[Womble]

Hi folks,

We have three porkers that are ready for the off, but can't find anybody to butcher them for us.


Can anybody recommend a solution?


Many thanks!

[Fleecewife]

Is it just a butcher you are looking for, or an abattoir too?


We use Shotts for our sheep.  I think I have seen pigs there, but I'm not sure. Worth asking.  Otherwise I think it's a trip further south but I can't remember which abattoir.  There are folk locally who have to take their pigs there, and it is a trek.  Sad that Gala is closed as they did pigs, wild boar too.


For a butcher, Jim Cairns in Law village is excellent - knowledgeable, and he cuts exactly how you want, makes sausages and burgers, and he collects from Shotts too.

[fsmnutter]

I've used Shotts and their associated Butchers for pigs the last couple of times, so just drop off pigs and pick up pork! The sausages are fine and the Chinese ribs are lovely!

[Womble]

Hi Folks,


We went with Shotts Abbatoir and Chapman's (their associated butchers) in the end. For anybody thinking of doing similar, here are some notes you might find helpful?:

• Three pigs at pork weight booked in no problem. Abbatoir workers also fine, though you need to be aware that you book into the office on the far side of the site, but have to unload at the other side, which is behind a locked gate (some confusion here because we couldn't work out how to open the padlock!). Bring your own pig boards if you have them, since the abbatoir only had one.
• Because they were outdoor reared, they had to be tested for Trichinella. The trouble with that was that though we took them in on a Friday, the carcasses weren't tested until the Monday, with results back on Thursday and the meat released. If I'd known that, I think I'd have taken them in on the Monday in the first place.
• We collected one carcass a week after slaughter, which will be for our own consumption. That was fine, but it had been skinned rather than de-haired, and the trotters had been taken off, which was a shame. We were also promised it in primal cuts, but ended up with two halves.
• We left detailed cutting instructions for the other two with the abbatoir, but these got lost between the sites. We cleared it up in the end, but as a result just ended up with their standard offering, rather than what we had asked for.
• The meat came back on trays and wrapped in clingfilm, but without any other labelling, except some packets marked with sharpie, e.g. "flank". That's disappointing, since it hardly looks like the "local premium rare breed" etc etc that we would want to sell it as.
• In particular, we specifically asked for only plain burgers, but got them back as a mix of plain, BBQ, chinese and spicy. Again, I'm sure folks will buy these and be very happy, but it wasn't at all what we were aiming for.

So all in all, far from disasterous, but not a triumph either, and we'll be looking for a better solution for next time. (I'd cheerfully pay more for better packaging, labelling etc.) Since this time was a two hour round trip for us anyway x3, I guess we could go anywhere within an hour's radius of Glasgow.


Answers on a postcard please?

[Rosemary]

Get in touch with Gillian Mackay at Ardunan Farm. They breed and rear pigs for RBpork and have a butchery;they do butchery for small producers too.
There's a lot of focus on abattoirs at the moment, and rightly so, but there are issues with the standardof butchery too.

[Womble]

Hi Rosemary, We actually bought the weaners from Ardunan (highly recommended  ) , though they weren't able to help with butchery this time. Hopefully in future they'll be able to offer that service again - it's certainly one I'd be very keen to use!