It was the best of times it was the worst of times…

It was the worst of times...

Since I want to end on a positive note, I will start out by sharing the “worst of times”. Last week we started running low on apples to feed to the pigs so we decided that on Friday we would go pick up some more at Hollie’s parents’ farm. By now many of the apples have fallen on the ground which isn’t very friendly on our backs. Friday rolled around and we were delayed in the morning by a friend who was having a much worse day than I care to have. By the time we were ready to leave, I realized that we wouldn’t make it to Hollie’s parents’ farm in time to get back and take the kids camping that evening. They had been looking forward to it and you just can’t break a promise like going camping. So we ran a few errands and enjoyed the beautiful day.

We arrived home in time to load the camper on the pickup and grab some hot dogs and marshmallows. We drove the entire ten minutes it takes to get “in the middle of nowhere” by the Vernon Reservoir. The boys and I met up with my brother in law and his kids and later my childhood friend and his kids showed up. We had a good laugh at our campers all lined up in a row. All three are the “cab-over” style that sits in the back of the truck. The three of us combined spent less than $800 on those campers! All three are older than we are! The kids had a blast and were cozy in the campers sipping hot chocolate and popping popcorn over the stove. I absolutely cherish each moment I can spend with my boys and feel very blessed that I can take them camping so easily. The next morning we woke up to snow and I woke up with a head cold. We tried to do a little fishing, but it was just too cold for the younger kids.

We went home and unloaded the camper and hooked up the flatbed so we could get apples. As we pulled into Lehi, the snow showed no signs of letting up. And it never did let up. The kids were going to help pick apples to begin with but since it was so windy and cold we decided to keep them indoors. This meant Hollie would need to be inside as well to keep an eye on them. (If you’re doing the math, this leaves me to pick up apples.) So I went out to the orchard all bundled up to now dig the apples out of the snow.

If I ever had any doubt that my father in law, Sherman,  loved me, it quickly vanished when he pulled up with the tractor and maneuvered the front loader for me to load the apples. He too was all bundled up.

That’s Sherman on the tractor in the picture.

He moved the tractor along as I first kicked off the snow and then picked up the apples. It is during times like these that I begin to wonder if it is even worth the effort. I start to calculate in my head how much an hour I really make raising pigs. I continued to grumble to myself, cursing those pigs all the while those annoying snowflakes keep landing on my nose and eyelashes. Friday would have been such nice day for doing this kind of work. (The picture of me smiling is because I am utterly delirious at this point!)

After a while, we had a good load of apples to take home to the pigs. I dumped the apples to the pigs and they didn’t even say thank you. They just ate and then started using my truck as a scratching post. (I hate when they do that!) So before I decided to “harvest” the pigs early, I called it a day and went in exhausted and running a fever.





It was the best of times…

The next day I slept in a little and woke feeling much better. I hurried and got all the farm chores done. I watched the pigs wake up and run over to the apples and start eating. Then they roamed over to the haystack and started eating some alfalfa. After that they moseyed over to their grain and then up the hill for what little grass is left. The sun was shining even though it was only 15 degrees but it quickly warmed up. Despite my grumpy mood the previous day I realized that I truly love raising those pigs. I hurried and got ready as we were expecting visitors to the farm. Some of the chefs from the Viking Cooking School came as well a few others. Jim Light who I mentioned in a previous post wanted to see the farm and had asked if he and some of his colleagues and friends could make a visit.

We showed them our little farm and then invited them in to sample some bacon, ham and grilled chops.

That is me in the yellow shirt writing down an order with Jim Light behind me to the right.

Everybody seemed to enjoy the pork as was evident by the orders we received. We heard several comments like, “This is the best pork I have ever tasted!” which made us feel good especially since it was coming from a group who enjoys a wide variety of high quality, gourmet foods for a living. Suddenly picking the apples in the snowstorm didn’t seem so bad and maybe even worthwhile. We had a wonderful visit with everybody and decided that we would have to offer a farm visit to all of our customers sometime in the near future.

We have been overwhelmed with the positive response we continue to get with our pork and the many kind notes, emails, comments, and letters we receive. Thank you all for your input and response to our announcement of offering pastured chicken and turkey and grass fed beef. We will keep you updated on this blog as we move forward with these efforts. If you have suggestions or comments we would love to hear from you. We want to grow the natural, healthy food you want. We want to be your farmer!  We are now taking orders for February and April 2010 deliveries.  For ordering information see here.

Since I began this post with the opening line in Charles Dickens', "A Tale of Two Cities", I will end with its final line,

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."

Our Dream

Many people I grew up with are shocked when they find out that we raise pigs. I was born in downtown Copenhagen, Denmark and immigrated to the US when I was 6 years old. I grew up in Broomfield, CO, a suburb of Denver, and grew up a city kid. Basically, I had little exposure to the farm life. I had a great uncle who had a cattle ranch in Southern Colorado. Once a year we would go visit and help during the round up. After high school my parents moved to Utah and bought a home on half an acre. They managed to squeeze in all kinds of animals on that half acre. During the time they lived there, I saw them dabble in cows, horses, ponies, chickens, pigs, goats, ducks, and sheep. They have since moved, but have hung on to the horses.

Hollie, on the other hand, grew up on a small 5 acre farm in Lehi, UT. Her dad converted an old dairy operation into a thriving apple orchard. He has about 3 of the 5 acres planted in Red and Gold Delicious apple trees. Hollie grew up with horses and chickens and they dabbled in pigs and cows. Their main focus of course was on their 700 apple trees and large family garden. Hollie grew up pruning the trees in the late winter, planting new trees in the spring, and then picking and selling in the fall. Hollie’s family still jokes about how she could out sell anybody in the family when she sold boxes of apples door to door.

Their family still tries to gather together every year to help with the apples. Sadly, the last few years sales have been down, the grown children are busy with their families, my father in law’s health isn’t what is used to be, and the new generation of potential customers doesn’t seem to have much interest in preserving their own food. Last night Hollie’s dad called and announced that he had broken even for this apple season and was done picking and selling. The orchard still has tens of thousands of apples in the trees but with so much work for so little return it isn’t worth it for my father in law. Hollie and I won’t let the apples go to waste. We will take the kids and finish picking the apples, and then feed them to the pigs. Apple finished pork is delicious and gives the pigs an additional source for nutrients. We are fully aware however, that this orchard will soon meet the fate of so many other small farms in this country. Hollie is the second youngest of 8 children and is currently the only one of her siblings who continues to live the farm life.

After Hollie and I were married, I tried my hand at my own business. It did pretty good considering my lack of business experience and although I was passionate about owning my own business, I wasn’t passionate about the industry. I sold out to my partner and enrolled for school. I decided that in order to be successful as a student and in my career, I would need to find an area of study that I was passionate about. To the disbelief of many, I decided to work towards a Bachelors degree in Agricultural Science (Agronomy). We were very fortunate to find a job managing an apartment complex that helped keep student loans to a minimum. The downside was that we were the new “parents” of 180 freshmen girls who for the most part were living on their own for their first time.

Although I had not been a star student in high school, my college studies came very easily to me. I became very interested in hydroponics and aquaponics and helped initiate the building of the first hydroponic greenhouse for the university. Getting so involved in hydroponic food production opened my eyes to the potential symbiotic relationships that could be developed to utilize waste. Hollie would come visit me in the greenhouses and see what I had been working on. My dream was beginning to form. I cruised through school graduating at the top of my class in 2.5 years. We had also turned a failing apartment complex into a successful and profitable business. The best part was that it didn’t really feel like work. (Except of course unclogging sinks full of hair in the apartments we were managing. That was just plain miserable.)

Hollie and I used to sit in bed at night and read Hobby Farms magazine. (Actually, we still do this.) We dreamed of one day owning a small plot of land that we could grow something on. Then about three years ago, Hollie called me at work and explained that she had found a little fixer upper on a couple of acres for the same price as we were paying in rent. We bought the home and have spent the last three years fixing up the house and cleaning up the land. We decided to put the land to use and start raising as much of our own food as possible. Soon we had a few people approach us and ask if we could raise a pig for them along with the ones we were raising. This lead to a few more and then a few more. We continued to research methods to raise food cleanly and efficiently.

This brings us to where we are today. We have found that we like the heritage breeds the best. We raise our own eggs, chicken, and produce. We also raise Berkshire pork which experts agree is far superior to the commercial breeds. Out of the 24 sensory qualities in pork, Berkshire is 1st place in 21 of the 24. In addition, we raise our pigs like pets. They are pampered and treated humanely. They are free to roam in our field and graze on the pasture. We don’t medicate our pigs like 99% of pigs in this country. It isn’t necessary when you raise them right. Our farm doesn’t stink either. Our pigs are fed locally grown grain and alfalfa and seasonal treats like apples and pumpkins. I honestly feel that the methods used to raise the pigs have a greater impact on the meat quality than the breed does. However, when combined, we are able to literally offer the highest quality, best tasting pork in the state. The best part is that if you look at the cost of the various cuts of meat in the store, you don’t pay any more than when you buy from us. Our pork tastes better, is healthier, is raised sustainably, is raised ethically, and is superior in every way! It hasn’t traveled a long distance meaning less pollution. Economically, buying our pork helps support our local farm and the local butcher that we use as well as other local farmers that we buy feed from. We feed our pigs any garden wastes we have. The chickens don’t get fed at all. They are able to live a healthy life just cleaning up after the pigs. This means that our eggs don’t technically cost us anything. Over the summer we raised 35 meat chickens. Other than the time they were chicks, we didn’t feed these chickens anything either. Our freezer is now full of the most flavorful chicken we have ever tasted. Our farm is healthier because of them. We had virtually no flies because the chickens kept them in check. This is symbiotic relationship because we (family, chickens, and pigs) all benefit from one another’s efforts.

My dream is to expand our efforts exponentially. I have posted before our desire to raise meat chickens to sell with our pork. However, that isn’t even scratching the surface. Hollie and I dream of having a large irrigated pasture (80+ acres). We would like to be a one stop farm. We dream of raising beef cows, dairy cows, meat goats, dairy goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, fish, bees, and a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and mushrooms. Each of these animals and plants can be teamed up with other animals and plants in symbiotic relationships that are good for the land and good for the animals. I would love to have greenhouses full of fresh produce year round. I can imagine feeding the harvest wastes like lettuce roots to the pigs and cows. I would love to process as much food on the farm as possible. We would open a small store where we would sell cheese, milk, butter, cream, ice cream, eggs, beef, pork, chicken, fish, honey, turkey, bread and other baked goods, jams and juices, dried fruits, fresh fruits when in season like raspberries, blueberries, apples, pears etc…, fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms, year round lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and sprouts. We have even dreamed of opening a small restaurant in SLC that serves only foods that were raised by us and that are fresh off the farm. We dream of opening our farm to visitors and teaching weekend courses in growing a particular food, or preserving food. We can foresee the farm hosting family reunions or weekend getaways where city folks are welcome to come try their hand at life on the farm. The fall would be especially fun with hay rides and harvesting in full swing.

If I am successful in reaching this dream, I will then begin to assist other farms across the country in setting up similar operations. My ultimate dream is to sustainably produce clean, healthy food for the local community. I would love to see everybody be able to enjoy food this good and healthy. For now we are focusing on the task at hand, raising pigs. When we have sold enough pigs, we will be able to buy the land to take the next step towards fulfilling this dream. For now, that means selling a lot of pork! We are passionate about it however, and hopefully that will lead to success.

Sausage Corn Chowder

A special thanks to Amy Roskelley for providing us with this recipe. For all of you who just cleaned me out of sausage, this will be a perfect recipe to try. She also has a great website and blog with lots of fantastic ideas. There are many more healthy, wholesome recipes on her website for you to try. Many of them will utilize produce out of your gardens!

www.superhealthykids.com
www.blog.superhealthykids.com









Sausage Corn Chowder

Brown and sautee
1 lb sausage
¾ cup chopped onions

Boil together
2 cups water
2 cups potatoes chopped

Then add:
1 can creamed corn
1 can regular corn
1 can evaporated milk
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper

Add sausage and onion to soup mix.

We Want Recipes!

We have heard back from many of you that you would like to see pork recipes on our blog. First, please understand that we are not chefs but farmers.

We try very hard to find recipes that aren't designed to add flavor to otherwise flavorless pork or to completely mask the flavor. We try to find recipes that allow us to taste the natural flavor of the pork.

One of my favorite meals is Biscuits and Gravy. We usually eat if for breakfast on days that we are going to be out working all day. It is hearty, filling, and keeps us going until lunch. However I love the flavor that our sausage gives the dish so much that I often ask to eat it for dinner too.

Biscuits and Gravy

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of Christiansen’s Hog Heaven Berkshire Sausage

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

Salt to taste
Freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

8 prepared biscuits

DIRECTIONS

Crumble and cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat until browned. Stir in flour until dissolved. Gradually stir in milk. Cook gravy until thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot over biscuits. Serves 4

This is how Hollie usually prepares our pork chops:

Grilled Pork Chops

INGREDIENTS

4 Christiansen's Hog Heaven Berkshire Pork Chops
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
3 T McCormick Grill Mates Pork Rub

DIRECTIONS

In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix pork rub seasoning and oil together. Place thawed pork chops in the bowl and stir oil mixture around till the pork chops are covered. Place pork chops on grill and cook to your preference. We like to cook our pork chops until the fat is just starting to crisp. To check if the pork is done, we make a small cut near the bone. The area around the bone is the last to cook. If you use a thermometer, the recommended internal temperature is 160 F. We usually eat this with fresh steamed asparagus and red mashed potatoes with skins on. Grilled onions and sautéed mushrooms are perfect as a topping on the pork chops.

This next dish is much more involved but mouthwateringly delicious. It beats nearly any dish I have had at any restaurant and is very gourmet. We adapted it from a recipe we found in Hobby Farms magazine

Cornish Game Hens with Apple-Bacon Stuffing

INGREDIENTS

2, 1- to 1 1⁄2-pound Cornish game hens (regular chicken works also)

1 tsp. salt 1 to 2 T. vegetable oil

For Stuffing

5 slices of Christiansen's Hog Heaven Berkshire Bacon

1⁄4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 1⁄2 cups dry bread cubes

1 cup apple, peeled and grated, tart or sweet according to preference

1 T. fresh parsley, chopped

1⁄4 tsp. dried thyme

1⁄4 tsp. dried marjoram

Salt and pepper to taste

2 to 4 T. dry white wine

For Glaze

1⁄4 cup apple juice concentrate, thawed

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Remove giblets from hens and discard or save for another use. Rinse hens under cold water and pat dry. Season cavities with salt. Set aside in refrigerator until ready to stuff. To prepare the stuffing, fry the bacon slices until crisp. Remove bacon strips from pan and crumble. Sauté onions in the drippings until soft. Remove onions with a slotted spoon. Reserve 2 tablespoons of drippings. (If bacon does not yield 2 tablespoons of drippings, add melted butter to equal 2 tablespoons). Place bread cubes in bowl and drizzle over reserved bacon drippings. Add apples, bacon, onion, parsley and seasonings; stir to combine. The mixture should just stick together without being soggy; if mixture seems too dry; add 2 to 4 tablespoons of dry white wine. Lightly stuff birds (do not pack firmly). If they still have their neck skin, pull the skin to the back and twist wing tips under back to hold the skin in place. If hens do not have neck skin, wedge a thick slice of apple or onion in neck cavity to hold stuffing in place. Tie legs to tail. Place hens, breast side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Brush with vegetable oil. Cover loosely with foil. Roast in a preheated, 375-degree F oven for approximately 90 minutes or until you can move the drumsticks easily in their sockets and the meat is no longer pink. Remove foil after first 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine glaze ingredients. Brush hens with glaze two or three times during last hour of cooking, eventually using all of glaze. If desired, use pan drippings to make gravy to serve with the birds: After birds are done, remove them from roasting pan and keep warm on a serving platter in the oven. Strain the pan juices, dilute with 1 to 2 cups chicken broth and heat to boiling. Thicken using your favorite method, either flour and water or cornstarch and water. Serves 2.

If you have a favorite dish that you would like to share we would love to try it. Send it to us and we will post it on our blog (with your permission) so that others can try it as well!

Big Mamma

We would like to thank our customers for the overwhelming response that we had in selling our first group of Berkshire pigs. We are excited that you are excited about having Local, All Natural, Humanely Treated, Pasture Raised Berkshire Pork. Although we have raised pigs in the past, we are new to this level of farming. We have now sold all of the pork we had for sale. We have started a waiting list and have pretty much sold out on the next litter of pigs we will be raising. We are now glad that we have already purchased 4 more Berkshire sows. We are in the process of breeding them and hopefully by this time next year we will have 4-5 times the amount of pork for sale. Our goal is to operate our farm in an open, honest, and transparent manner. We would love to hear your feedback as we move forward.


We are anxiously awaiting a new litter of purebred Berkshires! Big Mamma is getting bigger every day. We figure she should be due around Mother’s Day. How appropriate! Since we let our pigs run together in the field and let nature take its course, we don’t always see when the sows come into heat. Big Mamma has very large litters for the Berkshire breed. The average is 6-8 piglets/litter for Berkshires; however Big Mamma gave birth to 13 piglets the last time she farrowed. (Farrowing is the term used when pigs give birth.) Two of them were stillborn which is always sad but fairly normal and part of life on the farm. She is such a good mom and weaned off all 11 piglets.


Yesterday, my five year old son, Hans, came out with me to check on Big Mamma. She was lying down in the straw inside one of the huts. She is very tired these days! She just looked at us and we could tell she wasn’t very comfortable. We decided to scratch her and try and make feel a little better. We started scratching her sides, right away she rolled onto her side so we could scratch her belly. She loved it and closed her eyes as we worked our way down to her belly. While we were there, we could feel the little piglets kicking around. For those of you have felt a baby kick while in the womb, try 10-14 little guys all moving and kicking. It seems very busy in there, no wonder she is so exhausted! All that scratching that Hans and I were doing quickly relaxed Big Mamma and before long, she was snoring. We quietly got up and let her get some rest. At times our pig farm is very hectic and stressful. This was a very peaceful and rewarding moment. I thank the Lord I was able to share it with my son.

Beyond Organic

Christiansen’s Hog Heaven raises “All Natural, Humanely Treated, Pasture Raised Berkshire (Kurobuta) Pork”. So does that mean we raise “organic” pork? The answer is yes and no. While our pork is organic in every sense of the term, we are not certified organic by the USDA. We don’t feed our pigs antibiotic laced feed or give them hormones etc… We feed our pigs fresh, Utah grown grains consisting of wheat, barley, oats, and triticale.  They also get alfalfa as well as the pasture they graze. We go beyond organic by not just controlling the feed, but also controlling the pigs’ environment. Pork can be certified organic while the pigs suffer inhumane living conditions their entire life. We don’t believe pork raised under traditional methods is “organic” just because the corn they eat is organic corn. Unfortunately, consumers have the misconception that “organic” labeled food is truly natural and in the case of meat, raised ethically.

To be certified “organic”, farms have to pay fees, fill out government forms, and keep a daily log of farm activities. For a small farm like ours, this is cost prohibitive and more importantly time consuming. Raising pigs on pasture the way we do already requires more time and money than concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). We are busy and simply don’t have the time to keep the logs necessary to prove to the government that we are organic. If anything, we would rather take the time to update our blog once in a while and prove to you, our customer, that we are “organic”. The additional fees that the government charges our farm would have to be passed on to our customers. This makes our pork less affordable to some families. We would rather our customers learn first hand that our farm is devoted to natural pork while keeping an affordable price point.

There are also some other issues with organic foods that consumers fail to realize. Since the USDA is a government agency, it is subject to lobbying. During the past 20 years, large corporate owned farms have observed smaller farms charge a little bit more for products labeled organic. The truth behind organic is that it is less efficient than using chemicals and fertilizers to maximize production. This means more land and labor are needed to produce the same amount of product. There is also a higher waste factor as farms cannot sell fruit that has worm holes in it; something that a chemical can prevent. Also, animals raised in confinement without constant antibiotics will get sick; and disease can quickly spread throughout a CAFO killing a lot of animals or making them unsuitable for processing. Large corporations don’t sell organic products because they feel a moral obligation to. They do it because they see small farms charging higher prices than they are able to charge. These corporations have gone to Washington and lobbied for exceptions to USDA organic regulations in order to accommodate themselves and their profits. An example of this was seen in December 2005, when the 2006 agricultural appropriations bill was passed with a rider allowing 38 synthetic ingredients to be used in organic foods. When a regulatory agency such as the USDA gives in to big corporations, they hurt the small farms and devalue a well intended label. It becomes nothing more than an advertising ploy.

After graduating with a Bachelor’s in Agricultural Science, I was very excited to take a job with a large farm in Arizona. They grew vegetables with tomatoes being their focus of production. I noticed that they had a label on their tomatoes. It was an award given by a certain organization of chefs. At that time they had “won” the best tasting tomato several years in a row. This was an award they were very proud of and bragged about it to their customers. It turns out that they “won” the award by paying a company somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 every year. They just slapped it on their tomatoes to help sell more of them.

For these reasons, we currently have decided to not participate in the USDA certified organic program. Since we choose not to participate, it is illegal to use the term organic to promote our food. Similar to how potato farmers in Idaho cannot mention the word "Idaho" in any way unless they join Idaho Potatoes. As stated above, we would rather educate our customers about the natural or organic process in which we raise our pork rather than dupe you with a label. Regardless of how we raise our pigs, in the end it is the customers who decide how pork is raised. You see, every time we buy food, we vote for the method that it was raised. We vote with our wallets. If you average the price of the various cuts of pork found at the supermarket, you will find that our pork is cheaper! Not only that, but you're buying a product that is beyond organic, premium gourmet quality, and mouth-wateringly delicious. So go ahead and vote for Christiansen's Hog Heaven!

Pork for Sale

We are excited to announce our first Berkshire pork for sale! All natural, humanely treated, pasture raised, purebred Berkshire (Kurobuta) Pork. We are the only registered farm in Utah raising Berkshire Pigs. Berkshire pork tastes the way pork used to taste, before pigs were bred to compete with chicken (the other white meat).  Berkshire Pork is often called the "Kobe Beef of Pork". It is finely marbled meat and honestly the most delicious pork you will ever eat. It is more tender and moist than any other breed. We have loads of information on our blog as well as two different side by side comparisons between our pork and traditional pork.

We sell our pork by the half or whole. The cost is calculated by the hanging weight usually 160-220 lbs for a whole pork. Click here for current pricing and here for availablility. This is the finest pork in the country and at prices similar to the artificially enhanced grocery store pork. We will deliver the pork to our drop points in Salt Lake County, Utah County, and Tooele County.

Support your local farm! We care about our animals and pamper them. You are welcome to visit our farm and pick out your own pig if would like. You will be surprised how happy and healthy our pigs are if you have visited other farms. Our place doesn't reek of ammonia and have zombie looking pigs laying around. These pigs are not fed any bread or leftovers. Some farms advertise grain fed pigs, but what they don't tell you is that they are also feeding them bread, twinkies etc... This greatly reduces the quality of the meat. Our Berkshires are not raised in 6" of their own waste but rather in pasture where they can eat fresh grass, locally grown grains, and alfalfa. Because they are so healthy, there is no need for antibiotics and never any hormones. All this on top of genetically being the best tasting breed means the healthiest, most delicious pork. Thanks for checking out our blog and learning about where our meat comes from. We will be happy to answer any questions for you.

Feel free to contact us with any questions!

Last Night's Dinner

Last night, we invited my sister and her family over for dinner. On the menu was pork chops, diced potatoes, and asparagus. My sister brought a pack of pork chops she had purchased at Wal-Mart. For fun, we provided some Berkshire pork chops so that we could all have a side by side taste test.

The diced red potatoes went into the oven after being seasoned with Red Robin’s seasoning that you can buy at their restaurants. We love the seasoned fries they serve there. The fresh asparagus was prepared to be steamed. And then we took out the pork chops. Immediately we began to notice differences. The Berkshire chops were darker in color. I pointed out the fine marbling to my sister and explained that this was why Berkshire meat was so much more flavorful and juicy. I also explained that the marbling of the meat is a characteristic that is unique to the Berkshire breed. Also very noticeable was the difference in size. The Berkshire chops were cut 1.25” thick. The Wal-Mart chops were about 5/8” thick. Hollie lightly coated all of the chops in a marinade of olive oil and Famous Dave’s grill seasoning. (I am realizing we are suckers for other restaurants seasonings.) We placed the chops on the grill and soon the kitchen began to fill with mouth-watering aromas.

I am by no means a chef and tend to overcook our meat when grilling. Like many others, I am always afraid I will get food poisoning if I don’t cook the meat long enough. (I guess I should get a meat thermometer.) Anyway, the beauty of Berkshire pork is that it is so moist and tender, that it is difficult to mess up. As the pork chops neared completion on the grill, I took a knife and carefully cut a slit into the center of a few of the chops to see if they were ready. The Wal-Mart chops were done as was evident by the color and texture of the meat. I made a small cut into the Berkshire chop and it filled with juice so fast that I couldn’t even see the inside of the meat! I had to hold it on its side to allow the juice to drain while I checked it.

I placed the chops on a plate and took them inside. The Berkshire chop was still 1.25” thick. The Wal-Mart chop had shrunk down to 3/8” - 7/16” thick. We all had a good laugh at the “poor little Wal-Mart chop” as we called it. Because it was so thin, I accidently burned it a little bit. Like I said, I am not a chef.

I carefully cut four pieces off of each type of pork chop. We all tasted the store bought pork chop first. It was good (as all pork is) but very salty. We checked the packaging and noticed the fine print that stated that these pork chops were enhanced. Salty is often mistaken for “flavorful” which was very apparent when contrasted with the flavor of the Berkshire pork, which followed next. The Berkshire chop had a very different texture. It was similar to a beef pot roast in texture. It was tender but not at all mushy. It was incredibly moist and bursting with flavor. It was actually very similar in texture and flavor to the filet mignon wrapped in bacon that you can get in a nice steakhouse. I actually am not sure how to fully explain it. If salty is a “hard” flavor, then Berkshire pork has a very “soft” flavor. When I say I soft, I in no way mean lacking in flavor. It had a very strong flavor; it just didn’t “bite” like the enhanced pork did.

Being the evil parents that we are, we fed the rest of the Wal-Mart chops to the kids and ate the good stuff ourselves. As a further testament to the Berkshire pork chops, some of our kids asked for more “chicken”. My son came up and asked if he could have a bite of my “steak”.

All in all, it was a very delicious meal. It is always fun to eat good food with good company. In our case the good food was Berkshire chops, red potatoes, and steamed asparagus. The good company was my sweet sister and her wonderful family. We love them very much and are happy to have them as neighbors.

Why Buy Our Pork?

So why should you buy your pork from Christiansen’s Hog Heaven? Well the most obvious reason is that our pork tastes better than any other pork available in Utah and the surrounding states for that matter. I often see farms advertise “High Quality Pork”. I ask myself, “What makes it high quality?” Aside from being local and therefore fresher, how is pork that is most likely fed bread, donuts, and antibiotic laced pig feed and confined in 6” of its own waste any different from other pork available? Rather than just tell you that our pork is the best, I will explain why our pork is the best.

First, we start with incredible breeding stock. Our pigs are purebred Berkshire pigs and they are registered with the American Berkshire Association. Berkshire pigs are known worldwide for producing the best tasting, best cooking quality, and for being more tender and moist than any other breed of pig. In fact Berkshire pork aka Kurobuta pork is often referred to as the Kobe beef of pork. For years the pork industry has tried to breed their pork to look and taste like chicken hence the term “the other white meat”. Berkshires are a heritage breed, meaning they haven’t been subjected to these breeding programs which is why they have retained their wonderful attributes. Berkshire meat is pinker and finely marbled. It isn’t mushy or dry when cooked like traditional pork. Because Berkshire pork isn’t available in stores, it hasn’t been enhanced. That is another subject, see this link about enhanced pork.

Next we treat our pigs humanely. A quick Google search will reveal absolute horror stories about the way the majority of confinement raised animals are treated. Treating animals inhumanely is sad, unethical, and in my opinion, contrary to God’s will. (Buying meat from the grocery store encourages this kind of “farming”.) But since we are talking about taste, I will try to stick to the topic. Confinement raised animals are stressed and often sick. The stress can release hormones and chemicals into the meat which make it taste funny (another reason for enhanced pork). Many animals are sick (and medicated) when they are slaughtered. While this may not affect you directly, it just doesn’t seem right and certainly isn’t appetizing.

Our pigs are raised on pasture. The organic pasture grass and alfalfa help bring out the delicious natural flavors of the pork. The fresh greens are loaded with vitamins which benefit the pigs and virtually eliminate the need for medication. In fact pasture raised pork is higher in Omega 3 fatty acids and vitamins making it healthier for our families. During the winter, we custom mix our own feed consisting of locally grown alfalfa and grain. Since there are some big apple farms around, our pigs are spoiled with delicious apples which actually sweeten the meat.

As you can see, we have chosen a very natural approach. The genetic makeup of Berkshires naturally give us superior meat. The environment we raise our pigs in give them a healthy, happy, and stress free life. The feed we give our animals is natural and the best quality we can find. Offering moldy bread and outdated, processed foods is not an option. Everything that goes into growing our pork, (animal, environment, and feed) is the best. As the old saying goes, you reap what your sow.

Yummy Berkshire (Kurobuta) Pork; A Professional Review

Helen Rennie is a culinary instructor from Boston Massachusetts. She has graciously allowed me to post a review of Berkshire (Kurobuta) pork from her blog. Thank you Helen!








Pigepiphany -- noun -- 1. Tasting real pork for the first time. 2. A realization that 99% of pork sold in the US is complete crap.

American pork is bred for leanness to meet consumers’ unquenchable thirst for all meats to look and taste like chicken. Nothing against chicken, but people’s obsession with it is absurd. If American food industry could breed chicken in fish, pork, beef, and lamb flavors, they would. Since food science hasn’t reached such heights yet, we settle for “chicken of the sea” tuna and the “other white meat” pork.

I’ve been experimenting with pork chops from Whole Foods for the past month with terrible results. Brining, marinating, high heat, low heat… nothing worked. They came out dense, with a taste of salt and sugar, not pig. Just as I was about to swear to never cook another pork chop in my life, helpful readers of this blog and my fellow chowhounds from the home cooking board came to my rescue. The opinion was unanimous: “It’s not you; it’s pork!”

“What you need is Berkshire or Kurobuta pork,” the chowhounds told me. Big foreign words to describe something as simple as a pork chop make me nervous. But curiosity got the best of me and I Googled for Savenor’s phone number. Surely, a butcher where Julia Child used to shop had to carry it.

“No, we don’t have it,” the Savenor’s butcher told me, “but our pork is excellent.”

“It is fatty?” I asked.

“Oh no – it’s beautifully lean!”

Ok guys. The words “beautifully lean” would be a compliment for a model, not for a pig.

Try number two -- John Dewar’s. By now I felt like a desperate drug addict calling a dealer.

“Do you have Kurobuta pork?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“$20”

“Fine.

I’ll be there on Wednesday.”

You’ll love it!” said the butcher at John Dewar’s as he cut me 2 ribs of a pork roast, “It doesn’t even taste like pork.” Hmm, doesn’t taste like pork? That was the whole reason I was in this crème de la crème (and price de la price) of Boston butcher shops, paying $20/pound for a pork chop. I could be eating bluefin sashimi or foie gras for this price, but no, I had to go on this ridiculous pork chop quest. What I was hoping he meant was that it didn’t taste like the “other white meat.”

For comparison, I decided to get their regular pork chop for $6/Lb.








Regular pork chop ($6/Lb)








Kurobuta pork chop ($20/Lb)

“Are they from different places?” I asked.

“No. Both from Iowa, but different breeds.”

“Should I brine or marinade them?”

“No, our pork doesn’t need any of that.”

“Even the regular chop?”

“Oh yeah! With supermarket pork, I’d recommend it, but with ours…”

I don’t know why I always ask them for advice. I guess I need that extra reassurance with meat. They’ve told me stuff before that backfired, and different butchers at Dewar’s have given me conflicting advice.

I agree with the Dewar’s guy on brining. It’s really a cheap and dirty trick to enhance otherwise mediocre meats. I love how consumers are all up in arms about “enhanced pork,” so they buy Whole Foods’ untreated pork only to bring it home and brine it. How do you think pork gets “enhanced”? Marinade is a whole other thing though – it doesn’t make the pork spongy and can impart flavors other than just salt and sugar. Not to mask the flavor of the meat, I settled on a simple marinade of rosemary, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

After a couple of hours, I fired up the grill, dried off my chops, and grilled them – first on the bone side to melt the fat and crisp it, and then on the flat sides. As soon as they browned, I turned down the heat to low until the chops reached 125F in the center. It’s not as undercooked as you’d think since the temperature went up another 10-15 degrees while they were resting. The only thing I did differently this time was keep the grill uncovered. This allowed the chops to brown nicely, while keeping the ambient temperature of the grill lower. The higher the temperature, the more the meat toughens, but the lower the temperature, the less the meat browns and less flavor develops. Man, and people say cooking fish is hard!








Regular chop grilled








Kurobuta chop grilled

After a 5-7 minute rest for the chops, during which they posed for pictures, we finally got to take our first ever bite of Kurobuta pork. Oh my! This is the part where words escape me. You didn’t need a knife. You didn’t even need a fork. The only reason you needed teeth was to get the pieces into your mouth. From then on, they just melted away. If this was a wine, I’d say it had a nice long finish of a Burgundy Grand Cru, but instead of truffles and violets, it tasted like a platonic ideal of a pig -- more flavorful than ribs, more tender than a tenderloin, more tasty than any pork I’ve ever had.









Inside of a regular chop









Inside of a Kurobuta chop

Eating a regular pork chop after this revelation was like drinking Two Buck Chuck. Ok, maybe not that bad. Whole Foods chops are like Two Buck Chuck. Dewar’s are like a $10 Australian Shiraz -- slightly better than the supermarket chops, but still of the “other white meat” garden variety. We took a few bites for the sake of science and left it at that.I must confess that the reason I undertook this experiment was to prove to myself once and for all that pork chops are not worth cooking and that paying $20 for pork is complete insanity. In that respect I failed miserably. That pork chop was worth a bowl of bluefin tuna; it was worth a slice of foie gras terrine; it was even worth an hour in the gym.

Buying Local Pork = Job Security!

Much can be said about buying local goods and services; in our case local pork. The most obvious reason for buying local is that it helps the local economy. However, most people tend to think of this as just supporting the local farmer. While I don’t want to give a lesson in economics, buying local can have a profound effect on you, including your own job security, which in today’s market, is a topic on everyone’s minds.

Allow me to give a quick example of how it works on our farm. You decide that you would like to fill your freezer with delicious, mouthwatering pork so you buy a pig from me. With the money you pay me, I take some out for the cost of raising the pig and I put a little into my pocket for my efforts. That pig took over 1,000 lbs of feed to raise if you count the feed that goes into maintaining the breeding stock. I buy the grain from my neighbor and good friend, Rich Holden who farms his land. He buys the fuel for his tractor at the Silver Sage, Vernon’s little general store. He bought his tractor at Hobby Tractors in Pleasant Grove, UT which is also where he maintains it. I also need farm supplies, which I buy at Cal Ranch in Tooele, UT or IFA in American Fork, UT. Since the farm is growing, I am in constant need of building supplies. I buy my lumber at Home Depot in Tooele, UT. The steel roof for my sheds I bought at Metal Mart in Lehi, UT. With all of this running around, my truck needs fuel and maintenance. I use K&S Auto in Lehi, UT for repairs and Les Schwab Tire also in Lehi for tires and shocks. The straw for the pigs is bought from a barley farmer in Palmyra, UT. I also buy a lot of used items on KSL classifieds all of which are from people in the area. When the pigs are purchased, I recommend a couple of the local butchering facilities. I have used Gary’s Meats in Payson, UT, Circle V in Spanish Fork, UT, Carson’s Meat in American Fork, UT, and Hunsaker’s Meats in Tooele, UT. With the exception of Home Depot, all of these businesses are locally based. They all employ local residents. These employees and businesses use other businesses and services for their needs one of which you may own or be employed by. This completes the cycle in which some of the money you paid for your pig eventually ended back in your pocket. Of course this effect also ripples into other communities, states, and countries. Buying local however, will keep the majority of the money in our region and will directly strengthen our economy.

In addition to supporting the local economy, there are several other wonderful benefits that come to mind.
- The pork you buy from me is far superior to the pork you buy at the store even though the cost is about the same. This equals higher quality for your money; for meat you would have purchased anyway.
- Better for the environment as fuel is not being used to haul pork across the country.
- Better for the animals since small farms can cater towards each animal’s needs. We raise our pigs humanely not in CAFOs. When people buy pork from the grocery store, they support the factories (I do not consider them farms) that raise pigs indoors under horrible conditions. Not only is it cruel to the animals, but it produces low quality pork.
- You are welcome anytime to see where your food comes from. We also welcome new ideas which gives you input into your food.
- Last and certainly not least is that when you buy local, you help ensure that food is always available to you. A basic economics course will teach you about a principle known as “Specialization” or “Division of Labor”. This principle teaches that it is more efficient for an economy to have people who specialize in just one product or service rather than everybody try to learn and produce everything they need on an individual level. As you include more people, productivity and quality go up while cost comes down. As the scale increase, entire countries focus on a product or service that they offer to the world. This is fantastic in a perfect world. Unfortunately, our world is far from perfect, with natural disasters, wars, and terrorists etc… This can create vulnerabilities in large geographic regions. Russia was recently in the news when they stopped sending oil to Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe has no other source for fuel. In the US we have seen a late frost or storm wipe out a certain crop in Florida or California and the prices for that crop go way up. We should be cautious that we don’t become dependent on one source for critical items like food. By buying locally grown foods, you can help ensure that food will be available during less than ideal times.
Some people may not like to admit it, but is seems that during hard times, certain foods can bring joy and peace. We call them “Comfort Foods”. Coming home to the smell of a juicy ham in the oven, succulent pork chops on the grill, or waking up to sizzling bacon, can lift our spirits and bring cheer to our hearts in a way that little else can. So whether the economy has you down, or you heard some bad news, Christiansen’s Hog Heaven 100% Berkshire pork will be sure to soothe your soul and bring a smile to your face.

An Intoduction to Christiansen's Hog Heaven

Christiansen's Hog Heaven is a small family owned farm. We are nestled close to the Sheeprock Mountains in Vernon, Utah. Vernon is a quaint little town of 220 people. Most folks in Vernon raise cattle and alfalfa.

Our family consists of Christian and Hollie and our two (soon to be three) children; Hans (age 5) and Dane (age 3). Hollie is expecting a little girl in June 2009.
As a family we are trying to become more self sufficient and less dependent on others for food. At a minimum we try to purchase locally grown foods. In addition to gardening, we have raised our own chickens, pork, and beef. However, since we only have a small amount of land to work with, we have decided to focus on raising pork.

We have primarily focused on raising registered Berkshire pigs (aka Kurobuta pork) as they are known worldwide for producing the highest quality pork. They are also very hearty and can tolerate the extreme temperature fluctuations that high altitude living demands. We believe in treating our animals humanely and with respect. We believe that this is what our Creator expects of us as stewards of our animals. We pasture raise our pigs and custom mix our own combination of locally grown grains and legumes. Our pigs are free to roam in our pasture. From the day our pigs are born they are given the freedom and comfort that animals deserve. Our pigs farrow in deep straw beds not farrowing crates. They have access to shelter or the outdoors whenever they choose. We don't medicate our pigs, clip teeth, dock tails etc... and make every effort to pamper them. We feel that keeping our pigs clean and happy is our duty. In return our family and our customers enjoy the highest quality pork.

Our goal is to offer superior pork to our local customers. We take issue with the way 99% of our meat is raised in this country. We understand the economic reasoning behind the Midwest region raising all of our pork in large buildings and shipping it all over the country. Aside from the treatment of the animals, it troubles us that a product has to be shipped such long distances. It creates vulnerabilities when communities, states, and regions cannot produce their own food. Not to mention the unnecessary consumption of fuel. We hope that our customers not only appreciate the taste and quality of our pork but all the factors that go into it (natural, humane, local, pasture raised, heritage breed, etc…) This is not the cheapest or easiest way to raise meat, but we feel it is the most responsible and ethical approach.

Our farm is truly a family farm. As a family we genuinely enjoy raising pigs. Our boys love going out to feed the pigs as is evident in the lightning speed in which they can slip on their mud boots and Carhartt jackets. Hollie and I go on “little pig dates” where we hold hands and walk out to the pigs to check on them. It is very therapeutic to lean against a fence post and just watch the pigs. We thank you for your interest in Christiansen’s Hog Heaven and are pleased offer 100% pure Berkshire pork from our farm to your table.