What Is Heritage Pork? How We Accidentally Became Pig Farmers

Back then, the kids could turn on the TV and immediately see our YouTube search history.

Chickens. Rabbits. Building fences. Goats.

There was definitely a pattern.

And this time, the search history was full of pigs.

So one day, Chris decided he was going to surprise the kids.

"Guess what we're doing?"

They already knew.

Apparently, when your parents spend every evening watching videos about pigs, it doesn't take a detective to figure out what's coming next.

So much for the big announcement.

And that, my friends, is how another perfectly reasonable idea turned into a whole new farming adventure.

First, We Had to Find the Right Pig

Before we brought pigs home, Chris and I watched what felt like every pig-related YouTube video ever made.

Different breeds. Different feeding programs. Different housing systems. How quickly they grew. How big they got. What they were like to handle.

You know, all the things you probably should research before bringing home an animal that can eventually weigh several hundred pounds and rearrange your landscaping.

One thing we knew right away was that we wanted our pigs living outside.

Our farm has pasture, but we also have quite a bit of woods. We wanted pigs that could live in that environment, root around, forage, explore, and generally spend their days doing pig things.

We weren't looking for animals that needed to spend their lives inside a barn.

Eventually, two breeds kept coming up in our research.

Mangalitsa and Red Wattle.

And, as usual, I had my own very scientific reasons for liking one of them.

Mangalitsa Pigs: They're Fluffy!

Seriously. Have you seen a Mangalitsa?

They're covered in curly hair. They look like somebody crossed a pig with a sheep.

And with a farm named Fluffy Butt Farms, how was I supposed to resist a fluffy pig?

I mean, really.

But underneath all that adorable hair is something else that caught my attention.

Fat.

Lots and lots of fat.

Mangalitsa pigs originated in Hungary and are a traditional fat-type breed. They were valued for producing substantial amounts of fat at a time when animal fat was an important part of everyday cooking.

And as someone who went to culinary school and loves cooking, I found that fascinating.

Lard for frying. Leaf lard for baking. Fat for making sausage. Beautifully marbled pork.

The possibilities!

Most people probably look at a fluffy pig and think, "Oh, how cute!"

I look at one and start thinking about pie crust.

Apparently, that's what culinary school does to a person.

And Then There Were the Red Wattles

Red Wattles caught our attention for completely different reasons.

They're a traditional American breed known for being hardy, active foragers, and good mothers.

They also tend to grow faster than our pure Mangalitsa and produce a different balance of meat and fat.

And then there's the name.

Red Wattle.

They actually have little fleshy appendages hanging from their necks called wattles.

Because apparently having a regular pig wasn't interesting enough. We needed pigs with accessories.

But seriously, they checked a lot of boxes for us.

We wanted pigs that could handle outdoor living, forage through our woods, raise their piglets, and produce pork we were excited to eat.

And both breeds offered something we liked.

So What Exactly Is Heritage Pork?

Before I go any further, let's talk about what the word "heritage" actually means.

Because it gets thrown around quite a bit these days.

Heritage pork comes from traditional pig breeds with established histories, rather than the modern commercial genetics developed primarily for rapid growth and lean meat production.

Organizations like The Livestock Conservancy work to preserve these breeds and the genetic diversity they represent.

And here's something important.

Heritage and pasture-raised aren't the same thing.

Heritage refers to the genetics and history of the animal. Pasture-raised describes how that animal is raised.

The Livestock Conservancy's heritage pork standards also emphasize outdoor access and natural behaviors, so the two ideas often go together. But simply putting a pig outside doesn't magically turn it into a heritage breed.

If that were the case, I could put Chris in the pasture and call him heritage, too.

Although, considering how long we've been married, he might qualify.

Love you, honey.

Our Mangalitsa Pigs Are Not in a Hurry

One thing we've learned about raising heritage pigs is that patience is required.

A lot of patience.

Especially with our pure Mangalitsa.

These pigs are not interested in following anybody else's schedule.

They grow at their own pace, and because they're a traditional fat-type breed, they put a lot of energy into producing that wonderful fat.

Which is fantastic when you want lard.

It's slightly less fantastic when you're trying to run a business and need pork to put in the freezer.

Modern commercial pigs have been selected for efficient growth and lean meat production. Our heritage pigs weren't developed with exactly those same priorities.

And we knew that when we chose them.

But knowing something in theory and paying the feed bill while you wait for a pig to finish are two very different experiences.

Ask me how I know.

Wait. Pork Chops Can Look Like THAT?

I have a confession.

I wasn't a huge pork fan growing up.

I grew up during the whole "Pork. The Other White Meat" era.

And that's exactly what I remembered pork being.

Pale. Lean. And if you weren't careful, dry enough that you needed half a bottle of barbecue sauce to get through dinner.

So when we got our first heritage pork back from the butcher, I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

The pork chops were red.

Not that pale grocery-store pink I was used to.

These were darker, richer-looking chops. Some of them almost reminded me of beef.

And the fat!

Beautiful fat caps and marbling.

I was practically reaching for my cast-iron skillet before we finished unpacking the meat.

Then we cooked it.

And oh. My. Goodness.

Rich flavor. Juicy meat. Actual pork flavor that didn't need a bunch of sauce to make it interesting.

I had spent years thinking I knew what pork was supposed to taste like.

Turns out, I had some learning to do.

Why Is Heritage Pork Sometimes Darker?

Now, before somebody tells me that pork is supposed to be pink, let's talk about why meat has color in the first place.

One of the biggest factors is a protein called myoglobin.

Myoglobin helps store oxygen in muscle, and it's one of the main reasons meat looks red.

Different breeds, muscles, ages, and growing conditions can influence how much myoglobin is present.

So pork doesn't have to be one particular shade of pink.

Our heritage pork can be noticeably darker than the lean commercial pork many people are familiar with.

That doesn't mean every heritage pork chop will look identical, and color alone doesn't tell you everything about quality or food safety.

But when I saw those first chops, it was a pretty exciting moment.

And after tasting them, I was sold.

Which, as we've established with the cows, usually means Chris is about to have more animals to take care of.

We Were Never Supposed to Become Pig Breeders

Here's the funny part.

We weren't originally planning to breed pigs at all.

The plan was simple.

Buy a few feeder pigs in the spring. Raise them through summer and fall. Fill the freezer. Repeat the next year.

Easy, right?

Well, apparently not.

Because finding the heritage pigs we wanted turned out to be a whole lot harder than we expected.

We actually went an entire season without pigs because we couldn't source them.

And eventually, I'd had enough.

Fine.

We'll breed our own.

I'm beginning to think those four words should come with a financial warning.

In June 2022, we brought home three Mangalitsa pigs and one Red Wattle.

Four pigs.

That seems reasonable, doesn't it?

Well, fast forward to 2026.

We have 13 mommas and 45 piglets on the ground.

FIFTY-EIGHT PIGS.

And that's just counting the mommas and piglets.

Remember when we were going to buy a couple of feeder pigs every spring?

Yeah.

Me too.

I'm sure Chris thinks about it occasionally as well.

Why We're Crossing Mangalitsa With Red Wattle

After several years of raising these pigs, we've learned quite a bit about what works on our farm.

And what doesn't.

We still love Mangalitsa.

They're hardy, they're wonderful to watch foraging through the woods, and they produce incredible fat.

But pure Mangalitsa take a long time to finish here, and sometimes the amount of fat they produce is more than the average customer really wants.

I mean, I can get excited about a beautiful pile of pork fat.

Not everybody shares that enthusiasm.

Red Wattles bring a different set of characteristics to the table.

They're good foragers, they're hardy, and they tend to produce more meat relative to fat than our pure Mangalitsa.

So we've started moving toward a Mangalitsa and Red Wattle cross.

Our hope is to find a balance between the things we love about both breeds.

Beautiful pork. Useful fat. Good foraging ability. Strong maternal traits. And a pig that makes sense for the families buying our meat.

We're not trying to turn our heritage pigs into commercial pigs.

We're trying to raise the right pig for our farm.

And here's something farming has taught me.

You can do all the research in the world before you bring an animal home.

But eventually, you have to actually raise it.

You watch. You learn. You make mistakes. You adjust.

You eat a lot of pork.

And then you make some more adjustments.

It's a process.

A very expensive, occasionally muddy process.

How to Cook Heritage Pork Without Ruining It

Now let's talk about the important part.

Eating it.

If you're used to very lean grocery-store pork, your first heritage pork chop might be a bit of a surprise.

Especially when you see the fat.

And please, for the love of all things delicious, don't immediately cut all that beautiful fat off and throw it away.

That's flavor!

One of my favorite ways to cook a heritage pork chop is in a cast-iron skillet.

If the chop has a nice fat cap, start by holding that edge against the hot pan for a bit to render some of the fat.

Then use that fat to cook the rest of the chop.

You're essentially cooking the pork in its own deliciousness.

What could be better?

And yes, we're talking about meat thermometers again.

I know. I know.

But after our Thanksgiving turkey adventure, I'm not letting this go.

For whole cuts of pork, including chops and roasts, the USDA recommends an internal temperature of 145°F followed by a three-minute rest.

Ground pork and sausage should reach 160°F.

And remember, pork doesn't have to be completely white in the middle to be properly cooked. Use the thermometer, not just the color.

For shoulders, hocks, and other hardworking cuts, slow cooking is wonderful. Those cuts have fat and connective tissue that become deliciously tender with enough time.

And if you've got extra pork fat?

Render it into lard!

Use it for frying potatoes, roasting vegetables, or baking.

Leaf lard, the fat from around the kidneys, is especially prized for pastry.

Which brings us right back to why I wanted those fluffy Mangalitsa pigs in the first place.

Pie crust.

I told you there was a reason.

Is Heritage Pork Really Better?

That depends on what you're looking for.

If your goal is the leanest possible pork chop with almost no visible fat, our heritage pork might not be what you're expecting.

But if you appreciate rich flavor, beautiful fat, traditional genetics, and knowing how your animals were raised, I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised.

We raise our pigs outdoors on our farm in Battle Creek, Michigan, where they have access to pasture and woods.

They root, forage, explore, and generally make a mess of whatever area we've given them.

Because pigs are pigs.

And that's exactly what we want them to be.

We aren't trying to raise the cheapest pork or the fastest-growing pig.

We're trying to raise animals in a way we're proud of and produce food we're excited to put on our own table.

The first time I saw those dark-red pork chops come back from the butcher, I knew we were onto something.

And the first time I tasted one?

Well, let's just say I understood why people get so excited about heritage pork.

From Four Pigs to...Whatever This Is

Sometimes I look around the farm and laugh at how things have turned out.

We were going to buy a couple of feeder pigs every spring.

That's all.

And now we have breeding groups, mommas, piglets running around the woods, and an entire pork program we're still learning how to improve.

Four years after bringing home those first pigs, we're still figuring things out.

The difference is that now we've got 45 little piglets helping us learn.

And by helping, I mean eating, rooting, growing, and creating more chores.

Very helpful.

But I wouldn't trade the experience.

We've learned so much about heritage breeds, about our land, and about the kind of food we want to raise.

And we get to share that food with families who appreciate it.

So if you've never tried heritage pork, I hope you'll give it a chance.

And if you happen to stop by the farm and see Chris looking a little overwhelmed, just remember...

This all started with four pigs.

Four.

I'm not sure what we're researching on YouTube these days, but somebody should probably check before I get any more ideas.

XOXO,

Tawney