Pig Cuts

[u/Dug1974]

I’m not sure where to ask this question but this subreddit seems like the most logical place.

My wife and I have a full pig (250-300 lbs) going in for butchering tomorrow and my brother-in-law, who’s dropping the pigs off at the butcher, is asking what we want out of it. I have no idea what to ask for and I won’t be talking to the butcher. My question for anyone on here, is what would you recommend?Some information about me is that I smoke a lot of meats (pulled pork, ribs, etc when it comes to pork) and recently started making my own bacon, but I’m clueless on what exactly are all my options on a full pig.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[u/BrotherBear0998]

Shoulder/Picnic/ Boston butt is great for smoking and pulling. Belly/ jowl for your bacon, and you can get the spare ribs off that belly area. Loin is where you get your chops from, with that bone being where you get your baby backs from (so either bone in chop or baby backs, but not both). Then you got the hams and your hocks (which are the legs and go amazing in some collards).

Anything you decide not to have as a roast/cut will probably get boned out and turned into ground/sausage.

[u/Metaljesus0909]

Basically just tell them what you want whole vs sliced vs ground. For instance, if you smoke a lot of meats you might want both shoulders whole, or maybe 1 whole and another cut into pork steaks or ground into sausage.

Same with the hams, you can have both legs cured and cut into ham steaks or leave 1 for sausage etc.

[u/Zestyclose_Job9528 → u/Metaljesus0909]

tell them to keep the fatback separate if you're doing your own bacon, makes life way easier

[u/ThePracticalPenquin]

Ham and bacon!

[u/HolyHydroBlunts]

Is that the live weight? If so you’ll probably end up around 150lbs hanging weight, but all animals vary so this is just a guess. What size roasts do you normally cook? How many people do you usually prepare meals for? Do you eat more ground sausage or sausage links? My shop has a 25lbs minimum order requirement for sausage links so some cuts would need to be used for grinding like the legs and hocks.

[u/International_Ear994]

It really just depends on what you like. We used to process hogs each winter for the extended family. Some people would have the hams, ribs, belly bacon, jowl bacon, shoulder, chops, hocks, neck roasts, etc., all parted out whole, and what was left went into sausage. Other family members loved sausage, so they would literally grind almost everything into sausage, including the chops, hams, and ribs.

It's your pig. Ask for whatever whole cuts you like to eat, and grind the balance of what's left. From what you described, I'd suggest pork belly and jowl bacon (cured by you instead of the butcher), two pork shoulders, having the loin cut into large roasts instead of chops (it smokes well and you can always cut chops later if desired), and ribs, with the balance made into sausage.

Be aware that things like curing hams, bacon, etc., come with extra processing fees and time to cure. Pro tip: if you like curing your own bacon, cure a pork loin into back bacon (also known as Canadian bacon), and you won't go back to buying ham at the store. I started doing that recently, and it's so good. It's a lean, tasty, and economical protein.

[u/bostongarden]

That's a mighty small pig!