Well, make that half a pig. Last week we took delivery of a side of pork from a local farmer. This is our second time buying a side of pork from a local farmer. (and third time buying meat in bulk. I wrote an earlier post about buying beef in bulk.)
The total cost came to $278.00, 112 pounds @ $2.48 per pound. By ordering local, we get to call the meat processor and get to specify, within a certain limit, what type of cuts we want, how thick the pork chops, how much in sausage versus chops, and so on.
The other benefit of course, is that the meat is free from all the garbage that is frequently added, like antibiotics and growth hormones… or water. As reported at the Consumerist website, injected pork water is probably not high on the list of knowledgeable shoppers. Not that there’s anything wrong with brining your pork, just that we’d like to have that option after the purchase, and not have to pay $2.48 a pound for the extra saline water.
This piggie is not completely organic. It started out as a 4H project at a local school, and then it was “fed out” on feed corn by the farmer. It it was raised completely organically, I suspect that the price would be closer to 6 or 7 bucks a pound, such as sold by at Tide Mill Organic Farm. But it is fresh, and it sure is tasty.
Here’s what you can do with some pork chops, some rosemary and a grill, with no marinade or little preparation.
Preparation is minimalist. First, sprinkle fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt or sea salt on each side. Get your coals good and hot, and let them sear on one side for about 3 minutes. Then flip. Your underside should look like this:
Take these three minutes to step over to your garden, and cut 10to 20 small sprigs of rosemary.
and lay half of them on a clean cookie sheet. (I realize that some readers live in apartment and condos and don’t have gardens, but rosemary is very easy to grown on a window sill or balcony. Get you a pot of it!)
When the chops are done on the other side, lay them on top of the rosemary. Lay yet more rosemary sprigs on top, and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Let them rest for a few minutes before serving. Of course, do make sure that the meat is done before taking it off the fire. One method that I like to use is cut and peek, taking my pocket knife and making a small cut in one of the chops and looking at the color of the meat inside. I don’t do it with all of them, since it lets out the juices and dries it out a bit.
I’ve made chops this way several times, and they’ve turned out sensational. The heat of the meat coming straight off the hot grill brings out the rosemary oils, and infuses them very nicely throughout. Now, I haven’t tried this with store-bought chops, so I suspect the results may be different.
I just realized the patio table is a little messy in the last picture, but to my defense I remember I was rushing around a little, multi tasking with the other dishes that were cooking inside. Oh, and that’s a bottle of Naval Jelly rust remover at the top of the cookie sheet. Definitely not part of the ingredients 
The Glenmorangie single malt was on the other hand fuel for the cook.
In conclusion, highly recommend buying a freezer and buying beef/pork in bulk. Saves you money in the long run, and you get higher quality products. If you’re concerned about sustainability and being a little greener, buying from your local farmer has the double benefit of the pork or beef not having been trucked/shipped in from hundreds/thousands of miles away, and it keeps your money in the local economy. A nice side consequence is that it forces us to eat out less, the rationale being that with all that food in our freezer, let’s see what we can cook up.
Sounds like a heck of a deal and you cut out the middle man mark-up.
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That looks absolutely delicious! Great pictures btw!
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Thanks, MC. I don’t get how the rosemary came out purple though.
I’ve heard about this a few times and never got around to buying meat in bulk. We just dropped a ton at costco and I haven’t used this same concept with meat. We definitely should, as we have a garage fridge. Thanks for the reminder and glad it’s working out!
Hello Darwin, thanks for the feedback. The farmer warned us the first time, be careful because you might never go back to store-bought. He was right.
I know that as soon as I bought have a pig or cow, we would lose power for a week. (That actually happened after my final big trip to Costco. I lost a ton of money in food!)
It sounds like a great idea, and a tasty one too. I would have no idea what to ask for in terms of cuts though.
You sound like a fantastic cook! By the way, I am a cut and peeker too!
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I’ve had exactly the same worries. Last winter we had a forecast for an ice storm. Thinking we were going to lose power like in a couple other recent ice storms, we went out and bought a backup generator, specifically so we wouldn’t lose the freezer and fridge contents.
You’re very kind to say, but I’m not that great a cook. I have worked in a restaurant kitchen, and picked up some basics, which help when interpreting new recipes. No matter how hard I try though, can’t make it taste like Mom used to make.
I agree with Kris, this sounds quite tasty. Cheers to you for finding a great deal by leveraging your buying power and available storage. I wonder how long that pig would last us?
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For a family of four (us), we’re just now finishing up the last bits from the last one, like the ham hocks. Even after a year in the freezer, it hasn’t seemed to have that much of an effect on the quality.
Sounds Yummy! you still have rosemary at this time of year? Mine disappeared a long time ago under layers and layers of snow
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Mich, the creeping rosemary looks now about the same as in the picture. It should make it through the winter. We still have a couple of plants of red kale and some onions, even though we’ve had a few hard freezes.
I’m literally drooling. Delish.
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Thanks… here’s a virtual napkin
Looks great! I like the local angle as well. We go to the farmer market, but everything is so expensive so we only buy a few things. Unfortunately, we don’t have any space for a freezer.
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RB40, I’ve seen both at farmer’s market, very high prices and reasonable ones. The lower prices are at a a smaller, more out of the way farmer’s market. It’s a shame that they were asked to relocate from a large shopping mall parking lot (or carry very expensive insurance). The local Dollar General generously donated the use of their parking lot for Saturdays, and even though it’s farther, we occasionally make the drive on Saturdays. There is another major farmer’s market in midtown, but prices are higher and the vendors a little snootier. It’s in a trendier, more upscale location, maybe it’s just my impression.
This looks good, and more healthy than using store-bought products. If you have the time to do this, and cut out middlemen/processing as much as possible – getting stuff as fresh or “natural” as possible – meals can be less expensive and healthier as well.
When I read to this part: “hot grill brings out the rosemary oils, and infuses them very nicely throughout”, it got me hungry. Well, I’m already a bit hungry as I type this, so let’s say it got me even hungrier:)
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Squirrelers, I hope you got that hunger sorted out OK. Maybe it’s just in my head, but I do feel better in the last couple of years since we started paying more attention to dietary habits. Also don’t get sick or suffer from allergies as much.
That is a really good price. We get our meat from an organic farmer who swings through our area every 2 months. He charges $4.30 per pound for a 70 lb. side of pork which isn’t bad. The meat tastes SO much better than supermarket stuff. We usually pay a little more to mix and match meats as we don’t eat that much or have that much freezer space.
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Jennifer, you’re right, the taste is light years ahead of supermarket standard. We managed to find a space for the 7 cu. ft. chest freezer in the small storage room upstairs. Not terribly convenient, but it fits.
We buy a few cows (pick them out in the spring and bring them to the local butcher in the fall) every year. We split them up among about 10 families. It’s great buy yes we do have a ‘meat’ freezer that is on our front porch.
This year we are researching raising our own pigs. We have a friend that would help with the slaughter. My only real hold off is I’ve heard they can be expensive to raise (apparently the eat a lot – who whodda thunk!). I surprised you were able to get the meat for such a reasonable price per pound!
Hi Molly,
It helps living in OK, some costs of living are lower.
We’ve had some of the beef for over a year, but I haven’t noticed any loss in flavor or freezer burn.
Good luck on the piggies. If you had some space I suppose you could plant some root crop fodder for them.
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Our full piggy is due to arrive at the end of May and I’m quite excited. He won’t be cut up into chops and the like, though – Mr D and I will be doing the cutting and then either curing or canning everything. Like yours, the pig isn’t completely organic, but it was raised on a small family farm and it’s a “fresh air and sunshine” pig. And I’m thrilled with the price – because we’re doing all the cutting and curing and sausage making ourselves, it’ll be less than $300 total, delivered right to our door!