Summer is the season for grilling, barbecuing and smoking. For locals to the Shakespeare area, The Best Little Pork Shoppe is a go-to for all of the above.
The shop has been in business since the early 90s, but it changed hands to current owner Ben Schelhaas in January of last year. Ben had spent a decade working in restaurants and a few years managing the Forest Motel in Stratford when he saw The Best Little Pork Shoppe was for sale. He decided to take the plunge.
True to its name, The Best Little Pork Shoppe sells plenty of pork, mainly from Ontario and largely from within a 30-minute drive of the storefront. Their specialty is their farmer’s sausage, which comes in one-pound coils. It’s whole-hog sausage, meaning they use all the meat in the pig, which makes it lean instead of overly fatty. The store’s most popular sausage is the smoked garlic, which is cold-smoked, a unique process that’s not common in the area.
“It produces a really nice mild flavour without being too overpowering,” says Ben.
The Best Little Pork Shoppe also sells smoked pork chops, bacon, local chicken, porchetta roasts, and more, as well as condiments and dried goods. They even stock buffalo products from Kampkreek Dairies in Sebringville, and lamb from another nearby farm.
Ben is happy to assist his customers with picking the right cut of meat, as well as offering cooking tips.
A customer favourite at The Best Little Pork Shoppe is their pulled pork, which they sell for $16/pound in-store and for $12 on a bun every Saturday from 12-6PM. Ben enjoys smoking the pulled pork on his Yoder Smoker in front of the store, and says they will continue this Saturday tradition for the rest of the year.
The Best Little Pork Shoppe also sells Yoder Smokers, which are handmade in the USA and weigh about 350-450 pounds.
“When it comes to smokers, I’ve always had an interest in them. But I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of stuff out there that’s cheaply made. I came across Yoder when I first opened up the shop here. Americans really know what they’re doing when it comes to smoking meats and barbecue,” says Ben.
Ben says the Yoder Smokers have been especially popular with people who have owned a smoker before and are now looking to step up their game and purchase a quality product. The smokers are not limited to just smoking meats, particularly the pellet grills. They are also capable of baking inside their cooking chamber and grilling up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. There is also a pizza oven attachment available for cooking wood-fired pizzas. The smoker’s versatility means more space on your patio.
“It’ll last you ten years, or even twenty or thirty if you treat it right,” says Ben.
Ben believes that when you hunt an animal, it’s a sign of respect to use it in a quality recipe and truly enjoy it. Over the past several years he has cooked with wild game as part of a fundraiser for Paniba, a nonprofit that his parents founded with Ezequiel Peña, who is a Haitian refugee living in the Dominican Republic. Paniba provides nutritious food to individuals and families in the Dominican, with a focus on children and seniors.
The wild game dinner fundraiser is a men’s only event, started by Ben’s father and his friend Paul Carnegie. Fifty guests attended in its first year, which grew to 110 attendees last year and raised over $10,000.
In addition to being important and meaningful, the wild game dinner is another opportunity for Ben to share his love of meat and cooking with his community.
“Anything can taste good if you know how to cook it.”
For more information on The Best Little Pork Shoppe and their products, visit www.porkshoppe.com.