Hog Butchering. WARNING: Graphic photos.

Got to attend a 4 hour seminar on hog butchering today. We did everything but dispatch the hog. Really good class for only $15. tomorrow we will take all of the cuts we butchered and go through a period (mid-19th century) curing process.

Getting the scalding bath ready


two minuted per dunk. The bath must be between 140F and 150F to loosen the hairs, but not set them.


Using bell scrapers to remove the hair. These are actually from the mid-19th century when this process was used. The reason for removing the hair is to preserve the skin which helped with the curing process.


After a couple of dunks of the front section, the spreader bar is repositioned to the front legs to facilitate dunking the rear portions of the sow.


About an hour and a half and 6ish dunkings into this, the hair is nearly gone.


A gorgeous little red barn was just in the next field over, tempting me all day.


Now the hair is gone, we can eviscerate the hog.


Now that she's eviscerated, we can behead:


Video here:

[video=youtube;rLnasgT-1w4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLnasgT-1w4[/video]

Then we can split into two sides:


And because I know many of you are as sick as I am...a slo-mo video of the bone saw going through the spine:

[video=youtube;JcDUzdvlgco]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcDUzdvlgco[/video]

Now we have two sides on the butchering table, ready to break down into individual cuts:


And a little kochi pron:

Yeah, I know...that's not what it's for...but I had yet to use it and thought this would be a great way to christen it. I'll do a forum bird sometime soon.

After a demo of each cut on the RHS of the pig, I scored a prime position to do the ham on the LHS. Here I am with the instructor talking about the lines of the muscles and how to shape the cuts:



I had some trouble finding the ball joint, so the instructor got back in there and helped me locate it:


Then I was able to get in there and pop the tendons holding the joint together. Was cool to see the joint open up when the last tendon was cut. Great feedback.


This little kochi cuts damn well.


Making the last cut, tracing along the pelvis to separate the ham.


A few shots of the cuts as they were coming off, into the holding bin:




BACOOOOON!


Classmate taking off the 2nd belly.


Fat ass rooster, guarding the hen house:


Fun macro shot of the bone saw at the end of the day:


The butchering knives supplied by the instructors, made by Green River:


The full set of photos are here...including some more gory ones that I redacted for this post:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/84378626@N05/sets/72157650336631211/

I'll do another post tomorrow after the curing class....if I get enough photo-worthy opportunities, which isn't a given. Hope you guys and gals enjoy and this wasn't too gory for you. I had an absolute blast and learned a lot.

That's pretty cool Danny. It's nice to see the old methods are still being practiced. Particularly like the bone saw shot.

thanks for posting!

Kewl beans Danny. Hope you enjoyed the class as much as I enjoyed the post.

Awesome sir! Thanks for sharing!

Danny, how much hands on cutting did you do? Next time you come to NC, there will be a test. HA. Nice photos too

Pretty cool and a bargain at $15. Thanks for sharing.

Mucho Bocho said:

Danny, how much hands on cutting did you do? Next time you come to NC, there will be a test. HA. Nice photos too

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Ha! I only got to do that single ham. I would have gladly done the whole hog though.

We still butcher our own..Its a family affair..We all gather up,scrap,clean and butcher..My wife works her butt off rendering lard and cooking fresh pork for us over whats left of the scalding fire..I wont hijack your thread but Id like to post a couple pics..My dad in the first one..that knife is not a boning knife..Its an 80+ year old butcher knife that has been sharpened down to the shape of a boning knife Third generation using it now..

After the split..

I think its awesome that have a class like that in your area..I think its important for folks to know were their food comes from..It feels really good to butcher your own meat..

Very cool Kentucky! Thanks for sharing! My family was a bit suburbanized, though I did spend a few years in a children's home where we had a working farm and were expected to participate in the work...everything from gelding, crop picking, slopping hogs, cleaning out the sty, etc. Given my age, duration at the home, and the laws against (unpaid) child labor, it was more of a novelty/character-building thing than anything else. It certainly made an indelible impression though.

Which Koichi is that?

That is awesome! I miss doing that frequently. I learned how to work a pig without splitting it, so it is interesting to see a new way to do it.

Don't feel bad, finding the ball joint and aitch bone are the hardest things to do, especially if you intend to long cure the ham. If you nick the bone too much you can make the ham spoil from the inside.

I like bullnose knives for this kind of work, pointy tips get a little weird, and the length and curve let you make long smooth cuts with one pull. Then I'll use a boning knife to do everything that needs something pointy.

Also, if you are looking for good long cure ham/prosciutto instructions get Cooking By Hand by Paul Bertolli. Really good pictures to follow.

Framingchisel said:

Which Koichi is that?

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Kochi Honesuki. Superb product from JKI.

Very cool! I got a chance to do this this past summer. Nice tip for removing the hair. I look forward to more pics😍

Not as many folks around here scrape anymore..Most have started skinning instead since they don't cure..We still scrape, for traditions sake if nothing else..It gives the young boys something to do and an experience they wont soon forget :doublethumbsup:

Great post. I'd like to find a class like that in my area.

SWEET THREAD!!

i love this hoof to table stuff. i do a hog annually. kinda. i've gotten soft. we have a buddy that has a mobile butcher unit. it has a big vat of 140 water and rubber fingers that lift the hog and spins it around taking off the hair in "zero flat". he does run a rose-bud torch over the meat to burn off the tiny stubborn hairs.

.22 to the brain..quick drag out of the bin..and frank puts a (i think it is also a) green river into the jugular..not like the movies. he does this stab move..and whoosh! blood goes gushing. he moves so fast, i cant see where he does it.

i havent gotten a hog this year or last year. i need to go to the farm to play some Barry White..nothing is pregnant, yet again. bummer.

i brought four pig heads to a phillpino family. they did this slow roast thing, chilled it, and then rewarmed it in a deep fry.

holy smokes..best food with a face ever!! we didnt waste much off the hogs. my friends didnt was organs..so i bagged up everything for my coworkers.

boomchakabowwow said:

....i need to go to the farm to play some Barry White..nothing is pregnant, yet again. bummer.

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Hhahahahaha!

glad you enjoyed it...I would have liked to be there for the dispatch (also a .22lr) and exsanguination, but they didn't give me that option.

boomchakabowwow said:

i brought four pig heads to a phillpino family. they did this slow roast thing, chilled it, and then rewarmed it in a deep fry.

holy smokes..best food with a face ever!! we didnt waste much off the hogs. my friends didnt was organs..so i bagged up everything for my coworkers.

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Have you had sisig? GREAT Pinoy use of pig head.

the art of butchering is always a beautiful thing.

I think another "cut" is needed....

"I think its awesome that have a class like that in your area..I think its important for folks to know were their food comes from..It feels really good to butcher your own meat.."

Amen to that, it really changes your perspective on things when you know how good food is raised and processed. I work at a farm and we butcher 4 to 5 hogs a year for the farm families and it's a lot of work but all of it is good.

Plus, you get to make whatever you want

nwdel said:

"I think its awesome that have a class like that in your area..I think its important for folks to know were their food comes from..It feels really good to butcher your own meat.."

Amen to that, it really changes your perspective on things when you know how good food is raised and processed. I work at a farm and we butcher 4 to 5 hogs a year for the farm families and it's a lot of work but all of it is good.

Plus, you get to make whatever you want

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I think I need to sample some of those! Looks great.

KKF folks always welcome