How to fill out a pork cut sheet
A hog is mostly decisions: hams fresh or cured, bacon or fresh belly, chops or a roast, and how much goes to sausage. Here they are in the order the form asks them, with what each one does to your pounds. The free printable is just below.
Pork Cut Sheet — free
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The decisions, in the order the form asks
- 1
Hams: fresh, cured or smoked
A fresh ham roasts like a big pork roast. A cured or smoked ham is a different product — and curing and smoking are usually an extra charge that adds days or weeks to the timeline, so ask how long before you promise anyone a holiday ham. Then choose whole, half, or steaks.
- 2
Bacon or fresh belly
The side of the hog is bacon if you cure and smoke it, or fresh belly (pork belly) if you do not. Spare ribs come off that same side, so if you want ribs, say so. Slice thickness is a choice too: regular or thick.
- 3
Loin: chops, roast, or both
Chops are usually cut ¾ to 1¼ inches and packed two or four to a package. A loin roast is the same meat uncut. Boneless loin usually costs you the back ribs, so decide the two together.
- 4
Shoulder and picnic
The shoulder (butt) is the classic roast for pulled pork and is happy to be sliced into steaks. Picnic can be a roast, smoked, or ground into sausage. Whatever you do not specify tends to end up in the sausage pile.
- 5
Sausage: flavor, bulk or links
Breakfast, Italian or brats; bulk packages or links. Sausage is where trim becomes something you want to eat, and it is commonly a per-pound fee. Ask what seasoning the shop uses and whether they add extra fat.
- 6
Lard, jowl, hocks, feet and organs
Leaf lard — the fat around the kidneys — is the one bakers ask for; say so if you want it. Hocks, jowl, feet, heart and liver are all keepers if you tick them and often discarded if you do not.
- 7
Skin on or skinned
Most commercial pork is skinned. Some small shops will scald and scrape for skin-on roasts, hams and bacon — ask. It changes carcass weight, too: skin is around 6% of live weight (University of Maine Extension), and published dressing percentages are quoted ‘including skin’.
- 8
Package size
Sausage by the pound, chops by the pair or four-pack, roasts by what your table finishes. Smaller packages thaw faster and waste less.
What to expect in pounds
Extension figures for a market-weight hog, so you can sanity-check the call. Heritage breeds that were raised slowly vary more, so treat these as starting points.
| Figure | Typical | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dressing %, market hog | 70–75% | K-State Extension (MF3394) |
| Dressing %, commercial hog incl. skin | 70–73% | University of Maine Extension (Bulletin 1073) |
| Dressing %, heritage breeds | 64–75% | University of Maine Extension (Bulletin 1073) |
| Cooler shrink | under 1% at large plants; 3–5% at smaller ones | University of Maine Extension (Bulletin 1073) |
| Bone-in retail cuts | 74–80% of carcass | UW–Madison Extension / K-State (MF3394) |
| Boneless, closely trimmed | 65–70% of carcass | UW–Madison Extension / K-State (MF3394) |
K-State’s worked example
- 285-lb hog × 72% dressing ≈ 205 lb carcass
- Bone-in cuts: 205 × 75% ≈ 154 lb
- Boneless cuts: 205 × 65% ≈ 133 lb
Bone-in versus boneless is worth about 21 lb on this hog.
Cured and smoked products lose more weight in the process, and extension tables do not give a separate yield for them. Ask the processor what a ham or a side of bacon typically weighs after curing.
When the boxes come back
See how your pork really came out
Homestead Paradise’s Processing card follows the trip — drop-off, the call, boxes back — and turns it into your dressing percent, cutting yield, and cost per packaged pound with feed included. It checks the kill date against any medication withdrawal before you book, and tracks deposits and balances on any shares you sell.
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Common questions
How much meat do you get from a hog?
For a 285-lb market hog at about 72% dressing, expect roughly a 205-lb carcass and around 133–154 lb of packaged meat, depending on whether you take bone-in or boneless cuts (K-State Extension). Smaller or heritage hogs, and how much you cure, will move that.
Fresh ham or cured ham?
Fresh ham is a roast. Cured and smoked ham is a different, extra-cost product that takes longer and weighs less when it is done. If you are unsure, take one of each — half the ham fresh and half cured is a common split.
Can I get bacon and spare ribs both?
Yes — ribs are taken off the side before it is cured for bacon. Just say so on the sheet, because otherwise the side may go whole to bacon.
What should I ask the processor before I fill it out?
Whether they scald and scrape or skin; whether the hanging weight is hot or chilled; what curing, smoking and sausage cost per pound; how long cured products take; whether they keep leaf lard, jowl and organs; and the package defaults.
Other cut sheets
Sources
- K-State Research & Extension — How Much Meat to Expect from Your Animal (MF3394)
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension — Understanding Pork Yields (Bulletin 1073)
- UW–Madison Extension — How Much Meat Should a Hog Yield?
Figures are published extension ranges for typical animals; yours will differ. Check with your processor and your state before selling shares.
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