This was Ty. Weighing in over 180 lbs at Chugach Farm in Chickaloon, Ty was raised kindly and fed well. His fullname was longer, Japanese and meant: Use all the parts. Ty is our first ever pork share, for lack of a better term.

Adam and I went in on 1/2 a pig with JP and Bro, our Valley friends. Part of the deal was we processed it ourself. Enter YouTube. Seriously, with the help of three solid YouTube videos  we familiarized ourselves with the primal cut, the H bone (or was it ache bone?) and so much more. My favorite instructional video was this one. I loved the French Chef’s style. (If you’re interested another good video is here).

92 lbs ready to rock

1/2 pig

After primal cut – 3 key areas

Boneless Chop (prior to trimming fat)

Kbro trimming fat

We worked for 6+ hours, cutting bones and meat and trimming fat. Of course, we had to stop and sample the meat periodically. Adam and Kimbrough experimented with cuts and marinades and I happily sampled.

Adam + Bacon

Kimbrough + Trotter

Aimee + H Bone

In the spirit of Ty, we are using everything! You can guess pork chops, tenderloin, rib meat… There’s also hocks, ham steaks and soon-to-be handground sausage. I’m most excited to cure and smoke our own bacon (following this recipe) and… render our own lard.

Seriously. We’re going for it! There was a ton of fat on Ty, as you might imagine. We split the trimmings between sausage and lard. Here’s a post on the benefits of lard and the receipe we’re following to bring it to life. My No-Fail Family Pie Crust recipe calls for a ton of shortening – I’m looking forward to substituting our product instead.