Hog roast for hire: Pig farmer turns discounted pigs into DIY roasting business

LAPEL, Ind. — John Simmermon found a way to turn lemons — low-weight pigs — into lemonade with a DIY hog roast business.

“We found that most people like to do their own. They like to do the hands-on thing. They make it a whole event,” he said.

Simmermon farms with family — his sisters and a cousin — in Lapel, Indiana, raising row crops, show cattle and pigs.

Back in the early 1990s, Simmermon, who had a farrow-to-finish hog operation, found that he had a problem when it came to smaller pigs being sent to market.

“We were getting discounted so much on these smaller pigs that just didn’t seem to grow to full market weight. We thought, what can we do to utilize those pigs? They’re perfectly good pigs, they just grow smaller and we had to get them out of the barns,” he said.

Simmermon decided to see if he could sell those smaller pigs as roasting pigs. The plan took off from there. Today, Simmermon Farms DIY roasting kits are used for weddings, graduations, family reunions, block parties and fundraising events.

Customers can go “whole hog” and rent a roaster and buy a pig, or if they have their own roaster, they can just purchase the pig. That’s how the original idea took off.

“People had their own roasters, and they just needed a place to get a whole pig. They couldn’t find a good place to get a pig,” Simmermon said.

Pull-Behind Roasters

Today, Simmermon Farms not only sells the pigs for roasting, but also rents pull-behind roasters for a full DIY hog roast experience.

“In the winter months when we weren’t busy, we would build them. It takes a couple of weeks, maybe longer. You had to buy the axles and make the trailer, you have to put lights on them and then the gear reduction so it turns slow,” Simmermon said.

The roasters, which use charcoal, also have baffles to regulate the temperature and a rotisserie spit so the hog roasts evenly. For those who are new at roasting a whole hog, Simmermon has instructions and he also discusses the process with potential customers before they buy.

“I go through the instructions ahead of time so they know what they are getting themselves into before they commit to it and my phone is always open if they call and have questions,” he said.

There’s also a step-by-step instruction guide on the farm’s website, simmermonfarms.com.

One of the biggest surprises for his customers is how much roasting a pig has changed.

“This is none of the old school, where it was an all-night deal and it took forever,” Simmermon said.

While overcooking pork is the biggest issue that customers can run into, Simmermon also provides instructions on the correct internal temperature for the pork and where and how to use a meat thermometer. He also offers instructions on how to freeze any leftovers — although that’s a question he rarely gets.

“It seems like having a lot of leftover roast pork has never been a problem,” he said.

The process starts when the customer chooses a pig.

“Everybody likes that they are grown right here on the farm. Some people like to pick it out themselves. We have a lot of people that do that, they pick their pig and we take it to Knightstown Locker for processing or they do the processing themselves. A lot of people who hunt deer like to do their own butchering,” Simmermon said.

The most popular size for roasting is a live weight of around 180 pounds, which results in a dressed weight of around 130 pounds.

Making It Easy

Simmermon switched from farrow to finish to contract finishing about a year and a half ago. He now buys the roaster pigs from the company that owns them.

“We still have all sizes of pigs. We get weaned pigs in at 13 pounds,” he said.

While COVID-19 did slow the demand for the DIY roasting kits, many people just switched to smaller, outdoor gatherings that still demanded roast pork as the main dish.

“Last year, people had smaller events so they just bought smaller pigs. We had fewer sales, but it didn’t come to a complete halt,” Simmermon said.

One of the biggest challenges is just logistics. Most of the events are on weekends, so the roasters are picked up on Friday and returned on Monday.

“It’s just getting people here when they say they are going to be here to pick up the roaster. We like to do it while our employees are here,” Simmermon said.

Simmermon said he enjoys the stories from customers when they return the roasters.

“The biggest comment we get when they come back is, ‘We didn’t realize how easy you make it,’” he said.

The business has many repeat customers. Some have been using the DIY roasting kits for over 15 years.

For Simmermon, it’s not just the success of finding a way to market discounted pigs, it’s seeing the enjoyment his customers take in being able to roast a pig themselves.

“It’s really interesting to hear all the stories about how people roast their pigs. I just enjoy it. I enjoy people eating our hogs and enjoying that experience,” he said.