Over the last couple of years, we’ve been really into this show on Netflix called The Great British Baking Show. Have you seen it before?
This week, I (this is Greg writing by the way) started thinking about the parallels between how the contestants on the show bake bread and how Jenney and I raise pigs.
Like a good baker, we do our research and we have a recipe. We mix the right ingredients together (healthy piglets, amazing pasture, exceptional organic feed, clean water, etc.) and then we let the process unfold.
With baking, these first few steps can all go perfectly. But if something goes wrong with the final step of the actual bake in the oven, all the hard work is lost…like when I over-baked and burned one of my Thanksgiving pie crusts last week. So sad!
We don’t talk much about our final step for raising pigs, but it’s a critical part of the farming process. After all, we can raise the most perfect pigs imaginable, but if our butcher isn’t on point, then all of our hard work and intention is for nothing.
Schrader’s Meat Market is a family owned, predominantly woman-run butcher facility in Romulus and when we met 2 years ago, it was truly love at first sight. They handle the animals humanely AND they have extraordinarily high standards when it comes to cleanliness and safety and quality. And the people behind the business are amazing…
Chris, the front-woman of Schraders, is the perfect counterpart for our business. She’s organized and thorough and prompt, and a little type A like me (and Jenney!). She’s the person who reviews all the crazy cut sheets we submit and makes sure we get exactly what we need at drop off and pick up. We talk or email at least once a week, and her service and attention to detail is impeccable.
The butchering team is equally amazing. Kara, the head butcher recently placed 2nd in a regional butchering competition (and she was the only woman in the field of competitors!). And Will, the smokehouse manager, has won numerous awards for his cured and smoked meat recipes like our bacon. We’re so fortunate to have these two and their dream team within driving distance from our farm.
They all put cleanliness as a top priority. Breanna is the person that cleans the entire plant. Every. Single. Day. I go to Schrader’s almost every week and the place literally shines… which for a butcher facility is pretty incredible.
I apologize if this all sounds like I’m bragging. But here’s the thing….we could never produce the quality of food that we do without Schrader’s Meat Market.
We put so much of our heart and soul into raising these animals. And having these experts in charge of the last step before our pork arrives for you at the Brighton Market (or our Farm Store) is such a gift.
If you have some praise for the Schrader’s butcher team this week, hit reply to this and tell us. We’ll compile all the notes and give them to the team when we drop off the apple crumble we make for them every year. I’m sure they’ll be happy to receive some love from our tribe of foodies here in Rochester.
Your Farmers,
Greg & Jenney