Encina Farms
Not Pork, Iberico
What Makes Iberico So Special?
Known as the “Wagyu of Pork” with its heavy marbling, Iberico really isn’t comparable to any other pork. Our Iberico pigs are raised in Lake County, California. They’re 100% natural and 100% free-range, consuming non-GMO grain and a diet of pasture and acorn, mushrooms, and whatever else they can forage. This diet gives the pork a wonderfully rich flavor and meaty texture, a perfect blend of 100% Spanish Iberico-bred pigs raised on the finest California ranchland.
Recognized In...
Pasture Raised Iberico
We are dedicated to growing our Iberico pigs with the upmost quality standards, using no hormones or antibiotics, with goals to leverage regenerative agriculture, while also using traditional Spanish practices and methods finishing the Iberico on a diet of acorns to ensure its flavor and nutritional profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Iberico is a special ancient (2000 years plus) breed of pig, originating in Spain (Iberian Peninsula). It is widely recognized as the best breed for fresh and cured meats.
The meat has more depth, color, and flavor than meat from a regular white pig due to its breed and the practices of raising and finishing. The breed has the ability to develop an excellent amount of intra-muscular fat, which gives it a finer marbling. It has a complex richness of flavor that is closer to beef, and can be even served in tartare or carpaccio form.
Authentic Iberico pork like ours is raised free range and fed on acorns in the later part of its life to ensure the fat is of great quality and has healthy qualities (acorns contain 70% oleic acid, similar to olives). This means the pork has the same healthy fat as olive oil. Iberico that is not acorn-fed has a different taste and fat profile.
We believe in free range and humane farming, and use no antibiotics or hormones. At about 10 months of age, each pig is released in the oak woodlands, where it has plenty of land to explore, eating grasses, herbs, nuts, mushrooms etc. and finishing on acorns. During the feeding season, each pig can consume acorns from as many as 40 oak trees and walk as much as 10 miles a day. Raising Iberico pigs preserves our California oak woodlands, too, and rejuvenates the land.
Until recently, the breed was only raised in Spain. A few years ago, the USDA approved the imports of live Iberico pigs into the U.S., but there are still very few growers raising them. Experience with the breed matters.
California has a similar landscape and weather to the Spanish Dehesa, including plenty of oak trees. The longer grass season and mild temperatures here make it an ideal environment for Iberico. And, because our product goes directly from our farm to you without importing, we’re able to provide faster, better service to our customers.
We are importing it from a prestigious producer currently, while we are developing relationships with domestic charcutiers to cure our meats.