Buying in Bulk
Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 03:44PM 
You don't have to be a member of Sam's Club to buy in bulk. One of the things we've learned in this year of local eating is that if you've only got a few local staples, and you're cooking for two, three times a day, it's best to load up on the good stuff. With Rashmi constantly baking apple bread (now, with the decline of our apples, a turn to fig bread using preserved figs we acquired in the fall) we've gone through our fair share of Hewett's honey. So we had the bright idea of buying in bulk. Hence the milk jug of Honey you see sitting on our table here.
And if you've got a hankering for some bacon, why not buy a whole pig? That's what we did. Back in the summer I stood in Brian and Cat Hunt's pasture down in Prattville and filmed a group of young pigs running around. Little did I know that one of them would become my dinner for many many nights to come. Brian was kind enough to take our hog (quite a big one, actually - he clocked in around 220lbs) to a meat processor in Clanton, and I brought him back here in the five coolers you see below. Don't worry - we split the pig with Joe and Sara. We don't have the freezer space! The processor didn't spare anything - we got livers, neckbones, and about ten pounds of pork fat. I told Rashmi that the only thing they didn't package was the squeal...
Reader Comments (3)
Our processor (in Lineville) included the tail and feet, too. And although we aren't using or eating them our dog thinks they are way better than store-bought dog treats. Everytime I go to the freezer to get something he follows hoping I'm sure for some of that yummy pig. We've loved our pig and plan on getting another this year!
Can you provide any details on the financial considerations? For example, how much did you pay for the pig, and how many pounds of each type of meat did you end up with?
Thanks!
We paid $300 for the pig and $86.50 to get him processed (that includes $20 for "slaughter"). For that we got 35 tenderloin packages (essentially small boneless pork chops), 7 bags of neckbones, 5 lbs of hot sausage, 15 lbs of medium sausage, 6 packs of spare ribs, 2 huge pork roasts (probably 10 lbs each), 2 huge smoked hams,15 packs of bacon, 5 lbs of fat, and 3 packs of pork liver (mmmm....pork liver). As Homer Simpson would say, the pig certainly is a magical animal!