Hog Butchering Weekend

[762 shooter]

We are having our hog butchering this weekend. Six 350 pound hogs. Squealing at 6:00 AM and chops, sausage, hams by 4:00 PM.

Should be a nice day starting at 32 degrees with a high of 51. The price for a hog is $225. I think we get about 180 pounds of product. I'll get the real numbers this weekend. Really I would do it for free but it's nice having a pig in the pot so to speak.

1. 22 LR to the brain pan.
2. Butcher knife to the throat to bleed.
3. Dip whole hog into almost boiling water to loosen hair.
4. Roll out onto flat bed and scrape hair off.
5. Shave and flame off remaining hairs.
6. Pick up with backhoe and hang on cross arms.
7. Gut and cut off head.
8. Liver, heart, tongue, cleaned head, go into 80 gallon pot to boil.
9. Family decides what cuts they want and the two halves proceed down the table.
10. Any pieces left on the bones is put into the puddin pot.
11. All sausage cuts go into their pans.
12. Sausage meat is ground, seasoned, and stuffed.
13. Band saw is cranked up and meats are cut.

The Puddin pot is all pieces that don't get used for something else. All these meats are cooked together all day then spread on a table. All the meat is separated from the bones and gristle. This meat is then ground, mixed with cooked rice, seasoned and stuffed into casings. Fried crispy it is a pure delight with grits and eggs for breakfast. This product is called Puddin. Back in the fifties, when my grandfather was alive the blood was saved and mixed in with this with lots of black pepper.

Kinda like goetta in Cincinatti, or boudain in LA.

I am doing some sides into bacon, maybe a ham or two.

Midday all the tenderloins are fried up and the workers are fed in two shifts. Green beans, slaw, rice, gravy, butter beans, fried okra and bread rolls. Desserts are usually homemade brownies, cookies, pies, and cakes.

I'll take some pics and post later.

I don't know how much longer these will happen. Most people would rather go to the grocery store.

Pics Post #42

762

[rush1886]

Can I place an order for some Head Cheese? :!:

[Ramar]

"I love it when a plan comes together."
Enjoy, I'm jealous.
Ramar

[Hogtamer]

What a great day and I'm not kidding! It would do most kids a world of good to be a part of that. Not many have any kind of connection to the land anymore and nothing like a hog killing for a hands on education of real food production. Everything but the hair and the squeal is good! But good hog is owed a better end than goetta! I went in the same cafe every day deer hunting in Ohio a while back, and struck up frienships with the good old coffee drinking crowd. One day I asked them what in the heck is "getta" that I see on this menu? Oh a big round of laughs all round and the owner jumped up and came back with an order on the house, then instructed me how to pronounce it. Well I jumped right on it and let me tell you I'd have to be 5 minutes from starving 'fore that passed my lips again. The next year I brought some grits and helped myself to their kitchen! Actually made a couple of believers!

[Wolfer]

My grandpa passed away when I was 12. Some of my fondest early childhood memories was butchering a hog on new years day. A tradition he always did. He butchered other hogs at other times but one hog was saved for new years day. He had 8 kids and their families, around 28 of us grand kids. There was usually enough meat for dinner and a small amount sent home with all the kids.
There would be none of this left to put in the salt. Grandma would make head cheese and pickle the feet.
I butchered my own hogs after I got married but it was never the same as the big doins at grandpa's on new years day.

For several years now I've been able to get enough wild meat to suffice. I do buy a little sausage along.

[JWFilips]

I'm in for some Scrapple & Pickled Pigs Feet! ( some brain would be nice!) with rassleberry dressing!

[jsizemore]

Only things missin' is the sassafras tea, hominy and cornbread.

[Rick N Bama]

Are you not going to render down the Lard? Of course the byproduct of that is Cracklins which makes some mighty fine Cornbread!

[kenyerian]

Gotta have cracklins

[crowbuster]

Sounds like a great day. Looking forward to your pics.

[labradigger1]

Can I place an order for some Head Cheese? :!:

WOOOF! My dad made me eat that when I was a kid, fried to a burnt crisp. Never again!
Lab

[MaryB]

Brings back memories of beef butchering with a friend who passed away. 6 families got together and 6 steers went in to the locker to hang 2 weeks. Then back out to his 3 stall garage that has been converted into a beef processing plant. We cut wrapped ground all day long, ate on the run, drank a lot of beer and at the end of the day everything was in the huge walk in freezer he owned to flash freeze. Next day everyone helped clean the garage(how in the heck did she get hamburger on the ceiling???), pack the cleaned equipment away after it soaked overnight and got it all back up in the garage loft until the next year. By noon we all packed our meat for the trip home, I always brought a freezer and ran an inverter off the truck for the 100 mile trip.

[pworley1]

That is almost the way we did it when I was a kid. We didn't have the backhoe, but we did have a chain hoist. Thanks for bringing back some good memories.

[Plate plinker]

Seems you all have some good family time. Keep the desenters in line as long as you can so you don't lose the whole deal. Almost cried because your story, then I got a bit hungry. Off to the kitchen.

[GabbyM]

That's a good price on those porkers. Hauled three 300 pounders for my Amish neighbor a couple weeks ago. In there truck and trailer since they don't drive. Three brothers all with families shared the chores and booty. They been doing this since they were kids. I should of made my way over there to see what I could learn. They paid .79 per pound or $79 per hundred weight. Only had to haul about three miles. They were good lean hogs. Saw them hanging on the fork truck. Since they are carpenters they have a handy sky lift. He has some beef cattle about ready to market. But like he said. "I can't afford to eat them".

[PbHurler]

Boy, do I miss cracklins (thanks Mom, miss you too). But I do still get to have fresh side once & awhile.

True food of the earth.

[DIRT Farmer]

Just remember, farm butchuring is knowlage that is just one generation from being lost.

[mnkyracer]

Bout the same as us on the processing. Couple differences though:

2. We use a double edged knife to insert in the trachea and slice the aorta at the heart. First time or 2 it was a little tricky figuring out were to go with the blade, but man do they pump out quick.

3-5. We use a hog trough to scald, rolling by using 2 sets of chains by hand.

9. Most of us don't make pork chops, preferring to roll the loins out. This way we do not need to saw the backbone. After splitting the pelvis, we use a SHARP hand axe to separate the ribs from the backbone, giving us 3 sections. the backbone is then sectioned to fit our crock pot.

We eat more ponhaus (scrapple) than puddin. (actually - I don't eat any puddin)

The most we did on a weekend was 10 which would not have been to hateful except for the fact that the farmer we did them with liked LARGE hogs. Avg weight was ~375 with one over 475. Yeah that was one large kettle of lard that day.

[Magana559]

Looks like you and I had the same plans
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd292/magana559/Mobile%20Uploads/20150116_162053_zpsm5hlgtct.jpg (http://s223.photobucket.com/user/magana559/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150116_162053_zpsm5hlgtct.jpg.html)

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd292/magana559/Mobile%20Uploads/20150116_145532_zpscsgrtiod.jpg (http://s223.photobucket.com/user/magana559/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150116_145532_zpscsgrtiod.jpg.html)

[buckwheatpaul]

I have found that the 22 bullet to the head is best if shot from back of head toward the front of the head...the 22 doesnt damage any meat.....

[762 shooter]

Our "professional" shoots between the eyes with a Cricket at 6" and never had a FTD ( failure to drop/die).

762

[Lloyd Smale]

lot cheaper then your going to get one around here.

[Boz330]

I use to help the farmer I hunted on with hog butchering. The last time was 79 and we processed 26 pigs in 3 days. This was for 3 families as well as me. The nice thing was they rented a building set up by a local Mennonite for butchering and he rendered the lard, man that smelled good.
All of the hams were salt cured and smoked as well as the bacons and sausage. The smoke house was probably 15X20 feet and had a salt bin with a ton of salt in it. The smoke house ran for 2 months and the left over salt was used for the cattle. After all of his kids left home it was easier to just get it at the grocery. I miss helping out with that ritual not to mention the meat.

Bob

[Friends call me Pac]

I just got finished butchering a hog and saw this thread. I skinned her instead of scalding. I'm going to let her hang a day or two before cutting her up into eating size pieces.

[Wolfer]

When I was younger we always scalded using a 55 gallon barrel dug slightly into the ground and leaned against a 12" or so log. A wooden platform was nailed to the log angling back to the ground. We would scald the front half, flip them around and do the back half.

As you all know water temp has to be right or it won't work. Too cold and the hair won't slip. Too hot and the hair will set. Once set it won't ever slip, it has to be shaved or burnt off.

We used the three dip with the finger method to determine water temp. Is this the method you all use?

When putting in salt it's best to scald and leave the hide on IMO. After we all discovered we had coronary artery disease and high cholesterol we stopped rendering the lard. After that we just skinned them.
You can have one skinned before you can get the water hot.

Thanks for the thread. Lots of good memories here.

[petroid]

Your "pudding" was called "panhaas" (pon-us) where I'm from. And we'd make liver sausage. Liver, lungs, kidneys, and scrap head meat went into a big kettle to cook. When done, it was seasoned, ground up, and stuffed into casings and cooled. Served cold, it's great on crackers.

[OnceFired]

I have never had the pleasure of a hog hunt nor a raised hog processing blitz. Closest I've come to that is learning how to ride horseback on a working farm when I was about nine years old. Anyone know of hog farms here in the Austin, TX area?

I've seen a few processing shops in the Liberty Hill area, but I don't know of any family farms that raise them nearby.

Now that I have built my AR, I was hoping to hit a hog hunt locally. Hopefully I can watch the processing happen after that.

[RedHawk357Mag]

Wow! Had a chance to see this when I was kid but freaked out lol. Wish I could find an opportunity to see how this is done.

[bear67]

This is a great thread as I have been around hog killin's for about 70 years now. My family always had a community/family hog butchering while growing up. We scalded every one then. In college I took a meat science course that taught how you did it in a slaughter house commercially. Then I got married and was raising hogs and we reverted to killing and cutting like we were taught as kids. I had a band saw, 3 hp grinder and a loader tractor so it was easier on the back, but still work, but oh the rewards. Have cooked much lard in 20 and 30 gallon cast iron wash pots (good for frying fish in the off season). I started out scalding and reverted to skinning as it was easier and faster. I had a flatbed on a one ton that wore out several trucks and had many a hog laid out on the wooden bed. In our early married years we had a lady who was the postmistress at LaRue, Texas who would take the hog's heads and make souse (hog head cheese) on the halves and she really knew what she was doing.

Ten years later we were raising 12-14,000 hogs a year and did not have enough time so I sent them to a German packing house, Strubes at Rowena, Texas. We furnished pork for my family, my employes families and for landlords we leased wheat land from. Now we mostly butcher wild hogs at home, but I trap hogs over in the creek bottoms for a neighbor and he expects me to kill and leave or butcher any domestic hogs we trap that his neighbors turn out on his 1700 acres of acorn bottomland. He hates what hogs do to his oat and wheat fields. Trapped a 350 lb domestic gilt last year that wound up 100% in chili for a fund raiser--fatter than a town dog.

My grandkids invite their "urban" friends to any butchering we do as most do not have any idea of what is involved. We killed and dressed 10 goats back in November one day and I had lots of help and one or two who really wanted to learn and get their hands bloody. I am sorely afraid that these old time skills we were taught as buttons are going to be gone soon.

[ballistim]

My boss at work had an old 8mm film of his family doing a hog butcher like an assembly line. He had it transferred to VHS at the time & made a copy for his family reunion in reverse so it looked like they were assembling a hog. I couldn't stop laughing, it was hilarious!

[tygar]

Man I miss the farm! They kill nowadays at about 150-180, what bs.

I wouldn't think of killing a hog with less than 3" of backfat.

Soaking bacon & hams in water so they boil instead of fry. People have no idea how good pork is when they have to get the junk in the stores today. I envy you your fine hogs. Sure wish I could get some around here & some good smoke.

[MaryB]

I need to pick up some butts and make some cottage(buckboard) bacon again. Stuff made awesome BLT's. Dry cured, only brine was what it made on its own. I do the same when I can find fresh bellies but that is almost impossible now unless I buy a hog.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd248/maryalanab/bacon-003.jpg

[SciFiJim]

I need to pick up some butts and make some cottage(buckboard) bacon again. Stuff made awesome BLT's. Dry cured, only brine was what it made on its own. I do the same when I can find fresh bellies but that is almost impossible now unless I buy a hog.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd248/maryalanab/bacon-003.jpg


Please share the recipe and method. I've been wanting to do this for a long time and a local warehouse store has pork shoulders on sale for 99¢/lb.

[MaryB]

I cheated and bought the High Mountain Buckboard bacon kit... but any bacon cure works. Debone and slice the roast in half so they are about 3-4 inches thick. Measure your cure to match the meat weight and sprinkle it on. Into a gallon ziplock bag and plastic tub and then the fridge to cure for 7-10 days turning it over every other day. The High Mountain cure is good but needs a bit more sweet, I added some honey, just smeared it on before sprinkling the cure on.

Smoked at 170ish in my Traeger until they reached 145 internal. Ran it through my electric slicer and vac bagged and into the freezer. Ate the last of it a year after I made it. Kind of a cross between bacon and ham...

[shooterg]

Y'all making me hungry.. we kept about 40 hogs, 100+ Black Angus , and over 1000 chickens until the brothers and I left home and Granddad and Pop cut back. Sure miss those salt cured and smoked hams. Never did develop a liking for pork brains and eggs though. Still love fatback, but the store bought pigs just ain't got enough fat in 'em ! Don't miss the rough lye soap we made and used either !
I swiped a ham out of the smokehouse once and traded it for a 1950 Chevy truck- only thing I've stolen in my whole life - I'm sure Gramps knew but it still shames me to think on it - and the %^& truck broke down shortly after - guess I got my "deserves" !

[Bulldogger]

Wonderful thoughts and memories. Just finished lunch but these stories make me HUNGRY!
Thanks for sharing.

Bulldogger

[DLCTEX]

When I was five (1950) I was privileged to visit Granny while a week long hog kiling took place at her brother's place.There were probably 8 families involved and eveyone had their job to do in an assembly line setup. It was as festive as a county fair to me, with fine meals brought for pot luck lunches and fresh pork sausage and other cuts. My uncle had a large smoke house and at weeks end about sixteen hogs had been processed and the hams, bacon, and sausage were being smoked. A memorable moment for me was stepping on a large scorpian barefooted.

[Friends call me Pac]

I've been rendering the fat into lard and cracklins. First time I've ever done this. Man is it taking a long time to get 'er done. Wife is packaging up ground sausage as I type.

[rush1886]

I cheated and bought the High Mountain Buckboard bacon kit... but any bacon cure works. Debone and slice the roast in half so they are about 3-4 inches thick. Measure your cure to match the meat weight and sprinkle it on. Into a gallon ziplock bag and plastic tub and then the fridge to cure for 7-10 days turning it over every other day. The High Mountain cure is good but needs a bit more sweet, I added some honey, just smeared it on before sprinkling the cure on.

Smoked at 170ish in my Traeger until they reached 145 internal. Ran it through my electric slicer and vac bagged and into the freezer. Ate the last of it a year after I made it. Kind of a cross between bacon and ham...

Every now and then, our local GS runs a sale on "boneless country ribs". Ever try this on those? A bit less fat perhaps, but picking thru, I can usually come up with a package where the chunks have good marbling. Thinking "Canadian Bacon" here.

Going there today. If they have some good ones, I'll give it a shot and report back.

[brassrat]

My God! haven't you Clingers heard of a grocery store? :-P

[DLCTEX]

There's as much satisfaction in processing your own pork, beef, chicken, deer, etc. as in casting your own boolits or growing your own garden. I know, I've done it all.

[762 shooter]

Pics as promised.

Nice day after the rain stopped at about 6:30 AM. About 25 in attendance.

Getting the water ready. Plenty of hot water needed all day.
http://i59.tinypic.com/3519uep.jpg

The calm before the storm. They ended up averaging about 300 lbs each.
http://i62.tinypic.com/153mzir.jpg

Cut off fuel oil tank, fired with powerful propane burner to heat water. Lever works grate that is under hog to help dip and roll out on to the flatbed trailer when the hair us just right.
http://i59.tinypic.com/i6hu8k.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/j744dz.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/noyhpl.jpg

[762 shooter]

Time to scrape hair.
http://i57.tinypic.com/16jr60w.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/24pky6x.jpg

Ready to shave and singe.
http://i57.tinypic.com/2hi8bco.jpg

Gutted
http://i60.tinypic.com/9gj8l0.jpg

Split
http://i60.tinypic.com/68tpol.jpg

[762 shooter]

Ready for the puddin pot
http://i61.tinypic.com/25ibs40.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/2ntl8p4.jpg

Sixteen feet of sharp knives.
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End of the line.
http://i60.tinypic.com/15exnya.jpg

We stuffed about 85 pounds of sausage and 24 pounds of puddin. Ended up with two pork loins, 2 sides for bacon, 2 jowls for bacon, ribs and some back pieces (good for rutabaga seasoning).

We had a great time.

762

[bear67]

Fellowship, family, fun and good food. 4F for sure.

[MaryB]

You can't compare store bought bacon that steams in water when you cook it to a dry cured bacon that fries off right away, taste is totally different and why I like to smoke my own

[DLCTEX]

Those round objects in the puddin pot looked like eyeballs at first. Onions?

[Hogtamer]

Well that looked like great fun. Had a little of my own today, made 30 lbs venison sausage and 50 lbs burger. I accumulate the trim from prime beef and pork at the club where I cook. Put up 50 lbs carefully trimmed and cut up venison this fall from deer hams and that's what I used today. Also got 6 backstraps left so the freezer looks pretty good.

[762 shooter]

Onions.

We don't use everything.

762

[DLCTEX]

Whew! I feel better.lol

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Great thread, can't believe I missed it! Looking forward to 2016 pics!

[Ole Joe Clarke]

What you guys are calling "puddin" is what I think Mama called, (Dad died when I was 9), "sause" meat or press meat, made from the head. I could eat it but not crazy about it. We killed hogs because of necessity, the folks that make fun of people still doing it now will be the first in the food line if/when times really get hard.

[cattleskinner]

Here is a couple pictures of the hogs a co-worker and I did mid December. Sausage, ribs, boneless chops, bacon, and soon to be brats and lard when I thaw the boned out meat to grind and render.

[USMC87]

We kill our own hogs here also and go by the same procedures, I love everything homemade as I can get it. We usually salt down one hamb with the bacons and can one ham, I love canned ham with breakfast. This is a lost art that "most of the younger people don't have a clue about, If they can't get it at walmart they don't need it.

[Coogs]

Great post. Ya just can't beat family and friends. One of my recollection of a hog butcherin' was about 1968, as a cub scout. Went to a turkey/hog farm for a field trip. They were goin' to slaughter a big old sow if I remember, may have been an ole boar, but I'm here to tell you it WAS as big as a car, 1100 lbs they said, never ever saw one that big before or since. Watched a guy come over with a .38 pistol. Pig was in a pen, shot right between the eyes. That ole pig just shook it's head and really got Pi#$^@ off!!!! Guy ran back in the house and gota .30-30, That put it down. Can see it now just like it happened then. Coogs.

[JWFilips]

Just don't invite salpal48 : He will bring take out!:kidding: