Crash Course to Bulk Pork
Bulk. the best way to experience our pastured pork.
(Intimidated by the prospect? Don’t worry. We’re here to walk you through the whole process.)
You’re supporting local, clean, ethical meat. The food we eat is the lifeblood of our bodies, and small business is the lifeblood of our communities. We raise our animals not only in a way that’s good for the creature, but also restorative for the land, healthy for our customers, and proactive in making a difference in how food is produced. Remember: we vote with our dollars.
You get to be personally involved in which cuts you get from your hog. It’s a great way to become more connected to your food source.
You’ll come across cuts that you’ve never thought to buy from the store. Your meat horizons will be expanded, and in a very fun way, with your new cuts. Shout out to all the brand new lard renderers, bacon smokers, ham hock makers, tenderloin connoisseurs, and bone broth stewers. “I’m so excited to try making ____!” Is music to our ears.
You get to experience the full gamut of delicious meat from tender juicy chops on the grill to the breakfast sausage your family will wolf down in the morning. No more repetition of the same-old grocery list.
You’ll stock up on healthy, clean meat, which will last you through the year.
It’s easy to pull from the freezer. No more “I need to run to the store for that.” You’ll have a stash right at your finger tips.
Financially, you get more bang for your buck. It’s like shopping at Costco vs Lunds & Byerlys.
Alright, the foundational reasoning is laid. You may now be thinking to yourself, “Would I have enough freezer space?” “How much does it cost?” “Is it worth it?” We’ll explore each of those in this quick 411 for those new to bulk pork.
The Meat
We raise all our pigs in the great outdoors. What they don’t eat in forage, acorns, and apples, we supplement with a custom-made feed where buckwheat and chickpeas are the star of the show. Instead of using corn and soy to put on weight, the fats, calories, and protein come from buckwheat and peas. “What goes into a pig, stays in a pig,” so even if we set aside the nutrition differential of buckwheat vs soy, the shift in inputs actually changes the flavor. It’s not just us that have noticed it - we know farmers that have also made the switch from corn and soy simply because of the taste.
Rotation. This is paramount in our operation. We move the pigs to a new pen every 1-2 weeks. This allows them to get off their own waste, eat new forage, express their exploratory “pigness”, and gives the previous pasture a chance to rest - no smelly slurry pits here. It’s better for the animal, the farmer, the environment, and the consumer.
Non-GMO, soy-free, rotationally pasture-raised pigs.
The Bulk Buying Process
When do we order? When do we get the meat?
We raise our animals seasonally, which means they’re born in the spring, and processed in the fall. Because of that pre-orders are taken in the spring, and meat is then ready in the fall. It may seem a long way off, but lickety-split it will be here before you know it.
What kind of cuts should we expect?
As a bulk purchaser, you will have the (rather fun) experience of selecting all your own pork cuts, which we will walk you through closer to when the meat is ready. Potential cuts include breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, chops, tenderloin, loin roasts, hams (smoked or fresh), bacon, cottage / Canadian bacon, roasts, side pork / slab pork / slab bacon, hocks, ham steaks, ground pork, lard, baby back ribs, spare ribs, country style ribs, and brats. (Note: processors may offer different cut combinations)
What is the cost?
As Renovo Farms, we charge $4.99 / lb for Hanging Weight. There are three general types of weight: Live Weight, Hanging Weight, and Take Home Weight. Live weight is the total poundage of the live animal. Hanging weight is once the insides, head, and feet are removed. Take Home Weight is what you’d see on a scale if you weighed the meat right before you put it in the freezer. Bulk meat almost exclusively uses Hanging Weights. Once your hog goes to process and you select your cuts, the processor will cut up the hanging carcass (yes, the official term is carcass), discarding anything you didn’t want (fat, bones, etc). Hanging Weights for our whole pigs come in generally between 180-220 lbs (though there have been outliers). Depending on the cuts your chose, the actual Take Home Weight of meat that goes into your freezer will be about 70-80% of the Hanging Weight.
If you’re looking at a half hog, it will be 90-110 lbs Hanging Weight for $450-$550 total.
If you’re looking for a whole hog, it will be 180-210 lbs Hanging Weight for $900 - $1,050 total.
To secure your spot, there is a $150 deposit that can be paid via cash, check, Venmo (@RenovoFarms), or PayPal. This will count toward the final total.
And the processor will charge a small fee ($0.40 - $1.50 / lb) depending on the complexity of the cuts you've chosen. (ground = $0.40, cured, sliced bacon = $1.50). This will be paid to the processor, not the farm.
What type of freezer space do I need?
A whole hog will need a chest freezer. A half hog is the equivalent of several paper grocery bags, and can be Tetris-ed into an empty kitchen freezer. If you’re still short on space, “Go Dutch” with another family and you can split your half hog, but heads up, a 1/4 hog is more of a sampler than anything else. Just because it’s bulk, doesn’t mean it’s bulky. Meat is also more dense than one might think - 100 lbs of meat is like gold: extraordinarily valuable, and you could still sneak it in a duffle bag.
For a point of reference, Joshua and I, eating meat regularly, go through 1 hog, 25 chickens, and 1/4 cow in meat a year.