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Had to choose between grass-fed and grain-finished for a whole hog butcher this week
Customer wanted a custom order for a 200lb Berkshire hog. They asked me to pick between grass-fed or grain-finished. I went with grain-finished because the fat renders better and the marbling is more consistent for their roasting cuts. But man, the grass-fed backfat was way yellower and had that stronger flavor. Got the primal cuts done yesterday and the loins look solid. Anyone else deal with customers who don't know what they want but still want you to decide?
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the_vera1mo ago
Did you check if the customer has any plans for curing or smoking any of the primal cuts? Because grass-fed fat can sometimes get a weird brittle texture when cured, while grain-finished holds up way better for bacon or pancetta. The stronger flavor on that grass-fed backfat might have worked for someone who explicitly wanted a lard-heavy product, but for roasting it's usually a miss.
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