It took me a couple of hours to cut up the pig and grind , another couple of hours to stuff the sausage, another couple of hours putting things in the brine solutions and through the smoker, spred out over a few days. You can't buy the stuff I make at the store, there is a world if difference to your own. eg. my sausage patties are 25-30 % fat comercial patties are around 50-60%, store bought bacon is pumped with phosphate to retain water, when you cook it you get a white scum given off before it starts to cook, my bacon no watery scum. Its a hobby so I don't try to figure out the costs, but It does save money even compared to the inferior store bought. And most of all I enjoy doing it.
The pig cost me $0.85/lb after taking out the waste I think my usable meat is around $1.00/lb that was about 40 lbs of fresh sausage, 10 lbs liverwurst,5 lbs head cheese,40 lbs smoked sausage,20 lbs bacon,15 lbs pork chops. thats 130 lbs that cost me maybe $150 when you figure in te spices,salt casings etc.