# Where do you buy your pork fat??



## ellymae

I am haing a devil of a time finding pork fat. Where do you buy yours and what do you have to pay? Seems crazy to me to spend more on pork fat per pound then on ready made sausage.

Thanks!


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## tjohnson

I always save the trim from pork shoulders for making sausage.

The local grocery stores think pork fat is a premium cut.  I can buy pork chops for the same price!

Good Luck!

Todd


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## baboy

I went to a restaurant supply place and ordered a 50# box of back fat for less than a $/lb. Good thing I just purchases a chest freezer


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## smokeamotive

Ahhhhh for the good ole days! Use to be you could just go to the local grocery and they would Give it to you!!!


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## mballi3011

I can go to a local grocery store and sometimes they seel it to me for .25lb but then the butcher down the street wants 1.00 lb so I get mine from Winn Dixie. Now I have tried Sam's and they say that they can't seel it to me. I have been tring to catch on of the meat hacker uper in the parking lot and make a deal.


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## alelover

I got some from my local Food Lion here. Find out when they trim the butts and make country style ribs. They usually throw that fat out. He gave me 3 lbs. for free.


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## macbillybob

I went to a local shop that makes some great sausage and ask to buy some fat back and they gave me all I wanted free.

Here is S Texas we have lots of meat markets, all the Germans and Mexicans love their meat.


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## daveomak

I talk to the butchers at my local chain and they give me pork fat. Beef costs .25/#. They have to leave it out and it has to be picked up daily. Don't know why it can't go in the refer?  Some health law.


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## venture

We have a large immigrant population here.  These folks know how to cook and use cuts of meat that used to sell for next to nothing.  Consequently prices have gone way up.  Seems to me pork fat should be free or nearly so.  Now, we have to pay about 99 cents/lb.

Oh well!


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## rstr hunter

I'd check your local grocer for lard.  Many times it's either by the dairy cases or cold cut areas, sometimes it's in the baking isle.  Lard is just rendered pork fat so it would be the purest form of pork fat you can find.


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## virginiasmokesignal

Ellymae, I don't know if this will help you any but I buy my pork fat for breakfast sausage at a regional store with store in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia known as Food City who is owned by KVAT Foods, Inc., the present owner and I went to school together in high school and are to this day good friends he inherited it from his father who built the chain two years ago with the sudden death of his father. However, I pay the same thing as anyone for pork fat and they do grind it for me at no charge. The last few times I have gotten it from them, (I let them know about a week in advance) I paid .29 per pound for it. I have never purchased it anywhere else but it is good pork fat and like I say they run it through the grinder for me.  I also get my ground pork for sausage from them for breakfast sausage, (we make it out in patties and freeze it) however, the price fluctuates on it depending on what they have to make it from but if I order Lean Pork I get lean pork not pork and a bunch of fat, they trim it down and grind it good for me.  I have paid anywhere from $1.29 per lb. to 3.29 per lb. but usually some where around $1.99 to 2.29 per lb. for lean pork. Hope this helps you out, you may just have to shop around and tell them  what you want and see if you need to give them a little advance notice!

Your SMF Friend,

Barry


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## franklin3

I have a great butcher that saves  pork fat for me when he butchers for people that dont want it.  I get it in 12lb. bags.

Lasst week I defrosted three bags and  ran it through a course grind and into my turkey fryer covered with water and about five or six hours later I poured off three gallons of snow white lard.  I just love the flavor of things fried in it and I should have taken pictures so you could see the process and the results, shame on me I know how much I appreciate the pictures that others put up on their posts.  I sweasr I will take pictures next time.


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## jarhead

franklin3 said:


> I have a great butcher that saves  pork fat for me when he butchers for people that dont want it.  I get it in 12lb. bags.
> 
> Lasst week I defrosted three bags and  ran it through a course grind and into my turkey fryer covered with water and about five or six hours later I poured off three gallons of snow white lard.  I just love the flavor of things fried in it and I should have taken pictures so you could see the process and the results, shame on me I know how much I appreciate the pictures that others put up on their posts.  I sweasr I will take pictures next time.


Yep, but around here we call it "Leaf Lard" and it is not ground.

It has to be rendered down.

It makes great lard and cracklins for cornbread.


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## cbrhunter

I know this is an old thread but I just stumbled on it....if you guys make St. Louis style ribs at all when you trim up the spare ribs a lot of the fat and meat that comes off in that process makes really good grind. There is some stuff you'll want to trim off but if you spend a few minutes you can get some really good stuff. Usually over the summer time we have a few big BBQ's so plenty of ribs to trim up = good amount of fat/grind.


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## franklin3

Jarhead said:


> Yep, but around here we call it "Leaf Lard" and it is not ground.
> 
> It has to be rendered down.
> 
> It makes great lard and cracklins for cornbread.


Oh I do render it after its ground.  And leaf lard is the pure white fat from the inside of the lower rib cage.  trims off the belly before making bacon, its in there also I just dont bother seperating it from the rest of the fat since nobody in my house bakes we dont use the premium leaf lard.  Eveeryone friews so mixing the leaf and the body fat together doesn't hurt a bit.  I place the whole batch in my turkey fryer cover it with water and set it on a low slow rolling boil and after about 4hrs I have pure clear liquid gold.

dump it into gallon , quart and pint (new) paint cans and hoard it in my backyard storage under lock and key!

We fry everything with it and the difference in fried chicken is undeniabley superior to any other oil or grease I ever used.

After draining off the liquid lard I put the solids back in the fryer raise the temp a little and get golden brown delicious ground cracklins which when seasoned taste like bacon!

I realize not everyone can raise there own pigs but if you find a good butcher shop you might be surprised to find that much of the fat they trim when butchering hogs is thrown out with the trash.  I ask mine to keep it for me and he calls me when he gets 40-50lbs..................Dont tell anyone else but I get it for FREE!.........


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## LanceR

In much of the country you can find custom processors who butcher animals for the local farmers and folks who raise their own beef or pork etc.  They will usually have beef and pork fat at pretty reasonable prices.  It is sometimes hard to impossible to get during big game hunting seasons as it is going into game sausage so plan ahead.

Locally (central NY) I pay $0.50/# most of the time for either beef or pork fat and I pick up 30 or so pounds shortly before deer season.

I process my own deer (usually 4-5 a year) and 12-15# batches of burger, meat loaf mix and sausage work best for us so I bag and freeze fat in 3# bags and adjust the amount of lean meat to the recipe (usually 20% or less).  That saves me having odd lots of fat in the freezer.

Lance


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## franklin3

LanceR said:


> In much of the country you can find custom processors who butcher animals for the local farmers and folks who raise their own beef or pork etc.  They will usually have beef and pork fat at pretty reasonable prices.  It is sometimes hard to impossible to get during big game hunting seasons as it is going into game sausage so plan ahead.
> 
> Locally (central NY) I pay $0.50/# most of the time for either beef or pork fat and I pick up 30 or so pounds shortly before deer season.
> 
> I process my own deer (usually 4-5 a year) and 12-15# batches of burger, meat loaf mix and sausage work best for us so I bag and freeze fat in 3# bags and adjust the amount of lean meat to the recipe (usually 20% or less).  That saves me having odd lots of fat in the freezer.
> 
> Lance


Gotta get that fat into those lean game meats or it just dries up on you.  Sounds like you have it dialed in.  Just a thought but you could send me some and I'll let you know how good it is!

LOL!


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## LanceR

Franklin, we bag some burger lean and some at 80-85% lean.  We like most sausages at around 80% lean and the common Italian styles a little leaner.  We also use about 55-65% of the salt most recipes call for.  Even though the fat gets frozen in 3# bags we do everything metric which makes scaling batches up or down a lot easier than English measures would.  Small batches such as testing recipes can get into really small amounts of spices so since I reload rifle and pistol cartridges I use a reloading scale that is a lot more precise with small measurements than any other scale I've found.

If you can figure out how to send us some sunny 75 degree days in February maybe we can make a deal for sausage....


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## franklin3

LanceR said:


> Franklin, we bag some burger lean and some at 80-85% lean.  We like most sausages at around 80% lean and the common Italian styles a little leaner.  We also use about 55-65% of the salt most recipes call for.  Even though the fat gets frozen in 3# bags we do everything metric which makes scaling batches up or down a lot easier than English measures would.  Small batches such as testing recipes can get into really small amounts of spices so since I reload rifle and pistol cartridges I use a reloading scale that is a lot more precise with small measurements than any other scale I've found.
> 
> If you can figure out how to send us some sunny 75 degree days in February maybe we can make a deal for sausage....


Lance if I could get my hands on a sunny day Id have to keep it right now.  They have been few and far between here in usually sunny California.  Its to wet to ride and to stormy to fish.

Oh yeah its Christmas day also! SO we have a home grown ham in the oven, Crab on the boil and grandkids on there way over to open their new christmas Bows!  As in Archery Bows.

The family that shoots together never fears home invasion.

You have a good and happy holiday and may the new year bless you with good health and happiness.

We'll talk sausage later!


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## cha cha kringle

i do know about rendering the fat or ground fat for sausage but i want pork bellys to turn into chicharrones  mexicans cut it into small chunks and fry it with seasoning  and it is out of this world good   you could put it on a car bumper and it would taste good  thats what im trying to buy there is a mexican store here in town that makes it but charges $6.00 a pound i think its alot for pork so want to try and make it myself i may just have to ask them if they would sell me some i live in bum fugg egypt  oklahoma outside the military instalation and the town is in middle of no were


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## ellymae

I am haing a devil of a time finding pork fat. Where do you buy yours and what do you have to pay? Seems crazy to me to spend more on pork fat per pound then on ready made sausage.

Thanks!


----------



## tjohnson

I always save the trim from pork shoulders for making sausage.

The local grocery stores think pork fat is a premium cut.  I can buy pork chops for the same price!

Good Luck!

Todd


----------



## baboy

I went to a restaurant supply place and ordered a 50# box of back fat for less than a $/lb. Good thing I just purchases a chest freezer


----------



## smokeamotive

Ahhhhh for the good ole days! Use to be you could just go to the local grocery and they would Give it to you!!!


----------



## mballi3011

I can go to a local grocery store and sometimes they seel it to me for .25lb but then the butcher down the street wants 1.00 lb so I get mine from Winn Dixie. Now I have tried Sam's and they say that they can't seel it to me. I have been tring to catch on of the meat hacker uper in the parking lot and make a deal.


----------



## alelover

I got some from my local Food Lion here. Find out when they trim the butts and make country style ribs. They usually throw that fat out. He gave me 3 lbs. for free.


----------



## macbillybob

I went to a local shop that makes some great sausage and ask to buy some fat back and they gave me all I wanted free.

Here is S Texas we have lots of meat markets, all the Germans and Mexicans love their meat.


----------



## daveomak

I talk to the butchers at my local chain and they give me pork fat. Beef costs .25/#. They have to leave it out and it has to be picked up daily. Don't know why it can't go in the refer?  Some health law.


----------



## venture

We have a large immigrant population here.  These folks know how to cook and use cuts of meat that used to sell for next to nothing.  Consequently prices have gone way up.  Seems to me pork fat should be free or nearly so.  Now, we have to pay about 99 cents/lb.

Oh well!


----------



## rstr hunter

I'd check your local grocer for lard.  Many times it's either by the dairy cases or cold cut areas, sometimes it's in the baking isle.  Lard is just rendered pork fat so it would be the purest form of pork fat you can find.


----------



## virginiasmokesignal

Ellymae, I don't know if this will help you any but I buy my pork fat for breakfast sausage at a regional store with store in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia known as Food City who is owned by KVAT Foods, Inc., the present owner and I went to school together in high school and are to this day good friends he inherited it from his father who built the chain two years ago with the sudden death of his father. However, I pay the same thing as anyone for pork fat and they do grind it for me at no charge. The last few times I have gotten it from them, (I let them know about a week in advance) I paid .29 per pound for it. I have never purchased it anywhere else but it is good pork fat and like I say they run it through the grinder for me.  I also get my ground pork for sausage from them for breakfast sausage, (we make it out in patties and freeze it) however, the price fluctuates on it depending on what they have to make it from but if I order Lean Pork I get lean pork not pork and a bunch of fat, they trim it down and grind it good for me.  I have paid anywhere from $1.29 per lb. to 3.29 per lb. but usually some where around $1.99 to 2.29 per lb. for lean pork. Hope this helps you out, you may just have to shop around and tell them  what you want and see if you need to give them a little advance notice!

Your SMF Friend,

Barry


----------



## franklin3

I have a great butcher that saves  pork fat for me when he butchers for people that dont want it.  I get it in 12lb. bags.

Lasst week I defrosted three bags and  ran it through a course grind and into my turkey fryer covered with water and about five or six hours later I poured off three gallons of snow white lard.  I just love the flavor of things fried in it and I should have taken pictures so you could see the process and the results, shame on me I know how much I appreciate the pictures that others put up on their posts.  I sweasr I will take pictures next time.


----------



## jarhead

franklin3 said:


> I have a great butcher that saves  pork fat for me when he butchers for people that dont want it.  I get it in 12lb. bags.
> 
> Lasst week I defrosted three bags and  ran it through a course grind and into my turkey fryer covered with water and about five or six hours later I poured off three gallons of snow white lard.  I just love the flavor of things fried in it and I should have taken pictures so you could see the process and the results, shame on me I know how much I appreciate the pictures that others put up on their posts.  I sweasr I will take pictures next time.


Yep, but around here we call it "Leaf Lard" and it is not ground.

It has to be rendered down.

It makes great lard and cracklins for cornbread.


----------



## cbrhunter

I know this is an old thread but I just stumbled on it....if you guys make St. Louis style ribs at all when you trim up the spare ribs a lot of the fat and meat that comes off in that process makes really good grind. There is some stuff you'll want to trim off but if you spend a few minutes you can get some really good stuff. Usually over the summer time we have a few big BBQ's so plenty of ribs to trim up = good amount of fat/grind.


----------



## franklin3

Jarhead said:


> Yep, but around here we call it "Leaf Lard" and it is not ground.
> 
> It has to be rendered down.
> 
> It makes great lard and cracklins for cornbread.


Oh I do render it after its ground.  And leaf lard is the pure white fat from the inside of the lower rib cage.  trims off the belly before making bacon, its in there also I just dont bother seperating it from the rest of the fat since nobody in my house bakes we dont use the premium leaf lard.  Eveeryone friews so mixing the leaf and the body fat together doesn't hurt a bit.  I place the whole batch in my turkey fryer cover it with water and set it on a low slow rolling boil and after about 4hrs I have pure clear liquid gold.

dump it into gallon , quart and pint (new) paint cans and hoard it in my backyard storage under lock and key!

We fry everything with it and the difference in fried chicken is undeniabley superior to any other oil or grease I ever used.

After draining off the liquid lard I put the solids back in the fryer raise the temp a little and get golden brown delicious ground cracklins which when seasoned taste like bacon!

I realize not everyone can raise there own pigs but if you find a good butcher shop you might be surprised to find that much of the fat they trim when butchering hogs is thrown out with the trash.  I ask mine to keep it for me and he calls me when he gets 40-50lbs..................Dont tell anyone else but I get it for FREE!.........


----------



## LanceR

In much of the country you can find custom processors who butcher animals for the local farmers and folks who raise their own beef or pork etc.  They will usually have beef and pork fat at pretty reasonable prices.  It is sometimes hard to impossible to get during big game hunting seasons as it is going into game sausage so plan ahead.

Locally (central NY) I pay $0.50/# most of the time for either beef or pork fat and I pick up 30 or so pounds shortly before deer season.

I process my own deer (usually 4-5 a year) and 12-15# batches of burger, meat loaf mix and sausage work best for us so I bag and freeze fat in 3# bags and adjust the amount of lean meat to the recipe (usually 20% or less).  That saves me having odd lots of fat in the freezer.

Lance


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## franklin3

LanceR said:


> In much of the country you can find custom processors who butcher animals for the local farmers and folks who raise their own beef or pork etc.  They will usually have beef and pork fat at pretty reasonable prices.  It is sometimes hard to impossible to get during big game hunting seasons as it is going into game sausage so plan ahead.
> 
> Locally (central NY) I pay $0.50/# most of the time for either beef or pork fat and I pick up 30 or so pounds shortly before deer season.
> 
> I process my own deer (usually 4-5 a year) and 12-15# batches of burger, meat loaf mix and sausage work best for us so I bag and freeze fat in 3# bags and adjust the amount of lean meat to the recipe (usually 20% or less).  That saves me having odd lots of fat in the freezer.
> 
> Lance


Gotta get that fat into those lean game meats or it just dries up on you.  Sounds like you have it dialed in.  Just a thought but you could send me some and I'll let you know how good it is!

LOL!


----------



## LanceR

Franklin, we bag some burger lean and some at 80-85% lean.  We like most sausages at around 80% lean and the common Italian styles a little leaner.  We also use about 55-65% of the salt most recipes call for.  Even though the fat gets frozen in 3# bags we do everything metric which makes scaling batches up or down a lot easier than English measures would.  Small batches such as testing recipes can get into really small amounts of spices so since I reload rifle and pistol cartridges I use a reloading scale that is a lot more precise with small measurements than any other scale I've found.

If you can figure out how to send us some sunny 75 degree days in February maybe we can make a deal for sausage....


----------



## franklin3

LanceR said:


> Franklin, we bag some burger lean and some at 80-85% lean.  We like most sausages at around 80% lean and the common Italian styles a little leaner.  We also use about 55-65% of the salt most recipes call for.  Even though the fat gets frozen in 3# bags we do everything metric which makes scaling batches up or down a lot easier than English measures would.  Small batches such as testing recipes can get into really small amounts of spices so since I reload rifle and pistol cartridges I use a reloading scale that is a lot more precise with small measurements than any other scale I've found.
> 
> If you can figure out how to send us some sunny 75 degree days in February maybe we can make a deal for sausage....


Lance if I could get my hands on a sunny day Id have to keep it right now.  They have been few and far between here in usually sunny California.  Its to wet to ride and to stormy to fish.

Oh yeah its Christmas day also! SO we have a home grown ham in the oven, Crab on the boil and grandkids on there way over to open their new christmas Bows!  As in Archery Bows.

The family that shoots together never fears home invasion.

You have a good and happy holiday and may the new year bless you with good health and happiness.

We'll talk sausage later!


----------



## cha cha kringle

i do know about rendering the fat or ground fat for sausage but i want pork bellys to turn into chicharrones  mexicans cut it into small chunks and fry it with seasoning  and it is out of this world good   you could put it on a car bumper and it would taste good  thats what im trying to buy there is a mexican store here in town that makes it but charges $6.00 a pound i think its alot for pork so want to try and make it myself i may just have to ask them if they would sell me some i live in bum fugg egypt  oklahoma outside the military instalation and the town is in middle of no were


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