Butchering
(the old ways)
Part of our quest to be independent in homesteading would include the production of our own meat. So far, this includes chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, quail, eggs (of course), and pork. We have had feeder pigs the last few years which are fed throughout the summer and into the winter, then butchered in the winter time for meat.
In addition to Lee's experience and knowledge gained while growing up on a farm, we have had a few other valuable resources to help us out. One has been an old book called "Freezing and Canning Cookbook, Revised Edition" which was originally published in 1963, but revised in 1973, edited by Nell Nichols. It is a collection of prized recipes from the farms of America the by food editors of "Farm Journal". Another is the "Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook", which was given to me by my grandmother and is anything but new. We also have a "Fannie Farmer 1896 Cook Book", from the Boston Cooking School. I am a collector of cook books and have been for many years. This has definitely been a big help to us -- along with the invaluable information that we have found in many and various places on the internet.
From all these sources, we have managed to develop our own techniques for butchering and putting up the meat we have raised.
Butchering:
1/5/2001, Lee killed our two hogs and hung them to marble in the cold barn. Two days later, he began to cut meat cuts. Over the last two months, we have also culled out geese, ducks, quail, and turkeys for the freezer.
In addition to standard meat cuts for the freezer, we have also been curing our own bacon and hams, in the old ways.
Above are burlap bags hanging in the tree out front, full of hams and bacon curing in sugar cure.
A more close up shot.
We usually butcher at least one hog per year. We've done as many as 6 at once. Of course, we make our own sausage, several different types, including plain breakfast sausage, spicy breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, and Chorizo, using our meat grinder. We also bagged up pork chops, roasts, etc. for the freezer. Here, we would like to share some basics with you:
Counter placed
1/13/2001
11/20/04