Curious about eating pork? Here's the healthiest ways to prepare it.

Are you a pork lover or a skeptic?

We firmly believe that woodland-raised pork is a healthy and nutritious staple in the kitchen. But we know that many of our customers have hesitations about including pork in their diets.

If you're on the fence about eating pork, let's talk about what concerns you may have, and how to best prepare pork to ensure you're optimizing your health.

Why - and how - should we eat pork? 

Pork is one of the oldest sources of meat. Humans have been domesticating pigs for meat since around 5,000 BCE. And if you’re well-versed in homesteading knowledge, you probably know that pigs were central to small family homesteads. A whole pig provided meat for the family and fat for soaps, candles, cooking, and cleaning. 

However, eating fresh pork, as we do in our modern society, wasn’t the typical practice for much of history. Old, traditional methods of preserving pork helped preserve flavor, keep it shelf-stable, and also created health benefits.

Unlike other livestock, such as beef or goats, porcine tissues are quite similar to human tissues. This means that pork has a unique effect on human blood. Recently, work done through the Weston A. Price Foundation has discovered that fresh pork often creates a “stickiness” in red blood cells, causing them to temporarily clot. 

However, there are no observed negative effects of pork on the human body when it’s been properly prepared, by either being processed or marinated. In fact, this is how cultures have traditionally enjoyed pork for thousands of years. In Asia, South America, pork is traditionally marinated for 24 hours in vinegar. In Europe, pork is usually fermented or cured before being eaten. 

If we’re striving to eat old-fashioned, then, we should consume pork mindfully by incorporating traditional practices as much as possible. Here are a few tips to accomplish this. 

Tip #1: Marinate fresh meat whenever possible. 

Whether you’re preparing to cook pork chops or a pork roast, create a simple marinade of apple cider vinegar, and place the meat in this marinade for at least 24 hours. Or -- skip the marinade and try our smoked pork chops, as smoking is one of the beneficial ways of preparing pork! 

Researchers found that when fresh meat was marinated before consuming, no stickiness or clotting in red blood cells occurred. Participants also reported feeling energetic and healthy after consuming the meat, as opposed to tired and lethargic after eating unmarinated pork. 

When you’re ready to cook, treat the marinated pork as you would normally. Remove the meat from the marinade, gently blot dry, and season and cook as usual. (If you're using smoked chops, however, there's no need to season again. Just cook as usual!)

Tip #2: Enjoy naturally preserved or cured pork. 

Conventionally processed pork products, such as bacon or salami, contain synthetic nitrates that are harmful. However, naturally cured products - such as our smoked sausages and chops, jowl bacon, and natural cure bacon - only contain naturally occurring nitrates, in the form of celery powder. 

Researchers from the same study observed that there were no negative effects, clotting, or stickiness in red blood cells when participants ate meat that had been naturally cured or processed beforehand. 

Tip #3: Pair pork with fermented foods. 

Once your pork has been properly prepared, make sure to consume it with fermented foods and vegetables. Fermented garlic, carrots, or sauerkraut are popular choices. 

When you combine lacto-fermented foods with cooked meat, they supply enzymes and attract digestive juices, which helps the body source as many nutrients as possible from your food. In other words, this makes meat - one of the most bio-available sources of protein - even more of a nutritional powerhouse.

Tip #4: Use pork fat (lard) in cooking and baking.

Still on the fence about consuming pork meat? Lard is considered by many to be one of the best fats to use. It's a good source on Vitamin D and a "good" type of saturated fat to support healthy cells.

We love to use fatback lard for searing meat, roasting vegetables, frying food, and making popcorn. And if you're baking, leaf lard is the perfect substitute for vegetable oil.

How do you use or prepare pork in your kitchen? We'd love to hear your thoughts!