Our Pasture Raised Pork
We proudly offer the following (no-soy!) pork products that TC Farm Members can order:
Every type of chop you can imagine
Tenderloin Roasts
Shoulder Roasts
Spare and Loin Ribs
Ground Pork
Bacon
Sliced Deli Ham
Smoked Ribs
Smoked Pulled Pork
We share some of our favorite recipes later on this page. Your should know that pasture raised pork chops need some special preparation advice. This isn't because it is hard to cook but rather because in the past we've all been given terrible advice to cook pork to 170º. Even great pork chops like ours won't taste good at that temperature. Fortunately, the government backed off, now recommending 145º. For sure the maximum temp we enjoy. Our tips for preparing perfect pastured pork are worth the read regardless of where your pork chops are from.
It Takes Time to Raise Grass Fed Pork
Our pork is fantastic (and we never used to like pork at all)! At the market, the best we could find was conventional GMO fed, factory-farmed genetics. It was tough and didn't taste good to us.
Before we had our farm, I volunteered at a farmer's market pig farm. Their "pasture raised" pigs were locked up in a muddy pen and not at all what I had had envisioned.
So we started our own farm raising organic fed, no-soy heritage breed hogs. No growth drugs, no gross sup-therapeutic antibiotics, no gestation crates. The difference was astounding.
This was the first pork chop Betsy really enjoyed. Since our pork is rotated on fresh lush pasture, they are more nutritious than what you'd find elsewhere too.
What Makes Our Pasture Raised Pork Special?
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Heritage Breeds
Heritage flavorWe never liked pork chops before.
We were so wrong!
Heritage pork is amazing!
Most breeds of pork available today are from fast growing breeds. This is cheaper for the farmer to raise but can be dry and tasteless.
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Lush Green Pasture
Green ForageWhen we say "pasture raised" it means our animals thrive on actual green pasture.
You'd think that should be obvious, but for others "pasture" can just be a factory barn full of straw.
Truly pasture raised meats are healthier and tastier. Taking even a little shortcut will spoil the effort.
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Organic Grains
Why Organic?Our hogs get a large amount of food from the pasture. They still require grain to thrive.
We were surprised to learn almost all local small farms are using conventional GMO feed. When we started out farming, we couldn't believe how hard it was to simply find organic feed to buy. Every local feed source was conventional GMO based.
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No Drugs
Just Say NoOthers engineer things to raise pork as fast and cheap as possible. They'll sell "hormone free, antibiotic free" meat, but secretly use other growth drugs.
Yeah. That's not for us. Not At all.
We never use any type of growth drug. Ever.
Zero. Ziltch. None.
Some TC Farm Pasture Raised Pork Recipes
Meatballs take more time that we have right now. Instead of spending my entire evening cooking, I made the following recipe loosely based on the meatball recipe. We served this on top of plain cooked quinoa, but any grain you like to use would do fine. Rice, cous cous, pasta – use whatever you have in your pantry.
Better Than Bulk
We sometimes get asked about bulk orders. Yes, we do offer bulk orders for our members, but we have found nearly all families prefer to pick and choose the cuts they like best. This is especially the case with pork. The typical heritage hog might have 25-40 pounds of fat on it. What are you going to do with all that fat you paid for?
I'll tell you what TC Farm does: We use it with our grass fed beef hind roasts and make some of the most amazing sausages. (You've gotta try our beef/pork summer sausage!)
It is a win-win, we get the best tasting summer sausage and nobody has to pay for fat they'd throw away.
As a member, you choose which of the amazing cuts your family enjoys. Regardless your preference, bulk or not, you will want to be sure to order a sampler pack from your farm of choice before filling your freezer. (As a member, you can do that online with us without any commitment for a future order.) That way you can taste test our amazing pork before making a large order!
Ready to taste the heritage pork difference?
We have had so many new members tell us ours was the first pork they've enjoyed.
Try our pasture raised pork. Become a member today!
The photo of Jack with the pig in the woods and our family with the pigs on pasture are courtesy of Amanda at Hartbeet Kitchen -- Thanks!