[egglady]

sent 2 tammies to abbatoir last week.  spoke to butcher today to arrange what cuts we want.  have based them on hugh fearlessly eat-it-all's meat book and asking for a mixture of pork/ham/bacon cuts plus some sausages.

asked him for a rough idea of butchery costs.......£150!!!!!!

[SallyintNorth]

I pay £70 for pork cuts & some bacon & sausages.  I'd expect to pay a bit more to have some ham as well (but I am having a go at that myself.)  The £70 includes slaughter.

[Hilarysmum]

I pay circa 120 euros for a 75 dw pig killed and butchered.  Although the euro is less than the pound To put it in perspective for a 35 hour week average wages are circa 1,000 euros per month.

[egglady]

hmm, i think maybe i am.  too late to do anything about it this time though

was going to do hams and sausages myself too, but seriously short of time the next wee while so didnt want to add to my stress levels and thought better to get butcher to do it this time round.  i suppose we live and learn. 

[banbh]

I pay €100 for 2 pigs slaughtered, butchered and packaged.

Beginning to think it's a bargain.

[Eve]

We've paid for 2 large GOS between £120 and £160, without sausages but with sausagemeat, and we make the bacon and hams ourselves. It seems to depend on the kinds of cuts we ask for - I suppose the first year we were easy 

 

[egglady]

We've paid for 2 large GOS between £120 and £160, without sausages but with sausagemeat, and we make the bacon and hams ourselves. It seems to depend on the kinds of cuts we ask for - I suppose the first year we were easy 

yes i think that's the case here.  having said that, we will end up with lovely, quality meat from what were, very happy pigs, so it terms of 'value' i am more than happy.  we will just have to sell some of our precious meat to cover our costs I think....sad but necessary

 

[Fowgill Farm]

You will also need to consider the cost of slaughtering and processing your meat. Most people get a butcher or the abattoir to do this for them though some brave souls process their own if it’s for their own consumption. Make it clear to your meat processor what you require and get him to wrap it and label it for you. Costs vary up and down the country but at the time of writing (July 2009) we are paying £102 for two pigs with a total weight of 131kg, this includes slaughter charge, cutting & vac-packing, weighing & labelling and making sausages. It is by no means the cheapest in our area but we are happy to pay this for professionalism of the abattoir and the quality of the butchery. Cheapest isn’t always best for you, your pigs or your customers, so look at what’s on offer for the money before you make your decision.

The above is taken from an article i wrote for GOS website.
Current cost for me is £150.76 inc sausages for 2 pigs.
HTH
Mandy

[egglady]

Mandy we are that for EACH pig!!!!

[lucyandrew]

Eve,

we tried making bacon and hams with very little sucess. can you please advise/ recipe tips wouild be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lucy

[egglady]

lucy there are a couple of brilliant topics in the recipe section.  i've used them both with good success - just knew i wouldnt have time this time round

[Hilarysmum]

LucyandAndrew, for bacon, my friend swears by the sausage maker bacon cure. 

http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Traditional_dry_cure_bacon_.html

I think its expensive (although perhaps not when compared to some of the costs on here).  My friend produces some very nice bacon using it though.

[AndrewMawson]

lucy there are a couple of brilliant topics in the recipe section.  i've used them both with good success - just knew i wouldnt have time this time round

We now make our own bacon & hams with great sucess.

Bacon we dry cure and it is very easy. Buy curing salts from http://www.weschenfelder.co.uk/, mix with some brown sugar. Rub the salts into the loin then wrap in cling film. Stack in a poly box in the fridge for 8 days turning every two days. Then rinse well under a running tap. Dry off and re-wrap in cling film. Pop in freezer for two hours so very firm but not frozen, unwrap and run through the bacon slicer.

Hams we wet brine cure. Saturated salt solution with small amount of saltpeter (20 grams for 40 litres solution). We add apple juice, bay leaves, black pepper corns juniper barries. Weigh down so fully covered (I use plastic milk bottles full of pea shingle). Turn every two days and leave for ab out ten days.

[Eve]

For hams, see HilarysMum's advice from a few months ago. Close to that thread is our bacon topic. Do a search on the forum and you'll find it.

We don't use any bought cures at all, no saltpetre or anything. We don't use loin, either, just belly. The bacon is absolutely divine!! 


I'll see if I can dig up those topics...

[Eve]

Here's bacon:

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=11429.0