Barbecue is good for us.

Here’s a few tidbits we’ve learned about ordering a whole pig from your local butcher.

1. Find a good butcher. Calling around we found that prices varied somewhat, and quality (I’m sure) as well. If you live in the East Bay, order from Ver Brugge. Ask for Jerry – he’s the nicest guy. He tells me their pig supplier is a small farm in Canada that’s ‘as close to organic as you can get.’
2. Make sure you are ordering (and paying) for the dressed weight of the pig, not the live weight. Dressed weight is the weight after the pig has been completely prepared for your consumption. You can guess what live weight is.
3. Depending on who you ask and how big a pig you get, plan on 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of carcass per person. That’ll turn out to be in the ballpark of 1/2 lb of meat per person.
4. Our pig is costing us in the neighborhood of $2.80 per pound. Remember that cleaning and preparation is built into that cost, and it’s not small chore. The butcher has to take out the guts and (more annoyingly), since the skin will be left on make sure that it is completely clean and smooth. Often this will require them to actually get out the Bic and shave the damn thing.
5. Ask your butcher to cut off the feet no matter how you cook the pig. We’re doing butterfly style instead of rotisserie, so we’ve also asked them to cut the breast bone for us and take the head off. Strictly speaking, you don’t have to take the head off for butterfly, but for a variety of reasons (including the gross-out factor), we’ve opted to do it. You’ll only lose 5ish pounds of meat by cutting off the head. The part I’m really sad about losing, though, is those cheeks. Pork cheeks are heaven.

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