British BBQ Society Forums

Has anyone ever bought a whole side of unbutchered pork. I wondered about the cost and where to buy one ?

Ordered from here before, I was impressed with the quality, I opted for it already butchered as there are better things to do on a Saturday for me and it's a lot of work to do unless you want to cook it whole that is?!

http://www.greenpasturefarms.co.uk/products-page/cow-share/buy-a-whole-free-range-pig-pastured-rare-breed-pork#.U9yPsdm9LCQ

Current price is £135 for half a pig, I expect if you phone them they will give you an unbutchered price, likely around the £100 mark but try your local butcher, farm shop or abattoir, they may give you a better price.

Yes, I have, on a number of occasions.

We have a few farmers around here in Hampshire. I can highly recommend Bowtell Farm Shop in East Tisted. Easy to find on Google. I have used others too. It's worth calling in and talking to the farmer. The quality of the meat is unlike any supermarket meat.

I paid around £150 for the whole animal but might expect to pay a little more as I am sure costs have increased since I last did this.

Butchering, at a moderate rate, takes me about 3 hours for the 1/2 pig. When I make sausages and hams then that is extra time, naturally. Sausages made from the whole shoulder keep us going for weeks and takes two of us about an hour. It's a lot of fun and we enjoy doing it, we don't see it isn't a chore.

If you have never done this before there are some good books but I can recommend Hugh FW's Pig in a Day DVD. Actually Ray Smith is the butcher and gives some very simple but clear guidance on how to go about it. It also features some ideas of what to do with some of the cuts. The Parma style ham is a winner.

Good luck if you give it a go!

Thanks for the replies and the link . I cant help wondering if the "free range , organic" meat is that much tastier once its been covered in rubs and smoked for hours than a cheaper alternative. I will try some of my local butchers this week.

scuba-doo wrote:Thanks for the replies and the link . I cant help wondering if the "free range , organic" meat is that much tastier once its been covered in rubs and smoked for hours than a cheaper alternative. I will try some of my local butchers this week.

I wouldn't bother with organic unless you have environmental ethical reasons and or too much money. . As you say you won't taste it.

essexsmoker wrote:

scuba-doo wrote:Thanks for the replies and the link . I cant help wondering if the "free range , organic" meat is that much tastier once its been covered in rubs and smoked for hours than a cheaper alternative. I will try some of my local butchers this week.

I wouldn't bother with organic unless you have environmental ethical reasons and or too much money. . As you say you won't taste it.

I've raised my own Gloucester Old Spot/Tamworth cross pigs and always grew them to 9 months before slaughter. We didn't give them organic feed, but they are 100% free range and boy can you taste the difference! Everyone who tries it says exactly the same thing. It's like nothing you can buy from the butchers. I've never tasted meat like it and you can cut the biggest ribs you have ever seen when you butcher a whole pig. And the Black Pudding is to die for...well, the pig had to die for it, but you get what I mean! If you can find a local smallholder raising old breeds, buy as much meat from them as you can afford. Or rent a wood and raise your own. It's so easy to do & a LOT of fun!

Did you slaughter them yourself too? From what I understood, slaughterhouses no longer save animal blood for making black pudding.

Raising my own pigs is something i've always wanted to try - sadly I live in the city and it is not practical. Maybe one day....

I occasionally slaughtered them myself (scraping bristles off is hard work!), but normally used a local abbatoir.

You are absolutely right about the blood for making black pudding, which is why you need to have a great relationship with the abbatoir guys, who will distract the health inspector whilst you get in there with a bucket and collect the red stuff

Pigs are the best. They are a lot of fun to raise and taste amazing! Best of both worlds!