough to bite through, producing the signature “snap.” Hot dogs that feature a natural casing typically use sheep intestinal submucosa which is smaller in diameter.

First, it’s not just one layer of the digestive tract, but a whole portion of it, including the mucous membrane and the muscles that power digestion. Second, the submucosa comes from the small intestine, while the pork bung, being the rectum, is part of the final stage of the hog’s large intestine.

This dish, commonly enjoyed throughout the American south and an important part of African American culinary history in the U.S., is very similar to pork bung, but, like sausage casings, is made from the small intestine of the hog. That said, the cooking processes for the two cuts of offal are very similar, which further adds to confusion.

If you’ve ever wondered why those New Year’s black-eyed peas and collard greens taste so good, it’s hog jowl. Usually, a lump of inexpensive meat that comes uncut on the “rind,” wrapped in food film at the pork end of the meat case, hog jowl lends rich flavor to beans, peas, and greens—it tastes a lot like bacon but has a silkier texture.

I know what some of you are thinking: Jowl can be an off-putting word. But it’s the same cut Italians call guanciale, and who doesn’t love that in their spaghetti carbonara or on a bountiful charcuterie board, thinly sliced to complement pungent cheeses.

Read on to discover why hog jowls, one of the most flavorful parts of the pig, need space on your grocery list.

Logistically, hog jowl the cheek of the hog. Typically a tough cut, it’s often smoked and cured and can be used just like bacon or salt pork.

The cut is known for its rich marbling and tender texture when cooked.

Consequently, less stress is placed on this cut of meat, lending a silkier texture and sweeter flavor than traditional back bacon. It also has a higher meat-to-fat ratio and is usually attached to a rind of skin, much like pork belly.

Or for extra flavor, the entire cut can be thrown in a pot of soup, beans, or greens.

Typically, you will find it already smoked and cured at the store, but when purchased raw it can be braised, seared, grilled, or slow-cooked.

Hog jowl amps those dishes up with umami and a more buttery texture.

Hog jowls themselves may be high in fat and, therefore, high in calories, notes Carolyn O’Neil, MS, RDN. So use in moderation—you only need a few ounces for the whole recipe to add a lot of wonderful flavors to big pots of vegetables, soups and stews.

Pigs have held this symbolic distinction for a long time, dating back to when having a supply of fatty meat meant survival in cold winters.

The high-fat content and rich flavor of hog jowls signify wealth in the coming year in the American South. In China, jowls are braised or slow-cooked in stews, vegetables, and buns.

In Cuba, a roasted pig seals good fortune ahead, and the bigger the pig, the fatter your wallet.

Hog jowl is typically an inexpensive cut of meat. This meat, made from the hog’s cheek, has flavoring that resembles bacon but is less expensive and thicker.

With proper packaging, hog jowls should freeze for up to three months.

The Italian Anti-Vivisection League (LAV), which obtained footage filmed secretly at six pig farms in northern Italy, says it found animals kept in crowded, dirty stalls infested with mice and well below the standards set by the European Union for the humane rearing of livestock. Pigs had no opportunity to go outside and were forced to eat and sleep in the same area they used as a toilet, the group said.

Other horror stories reported by the investigation include the bodies of dead pigs left lying next to enclosures and animals chewing on each other’s ears, snouts and limbs out of boredom.

According to LAV, the footage showed tattoos indicating that the pigs were destined for use in the cured pork on animals at four of the six farms. The farms in question are intensive rearing sites in Brescia, Mantua and Cremona in Lombardy, each housing between 3,000 and 10,000 pigs at a time.

READ ALSO: Italy’s top cheeses are ‘products of cruelty’, say activists. Yet activists say the problems they found are indicative of wider failings.

“The plight of these pigs raises the question of why even minimum European pig welfare standards are not implemented in the production of some of Italy’s top products of excellence, such as Parma ham,” said European animal welfare lobbying organization Eurogroup for Animals, of which LAV is a member.

Parma ham bears the EU’s prestigious “protected designation of origin” label, which certifies food and drink that comes from a particular geographical area and is made according to time-honoured production techniques. It’s one of Italy’s most famous foods at home and abroad, representing more than €1 billion euros of sales each year.

Branded Parma ham. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP.

The Parma Ham Consortium, which represents Italy’s authorized producers, accused animal rights groups of a smear campaign.

The consortium “will always condemn every violation of the fundamental standards of animal welfare, which are criminal and intolerable acts in a civilized society”, it said, while adding that it fell to Italian and European authorities to check that farms comply with legal standards. READ ALSO: Five great reasons why Parma is Italy’s 2020 capital of culture.

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