suckling pig

I am hosting a dinner next Saturday and I want to roast a suckling pig. My grandmother used to make them about 20 years ago and it was a great meal for 10-12 people. I asked a Jewel and Whole Foods to find out if either could order one for next Saturday, but both replied that they couldn't even order one. My question is, are there any butchers, Central or Eastern European, in near west suburbs or city that could get me one of these guys?

bern bern wrote:I am hosting a dinner next Saturday and I want to roast a suckling pig. My grandmother used to make them about 20 years ago and it was a great meal for 10-12 people. I asked a Jewel and Whole Foods to find out if either could order one for next Saturday, but both replied that they couldn't even order one. My question is, are there any butchers, Central or Eastern European, in near west suburbs or city that could get me one of these guys?

Hispanic butchers might also be able to help you out, as well as Greek. There's a Greek butcher shop on the east side of Halsted, north of the river, south of Grand, that sells various less common things and they might very well be able to provide you with the item in question. You might also want to try Nea Agora on Taylor.

Antonius

Antonius wrote:

bern bern wrote:I am hosting a dinner next Saturday and I want to roast a suckling pig. My grandmother used to make them about 20 years ago and it was a great meal for 10-12 people. I asked a Jewel and Whole Foods to find out if either could order one for next Saturday, but both replied that they couldn't even order one. My question is, are there any butchers, Central or Eastern European, in near west suburbs or city that could get me one of these guys?

Hispanic butchers might also be able to help you out, as well as Greek. There's a Greek butcher shop on the east side of Halsted, north of the river, south of Grand, that sells various less common things and they might very well be able to provide you with the item in question.

In fact, this Greek butcher often has a sign in their window advertising suckling pigs. I have never tried them.

I believe these are the particulars:

Halsted Packing House
445 N Halsted St
Chicago
(312) 421-5147

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:In fact, this Greek butcher often has a sign in their window advertising suckling pigs.

I thought that was the case but I haven't seen the sign in a while and so I wasn't completely positive about the signs any more.

Does Peoria carry suckling pigs?

Antonius

Antonius wrote:Does Peoria carry suckling pigs?

A,

Peoria Packing will special order suckling pig with a couple of days lead time, ask for Andy. Cost is* $2.49 per pound with an approximate weight of 30-lbs.

Enjoy,
Gary

*subject to change

Peoria Packing
1300 W Lake Street
Chicago, IL 60607
312-738-1800

I'd also add Chicago Meat to your list of potential suppliers. They do a huge trade in whole pigs and lambs...especially around holiday time.

Chicago Meat Market
3021 N. Cicero
Chicago, IL
(773) 489-6517

In the past, I have seen them at both these places in Niles around holidays. I have not seen them lately. But you might see if they will special order one. They called them "baby" pigs, not "suckling" , I don't know if there is a difference. Farmers Best is a Russian market and Sun View is Greek.

I believe AnnieB went on a quest for suckling pigs a couple of months ago. Perhaps she found a source.


Farmers Best Produce
8526 W Golf Rd
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 965-0260

Sun View Market
9020 W Golf Rd
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 298-3355

HI,

Since you are calling around, why inquire with:

T&C Meat Market (Greek-Puerto Rican)
2812 West North Avenue
Chicago 60647
773/276-2220
(T&C also does whole lamb)

If you don't mind, it would be interesting if you would post the various prices and piglet sizes offered to you as you do your due diligence.

Regards,

d4v3 wrote: They called them "baby" pigs, not "suckling" , I don't know if there is a difference. Farmers Best is a Russian market and Sun View is Greek.

If they're genuine suckling pigs, they're still very young, and I remember hearing from a friend some years back (a fan of suckling pig) that genuine suckling pigs aren't legally available in Illinois, though I have not seen anything that confirms that. Be that as it may, since domestic pigs are, I believe, weaned somewhere in the 3 to 4 week range, these baby pigs must be at least a little older than that.

Antonius

eatchicago wrote:In fact, this Greek butcher often has a sign in their window advertising suckling pigs. I have never tried them.

I believe these are the particulars:

Halsted Packing House
445 N Halsted St
Chicago
(312) 421-5147

Best,
Michael

Halsted Packing House is a neighbor of ours, and they always have a lot of fresh killed stuff. I stopped in once, but was taken aback by the barn smell at the butcher counter, since they keep the live animals right in the back. Having been raised on a farm, I'm usually not too sensitive to the smell of manure, but when it is right there in the meat department, it just seems a little off. Too many flies on the meat for me as well. That was a first and last visit for me. It felt a little too third-worldly. I believe that Grant Park Packing on Lake St. would order a suckling pig or goat for you, though.

Antonius wrote:since domestic pigs are, I believe, weaned somewhere in the 3 to 4 week range, these baby pigs must be at least a little older than that.

That is what I suspected, they did seem larger than what I think of as suckling pigs.

d4v3 wrote:

Antonius wrote:since domestic pigs are, I believe, weaned somewhere in the 3 to 4 week range, these baby pigs must be at least a little older than that.

That is what I suspected, they did seem larger than what I think of as suckling pigs.

Average weaning weight for piglets is right around 16 lbs.

My quest for suckling pig is slow-moving, it's in the "I want to do that one of these days." I have checked out a number of places, including the place on Halsted, their pigs are too big.

Next on my list are the Russian places in Niles. I am also going to inquire at Andy's Fruit Ranch on Kedzie near Lawrence, as I once saw a beautiful, small suckling pig there (about 18 inches in length) for about $30, packed and in the meat case. Just couldn't pull off a suckling pig event that would have justified buying it. But I have purchased baby lamb and very young and small veal from them (some of which I cooked yesterday and it was lovely). So it's worth an inquiry of their meat department.

Slightly off topic, if you purchase the lamb or veal from them, you are forewarned to engage the butchers in detailed discussion of how you want it cut up before you commit yourself. Make sure you have a clear, shared understanding of the final results--they have a tendency to run things through the bandsaw with great abandon.

What about "Farm Meat" the place on Lake in Addison, in the strip mall next to where Caputo's used to be? The sign in the window seems promising.

Sorry, don't have a phone number.

Diannie

After inquiring at Joe and Franks on Archer and Harlem, my brother in law was driving home and stopped in at the Berwyn Fruit market on Harlem and Ogden. It's owned by a Greek family, but mosly caters to Mexican and Bohemian shoppers.
Regardless, he asked if they could get one. They replied, "Yes" but they snickered because they said that they don't get requests for those ever and I am picking it up on Saturday morning. It will be 20 -25 pounds at $1.69 per pound. Now let's see if I can cook that little guy.

Berwyn Fruit Market
3811 South Harlem
Berwyn

bern bern wrote:It will be 20 -25 pounds at $1.69 per pound. Now let's see if I can cook that little guy.

Bern Bern,

Nice find, $1.69 seems a good price.

I'd love to hear how you are going to cook the little piggy. I know, you said your grandmothers recipe, but how about a few more details.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:
I'd love to hear how you are going to cook the little piggy. I know, you said your grandmothers recipe, but how about a few more details.

Enjoy,
Gary

For those of us without smokers, would a rotisserie on a medium size Weber work at a relatively low (285-300), slow (3-4 hours) roasting work? How big is a 20-25 lb. dressed pig in terms of actual physical dimensions? I've always wanted to cook some whole small animal on the spit on my grill, must be the caveman in me. And nice, grain-fed chihuahuas are hard to come by in the states...

This thread is conjuring images of the most recent cochon de lait I attended in Louisiana.

Although suckling pigs were used back in the day ("milking pig"=cochon de lait), they tend to use a much fattened version now, presumably to feed the bigger crowds.

If you're looking for the traditional cooking method, these instructions are quite handy.

But if you want to go new school, the Cajun microwave is big now, too.

If anyone on the forum would ever care to attempt to build one of these suckers, I would gladly bring beer and watch. I'm not the most gifted with the tools and the building, but I can fetch beer and offer words of encouragement.

Very simiilar to the caja China, used for lechon. Of course, Havana and New Orleans are close cousins, so this makes sense. They sell kits for both, no?

Well, my grandmother doesn't have an actual recipe, but she followed the rule of oral tradition by just telling me the recipe. Of course, I forgot it, but essentially she just roasted it in the oven. Also, I have been reading a little about roasting it, however I know that I need to make sure that I baste about every half hour.
I would have smoked it all day, because I am a big fan of that because it would deliver juicy and smokey meat, however my fiancee is not a big fan of the taste. Therefore we are going for the oven route. I'll update as I put the method together a little better.

For anyone else, Dartagnan's can get you a suckling pig at 11-15 pounds, though at $125 per animal, that seems like pretty much a rip-off (unless it's closer to what you want than you can procure in Chicago).

ParkerS wrote:For anyone else, Dartagnan's can get you a suckling pig at 11-15 pounds, though at $125 per animal, that seems like pretty much a rip-off (unless it's closer to what you want than you can procure in Chicago).

Agreed. I would look for something closer to $2/lb.

Hi,

The price of whole baby pigs:

Andy's Fruit Ranch: $2.99/# with a 27# frozen available now
Berwyn Fruit Market: $2./# in the range of 25-30 pounds
Chicago Meat Market: $2.69/# in the range of 20+ pounds
Halsted Meat Market: $2.29/# in the range of 25-30 pounds
Nea Agora on Taylor: $1.85/# in the range of 20-25 pounds - 1 day
Sun View: $2.99/# in the range of 25-30 pounds
T&C: $2.96/# for 30 pounds or $130 fully cooked.

Andy's Fruit Ranch advised they could obtain smaller pigs until 4 years ago, but not since.

Regards,

Hi,

I called an independent pig farmer hoping to find my smaller piggie. I learned the baby pigs are vaccinated when they are approximately 10 days old or 3-4 pounds. Once vaccinated, then it is 42 days before they can be slaughtered for human consumption. The pigs are approximately 40 pounds weight or 32 pounds dressed after 42 days, which accounts for why pigs are no smaller than 25-30 pounds are available.

I did inquire if he could segregate a piggie instead of vaccinating. He advised there is a chance they could die before reaching the 10-15 pound dressed weight. I suggested if he could do this and needed a minimum number of pigs, then please let me know.

Regards,

In the Chicagoland area?

Sorry as I am new to this, is that weight range a suckling??

Hi,

I merged your post into this topic because most of your questions are answered above plus sources for pigs.

It happens that a true suckling pig is a lot harder to obtain than a pig in the size range you desired.

Good luck and do report back on the outcome.

Regards,

All -

I have been searching for a pig predominately in SW Michigan for a roast we plan to do on Monday.

I have found a number of sources but the prices vary greatly, the two best options are as follows:

$2.49/lb with head, skin and no hair and is about 4 minutes from my house
$1.30 with head, no skin but is about an hour from my house

Anyone else heard of getting a pig like this with no skin? Will it change greatly the way it roasts?

Planning to roast over an open fire on the beach turning on a spit by hand. A good friend of mine is an expert on this, but I cannot get ahold of him to discuss doing this without skin.

Any thoughts?

I can't imagine a scenario where I would buy a pig for roasting without skin. That's like buying a porterhouse and having the butcher trim off all that pesky meat

Hi,

I would want the skin at least as a safety net. If you burn the skin, it can be peeled back to access the meat.

If you ever visit the purveyor offering the skinless pig, then please take a picture. I'd love to see what it looks like. You may want to ask them who their clientelle is who prefers skin off as well as what are they doing with the skin. Maybe they earn more money from chicharron? BTW - why not advise the names of the establishments where you may buy the pig. It may useful to someone someday.

Looking forward to your report on the meal.

Regards,

Skin off is common for roasters in SW MI in my experience. When I get mine from a local organic farmer, I ask that the processor leave much of it on (they remove some from the back along with some excess fat, which actually helps cut down on flare-ups). To Cathy's point, the pig is actually much less likely to explode into flame skin off with some of the fatty layer removed. The skin can be pretty volitile when it gets hot, and once it lights up, that's it, showtime. Open pit, open flame on a spit is where a flareup is most likely. Make sure that spit keeps turning. On the other hand, chicharon tastes good. I think it's worth the risk. But skin off, the underlying meat will cook about the same and taste about the same. Not really a consideration.

Those prices are well within reason. You could get 99 cents a pound on Lake St. in Chicago for a "factory pig." It's possible that the place nearer your home has local pigs at that higher price. SW MI is a relatively active pig-raising area and there's a large stockyard/auction house near Jones. I think it is. Even if the nearby pig is not from a family farm, organic, etc., but from a large nearby producer, I'd consider it over something generic from IBP. You will have a better idea of where it coame from and how long it's been at rest. In a word, I'd dig into it.