Heritage Pork Values

Bored on a Saturday Afternoon, so did a little research for a friend of mine who was asking about the cut-outs on different heritage breed Hogs. I ran into a fine website at the University of Kentucky and a great study comparing carcasses of eight hogs who were raised exactly the same. I synthesized the 170 or so pages of info and put together this chart. The Full Study is on the website at https://dhn-hes.ca.uky.edu/con...e-hog-carcass-yields




So if you get a Large Black Hog processed the Butts will weight a total of about 7 percent of the hot hanging weight. So if the hog hangs at 200 pounds, it will have a total of 14 pounds of butts, or two seven-pound pork butts.

Also, look at the lean percentages, as some of the pigs have a lot more fat than others, literally inches stacked on top of the meat. For example, the American Guinea Hog boast of nearly 21% side meat (pork belly), but the belly itself is very thick and composed almost all of fat.

These lean percentages are no-way close to commercial hogs. At least heritage breeds have some fat, compared to modern pork, which has a lot of it's fat and flavor bred out.

Some of these pigs used to be popular when we needed lard for soap but fell out of favor as society turned modern and lean. Still a lot of great BBQ in these guys!!!