You aren't vindictive, are you, Ralph? But I have to say, pork is my favorite meat, too, when it comes to winter time.


7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Ralph.
How many hours do you figure you will have into processing a good size pig to make loose sausage? What do you think would be the minimum equipment one would need to do this once a year? I keep tossing the idea around.
Billy


7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Ralph, that is the best place for a sow with that attitude.
Billy, it would be convenient if we lived closer together and one brings their grinder while the other brings the knives and sharpener, etc and you make a day out of it at each other's farms. Goodness knows there will be more than one cold day this winter.


7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

My folks butchered a hog only once when I was a kid and the scolded and scraped it. What do you folks like to do skin it or scold it? I would think skinning would be easier.


7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Klaus, thanks for the chuckle. Not vindictive, but I do chew a few more times when I think about her bad deed.

Billy, Jonathan gives you very good advice advice. Enlist the help of family or friends. It makes the job go better, plus you have someone to talk to while you work.
It is unfair to compare yourself with me. I was a butcher for many years. I butchered the 480-500# sow in about 45 minutes. I skin them. Working outside in below freezing temperatures, I think that was pretty good.
For butchering, the equipment you need is a way to lift the animal up. I use my skid steer. You need a "cradle" to lay it down on while you skin it. The cradle keeps the animal laying on its back and stationary. You can make one by nailing a couple of 2x10's about a foot apart and say 5 feet in length.
You'll need a good sharp knife, a meatsaw and a gamble to hang the pig up with. A single tree will work by using wire to hook the legs.
Use the hand meatsaw to split the brisket and to saw the pig in half.
When it comes time to cut the pig up, the hand meat saw, your knife and a good table to lay the pig on. The last piece needed is a good grinder. You can use an old Enterprise 10 and crank away, or sport stores sell small grinders now too. I'd save your money to either buy a one horse power electrical model or get a good #10 and the pulley to put a motor on it. DO NOT GET YOUR HAND IN THAT #10, You WILL LOSE IT.
Again, with you and another guy, I would set a whole day aside to debone your hog and get the meat ground. I am very familiar with the bone structure so this job is not hard for me. I deboned the one in the picture, while my cousin ground the meat, in just under two hours. She made 200# of sausage
One thing I will tell you, cut the meat in small chunks so as not to over work your grinder. Remove connective tissue and watch for small bones, like the soft ones on the spareribs.
I have built myself a small slaughterhouse here on the farm. I butcher outside, then hang the carcass inside. On a project such as this pig, I use my big grinder. It is 5 horsepower and has a 3 inch throat.


7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

I just got my boar and am about ready to introduce the sow to him. This will be my first foray into doing my own farrowing and I'm really enjoying your pig posts! Til now I've only bought weaners and finished them out. Thinking I have a lot to learn! LOL. It's been a long time since I was involved in any home slaughtering. We did it a lot when I was a kid. I remember my grandma always wanted to get the liver right away and we usually had it on the day we slaughtered followed by the ham string the next day. I was telling some folks a story just the other day about hog killing when I was a boy. I was just turning 5 and my grandparents had killed a hog. I had watched my grandma process the head and she was cooking the meat off of it to make souse. The morning I was to go sign up for headstart, she sat some of the meat on the table for breakfast along with gravy and biscuits, and I was really keen to eat our own fresh meat, that I had helped with. When we got to the school we had to meat with the principle and my future teacher, and they were exchanging pleasantries with my grandparents when they finally turned to me and asked what I had for breakfast and was it good. My grandma said she could have sank through the floor when I puffed my chest out and bragged, "Law, thar ain't nuthin' better'n hog's head and cat head biscuits! " And, I reckon my tastes ain't changed too awfully much over the years!


7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Thanks Ralph
I guess I should start looking for a grinder. Seems like a good thing to do on a fall day.
Billy


7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum