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Probably in the Wrong Place, But......Here's Some Butchering Pics From Last Saturday

8K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  missouri massey man 
#1 ·


This is not really a 'Build It Yourself' topic, more like 'Butcher It Yourself'... but there just ain't a specific forum covering this particular topic....

Before the sun broke over the barn roof in the background, we had this one dropped and partially undressed (for the non-hunters among us) or partially dressed (for the hunters among us) whichever you prefer.

The breast bone has to be cut while laying on its back to prevent cutting open the internal stuff. If that happens, it gets kinda smelly and real messy real quick. Plus you get yelled at by everybody....



The tail has to be skinned out for the upcoming 'ox tail soup' recipe and the exit opening for the internals has to be cut loose and tied securely. (How's that for dancing around the subject?).... We used to use baler twine, but recently have been using zip ties.



The hide on the backsides of the front legs are left intact so when elevating they are kept out of the dirt.



With the sun beginning to top the barn, this ole gal is just about ready to spill her guts into the loader bucket...



Now anybody that says our buddy, Dozer Dave, doesn't 'get into his work' can just be proven wrong with this shot. Either that or he dropped his bifocals at an inopportune time.

That old 2x6 'evener' the beef is hanging on is the same one we've used since before I was born. No idea how many have been hung with this setup.

We used to have a huge rope-block (&tackle) hung out the end of the old barn and we'd raise and lower them with the pulling end tied to the front of an old MH 101 Jr. From the time I could reach both the clutch AND brake Dad would have me climb on the tractor to raise and/or lower as needed (using reverse) That block and tackle had either a 7/8" or 1" rope threaded through it.



What a fine crew we got here....Nephew Andrew on the saw, SIL Mike on the right and good ol' Dozer Dave in the background. The not so photogenic much older brother is behind be with an axe doing brain surgery and tongue retrieval. He's got an old buddy that gets the brains every year.

The meat saw is an auction find of mine from a few years back. A cool hundred bucks and worth a whole lot more !!



Just for a little perspective....the first and second were 1140 and 1150 lbs, the third was 740. The much older brother and his brood plus ol' Dave divvy up the two big ones, and me and my little family always go for the smaller. (I think mine are always more lean and that's what we prefer)...plus me and my bride only have three families to divide it into.



Fast forward to the end result and here's all three hanging in the cooler, livers, hearts, oxtails and brains et al. Well, the brains are in an ice cream bucket. All in all it was a good day, only one went to the hospital driven by the much older brother and left myself, Dozer Dave and Mike the SIL to do the third one.

Clarification is required here.... it wasn't a knife gash or any blood at all that required an emergency room visit. It seems kidney stones are really painful to my nephew. We all got a good laugh AFTER we found out he really wasn't dying at all. He wasn't so sure though....
 
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#2 ·
My empathy to your nephew. Not as good time for a kidney stone to try and escape....but then, is there ever???
I like the photo with all the "prydrivers" hanging on the open door and working on the beef. :D
Looks like lots of good suppers in the future. Who supplied the nice truck, and what's it usually do for a living?
 
#4 · (Edited)
I like the photo with Who supplied the nice truck, and what's it usually do for a living?
My nephew Andy, Dozer Dave and my son Tyler and another G-nephew all work for a local contractor. The much older brother retired from the same contractor. Dave is one of the mechanics so that truck is his 'daily driver'....ergo, the name "Dozer Dave". The really cool boss lets us use it every year for this little excursion but if you notice the creative tool door positionings, you can't see the company logo.

Steve, I've heard of others doing it also without raising the beef, but I too have not seen it done. ....oh....Steve for a mere $250,000 or so, you too could have a neat truck like this one. New tires just cost 6 grand fairly recently.

Packaging pics soon, but only a few.

The much older brother just called to have me meet him in the afternoon to hang the four hogs in the cooler. We no longer set up the scalding vat and do our own hog killing. So we got it easy now, picking up the hogs already scalded, scraped, gutted and halved !!!! What's the world coming to !!??
 
#3 ·
Wendell, I would love to have a butchering truck like yours. We have to lift ours using a front end loader on the tractor. FIL was suppose to had been able to dress a beef with out lifting it. He did it all on the ground. Never got to see that as he was 70 years old when Diane and I started dating. Would have been interesting to see it done.
 
#5 ·


Here's the four 250 lb hogs hanging. Skinned, not scalded. That's ok, but they sure are kind of slick to handle when they're out of their skin. A short handled hay hook sure works wonders hanging these guys up. Saturday when they are nice and chilled they will pack real easy from the Cub UTV to the table.

The much older brother, Lumberlady (cousin) and myself will render lard again next Monday.
 
#6 ·
Wendell thanks again for posting your butchering adventures. It is so good to ssee families working together on such projects. Both arts of home butchering and working together are sadly being lost to our modernization.
 
#7 ·
Wendell,
Sure brings back memories of my Dad, me and the kids butchering a beef each year for a few years about 30 years ago.
The power saw sure would have made splitting them easier!
Thanks for posting the great pictures too!
Regards,
Chris
 
#8 ·
Finally getting around to the addendum to the thread..... Above, you already saw the 4 hogs a hangin'...3 French Hens...2 Turtledoves and a Partri...... Wait a minute, my thoughts got mixed up. Anyway,



With the nephew working this weekend, my SIL was elected (by popular vote) to man the meat saw and fill the shoes of head butcher today. Of course under the expert tutelage of the Much Older Brother.



Mmmm...pork steaks ready for scraping of the bone dust then a trip to the vacuum sealer. I put all my shoulder into sausage this year along with both hams.



A ham and a bacon ready to slip back into the cooler to await a trip to the guys that cure them for us each year. Anyway, it was all uneventful, no blood except for the pigs and finished up before noon for a really short day. That was on the weekend of the 13th.

Then Monday, the 15th all the schools were out so we had lotsa help from all the teahers in the family rendering lard.



The SIL and the ladies in the family took turns stirring the kettle of fat while myself and the much older brother took turns stirring the bull....



Its really cooking down now, but still has a good half hour to go. We got it a little too hot this year, but were lucky and didn't scortch it. When scorched it gives the lard a little less than favorable smell. The quality doesn't necessarily go down as far as cooking goes, it just lends a stronger 'bouquet' to the bisquits....so to speak.



The first of three batches is ready to strain straight into the lard cans.



Once the 240 degree liquid finished draining from the sack, the sack is dumped into the stuffer....to be squeezed into cracklins as it is forced to release the residual lard to a different can.

They are squeezed into a different can because this lard is not quite as pure as the lard strained through the cloth sack. The cracklin particulate slowly settles to the bottom of the can and solidifies. So the moral of the story is you never want to scoop lard from the bottom of the bucket for pie crust.



My youngest daughter was elected to do the cranking today....and for a vegetarian, she obviously had a good time !!

We ended up with 14 gallons of lard from the 4 hogs, and 5 of it at least was the purest of the pure: leaf lard. This year we elected to render it separately to get the best product available specifically for pie crusts, but for cooking in general.

Fast forward to yesterday the 20th and the hams and bacons were back from the processor and ready to slice. Sooooooo....



....that's what we did yesterday morning. The annual beef and pork butcherings are done for another year, so its time for some good old carnivorous activity in and around the kitchen....
 
#9 ·
Wendell yall's finished products look great, and I'm sure yall will enjoy the goodies produced from your labor.
 
#10 ·
Glad to hear that's the reason you have been absent from here. Thought that you might have been making sure that you still had all 11 fingers.:lol:
 
#12 ·
Oh yeah, still got all the digits Steve....Dad, however only had 9 from the time he was 7 years old. One of the 9 was only half a thumb too !!

Chris, pick up a hog from a local farmer and have at it !!! Just make little pieces outta the big pieces...that's all we do.

Jim, already had some fresh sausage and you're right we are set for another year.

Shux BigDave, this is healthy eating !!!! All natural cooking...grain fed, no chemicals, no Chrisco no nothing... Why heck my blood pressure is lowering with each piece of bacon and chunk of sausage !!! We nibbled on cracklins all day then divided 'em up to take home for bird feeders/dogs/cats and/or people. I still have about pound left outta my stash and only have added 2 inches to my waist size since Monday.
 
#13 ·
Wendell, with only adding 2 inches to your waist size. You may need to step it up some as Christmas is only a little over 300 days away.
 
#14 ·
Wendell another way to look at your pending growing waistline is that your hog butchering results hopefully will produce more energy and drive for you to continue and complete some of your projects. You have the potential to enjoy the best of both worlds. Also, the best way Chris is to buy a hog from a local grower and go for it. My brother used to raise his own, but has bought live hogs for many years. I had an uncle who in his earlier years grew many hogs for marketing, but in his later years he switched entirely to tobacco production. Later he built a butcher house with large coolers and bought slaughtered, hanging hogs and butchered them on his farm and sold various cuts of pork and sausage to local folks. He did well and was able to keep a couple of his workers busy all year.
 
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