Popper’s Artisanal Meats is a partnership between Farm and Kitchen dedicated to making available on the New Hampshire Seacoast the finest processed meats from local humanely raised livestock. Chef-Owner John “Popper” Medlin was raised in the family restaurant business, trained formally at the prestigious Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy and then completed an apprenticeship with Slagerij-Traiteur Jacobs, a 4th generation Sausage Master in Bourne, Netherlands. Popper is passionate about Charcuterie – the culinary art invoking traditional craft-techniques for preparing, smoking, curing and processing meats. He enhances tradition with his own style and taste by infusing his small-batch recipes with seasonal flavors, local ingredients and personal care. Popper’s certified commercial kitchen is located in Downtown Dover on the Fifth Floor of the Mill Building at One Washington Street. You’re welcome to stop by to see how your food is made.

Birch Hill Farm, a small, family owned farm in Lee, NH is the other half of the Partnership. Originally conceived as an effort simply to “opt out” of commercial food production for their family, the Farm quickly committed to joining the broader effort to resurrect the necessary infrastructure to produce sustainable Local Food. Birch Hill Farm is an enthusiastic collaborator and partner with Popper’s Artisanal Meats. The Farm concentrates on raising Heritage Breed pork — old-world breeds once common on English and early American homesteads, but now rare and endangered breeds due to their unsuitability for modern factory-confinement operations. As Dick Jacobs, Popper’s mentor, onced commented about the modern American pork production system, “They’ve taken the pork out of the pig.” The Heritage breeds are selected first and foremost for flavor, not rapid growth; and, also, for easy temperament, mothering skills, and foraging ability. These breeds afford extensive marbling, red-meat textures and deep, rich flavors. On Birch Hill, these pigs are raised on pasture, wood-lines and woodlots where they daily forage on the grasses, legumes, acorns, roots and other natural nutrients offered by the soil. They also receive surplus milk and yogurt from local dairies, as well as the discarded fruits and vegetables from grocers. Birch Hill Farm makes every effort to offer these fine animals the open space, feed and conditions necessary to grow and thrive as naturally and contentedly as a pig can be. Please feel free to contact us for a farm tour to see how your food is raised.

Based on the limited and appropriate “carrying capacity” of Birch Hill Farm, Popper’s Artisanal Meats also contracts with many other local farms and producers for seasonal and quality pork, beef, lamb, elk, rabbit, poultry, herbs, spices, beer, syrup, honey and the many other ingredients raised all around us, right here. If you have any questions about what we do or how we do it, just ask us or pay us a visit. Welcome to Popper’s Artisanal meats.