Ohiofarmgirl'sAdventuresinTheGoodLand-where ya been? whatcha been doin

[big brown horse]

Wow!!! I'm so jealous!

 

[hwillm1977]

I keep telling him to start a school to teach folks how to do this at home.

I think this is a FABULOUS idea... In my naive beginnings of self sufficiency I know absolutely nothing about butchering animals, but I would love to. I was 8 years old the last time we had animals of our own... now 24 years later I have no idea how to do any of it but would love to learn...

Someone needs to start a 'Self sufficiency 101' school Week or 2 week long retreats covering basics for wannabes like me... lol

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

The only part I found mildly sickening was the liver part.....

 

[Up-the-Creek]

I keep telling him to start a school to teach folks how to do this at home.

I think this is a FABULOUS idea... In my naive beginnings of self sufficiency I know absolutely nothing about butchering animals, but I would love to. I was 8 years old the last time we had animals of our own... now 24 years later I have no idea how to do any of it but would love to learn...

Someone needs to start a 'Self sufficiency 101' school Week or 2 week long retreats covering basics for wannabes like me... lol

DH and I were talking about the same thing the other day when we was processing those deer. It would be great for someone to teach people how to do stuff like butchering. I mean yes, it is in books and all over the internet, but it would be so much better to do firsthand with a seasoned proffesional. I would most def. pay for a class!

 

[justusnak]

WOW!! I have to say....I am in Awe. Congrats on the home butcher! But....I have to say.....How DARE you tell us you are makeing liverwurst....and NOT give the recipe!! ( j/k)
BUT..I have several packages of pork liver...and would really love to have the recipe!

 

[Farmfresh]

And while you are about that liverwurst idea ... have you ever had Scrapple?

It is called "the other gray meat" by my not so fond husband , but I grew up on it and love it. Basically a type of sausage made with the pigs head meat! After it is made and chilled, she then would slice it, dip it in batter and fry it up to serve with eggs at breakfast. Yummy!

 

[FarmerChick]

Fatback did you say?? I will be fighting ya for that....down here I sell the hound out of fatback. My customers love my fresh stuff vs. the salted skinny version they sell in the store.

Great detail in your butchering etc. People who "want to do their" own hogs now have an understanding of what is involved. Sounds glamorous to have hogs and process and end up with tons of nice meat, but ya gotta be able to handle some tough work to do it..LOL

My hogs aren't my friends...HAHA...not til they hit the plate!

I got a giant center porkloin in the freezer that is giong to be next weekends big feast. OH MY I love the porkloin.

PS--I love liverwurst....ate that my whole life! YUMMO


Nice to have tons of fresh meat in the freezer isn't it? Makes one feel so secure and happy!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Did you skin it before you hung it? If so, why? And if yes, how did you take the hide off? did you scrape the hide for the fat, or did you clean it as best as you could during the skinning process.Also, did you cut through the bone, and if yes, what did you use? (table saw?)I'm just trying to compare how you did the hog, to how we do the deer. we debone the deer for better flacvoured meat, but pork is great on the bone, so inquiring minds want to know.

also, coul dyou make this it's own separate post, as it will get lost in your journal and won't be as easy to reference.

Thanks. Since I am a glutton for punishment, I do t to do a hog or two next year, to add to the sheep, rabbits, chickens, quail, and ducks.

And please tell me--how many #s of bacon form one hog?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

wow!! great questions and feedback! and good idea, MTNorth, i'll start a separate post just for the butcher stuff - minus the saucy comments about that stupid garbage guy who wont take my darn pig heads! coward that he is...

anyway - lots of good questions and how about in the next day or two i'll put together an FAQ and a more 'clinical' how to thread??? with more deets???

we JUST got back from dropping off the bacons... so i'm getting dinner ready. of course we're having the creme de la creme - the tenderloins barely sauteed...ahhh heaven.

anyway we took the bacons to a guy who also does deer..of course we picked smack dab in the middle of deer season to do this (no really i didnt think about it! yikes!) and as we were driving away i asked The Big Man why people dont just dress them at home?? i think that maybe folks dont know how to - or dont think they can - or dont have the equipment.

but

aside from the huge grinder (and more about this later), we used:

* really good paring knives (wursthof)
* a big ol' meat saw - like a big band saw (to saw off the heads and cut down the middle)
* 8 inch chef's knives
* a cheap but good boning knife

for the cutting and cleaning. i'll get some links together of what we used.

but definitely having someone to mentor us really helps. we read a lot before we did this but being there in the splash zone is a whole other matter.

the other thing that i've noticed is that reading is a bit misleading. by nature of the activity, the words used to describe butchering anything is inflammatory so i think folks think automatically...oh geez i dont know if i could do that. but, it really isnt as gross as it sounds. or as violent as you might expect. its actually really interesting and the neighbor kid was totally enthralled - he was asking anatomy questions and pointing out this and that. btw, yes his mother knew he came over
;-)

all kidding aside, there is an element of danger with live fire and the potential for a 300 lbs rage-blind hog to do grievous harm if it wasnt effectively dropped with the first shot. so i think MOST people could do it..but we made sure the kids and dogs were on the deck far from harm.

it took about 2 hrs for the dispatching and skinning part - including all the chest beating and punching each other in the arm by the men. and half the day for the cutting, and a couple hours for the grinding. so call it two most-of-the-day's work...

but... two hogs is enough meat for the 2 of us for the entire year...and technically we had a bit left over. so for us its absolutely worth it and more effective than doing a bunch of poultry.

FC, i figured it i took this precious fatback and drove like mad i coulda been down to your farm market before you closed. we coulda sold it for a fortune...but i'll just keep it for me instead.

Liquor, guns and sharp knives....good thing you were ready to call 911!

friend, down here thats basically just a good timin' saturday nite! whoot!!!!

;-)

 

[Dace]