[The Relic]

just wondering what types/weight are the cuts of meat people are getting for bacon weight pigs. just trying to work out what i get and how much to charge (family and friends)

[carl]

a pig is a wonderous beast and can provide many cuts of meat, but you must decide what cuts. a baconer is a bigger older pig with longer flanks and bigger hams. a porker is younger and smaller , to provide smaller succulent cuts. but you can do whatever you like within reason. ie a belly and loin used for bacon is not available as roast joints or chops. my last three porkers made chops, belly joints, spare ribs, spare rib roast, shoulder roasts, hand, half heads for brawn, liver, kidney, trotters, shank, leg joints, sausages and a flank went for bacon. sorry forgot a few steaks from leg and gammon. again the best thing is to look it up in books and make your own mind up. i can't remember the exact weights but I charged £150 per half pig which was fully butchered, vac packed and included @5 kg of sausages. It is best to try and sell in half pigs as everyone wants the best cuts and leaves you with the rest.

[The Relic]

oh yes i know whay you mean carl if you use the cut for one cut its not available for another. ill have a look and see what i think will sell. could use the other pig if people want the cuts.

[Hilarysmum]

If you can try to make some bacon, slice it a little thicker than the usual supermarket stuff.  Try offering people a sample, when they taste it, and find it doesnt disappear in a cloud of vapour when frying, you should sell out in a day.  Also make some sausages, personally I find 10% breadcrumbs to meat works well.  Again such a difference from those fatty bread filled things you get in the supermarket. 

[Hilarysmum]

From an 80kg liveweight pig expect a carcass of around 56-61 kg including head. When butchered and joints boned out you should end up with 44-50kg of meat per pig.

Expect to lose about 20%  of the deadweight with the head and bone removed.  When pricing your pork dont forget to charge for the sundries like poly bags, salt, bread (sausages) spices etc.