I actually cure the loins of these as small canadian bacon..they are pretty small pigs...The new pair I just got will produce larger animals though. but yes, the idea is that I control what goes in, thence what comes out. There is not much way I could give up eating meat, even though, I have gone from my younger days of inhaling all the meat on the plate and picking at the potatoes to inhaling The potatoes and then inhaling the meat..and everything else..lol I had to make a vegan side dish once...I took a pyrex plate full of mixed olives and drizzled them in olive oil and hickory smoked them...then ground them in the food processor...offered vegetarian option with cream cheese, and vegan option just molded into a terrine and offered with water crackers...huuuge hit.