A suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother’s milk (i.e. a piglet which is still “suckling”). In a factory farm environment suckling pigs are slaughtered between the ages of 2 and 6 weeks. At Wickedfood Earth when we slaughter, we slaughter our suckling pigs at between 8 and 12 weeks. They  vary in weight from 7kg to 12kg (allow approximately 500g of meat per person). As our pigs grow much slower than factory-reared animals, they have a much better flavour. (We do not do suckling pigs at the moment, we however have a limited supply of large pigs at about 50kg per side for bigger groups.)

Suckling pig is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted, or cooked on a spit over an open fire. The meat from a suckling pig is pale and tender and the cooked skin should be crisp, and as brittle as glass. In factory-reared animals, the texture of the meat can be somewhat gelatinous due to the amount of collagen in a young pig. For a good quality suckling pig, all that is needed is a good rubbing of salt.

For a recipe on how to cook free range suckling pig, click here ….