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

[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.....