This was our 3rd year doing pigs - the first year we only raised two, as we were getting things figured out. When we came close to butchering time, some of my husband's co-workers started asking if they could buy meat from us, but we hadn't planned to sell them, as we were raising the meat to feed our large and growing crew. The second year we doubled our "herd" and raised 4 pigs, selling 2 and keeping 2. This year we added one more. Next year? We'll certainly plan to get 5 again, possibly 6... we shall see :) We don't make enough off of them doing it this small of a scale to get any kind of profit, but the goal isn't making money, it's raising good, healthy food for our family and breaking even on the cost, so that the meat for my family is paid for by my labor in taking care of the pigs - what we sell pays for the feed and the price of purchasing those little 30 pound piglets! :) Finishing weight? Between 250 and 300 pounds (males are heavier than females) live weight.
I found some cool links this time around - one that shows the approximate yield from an individual hog, as well as a diagram of where all the different cuts come from (without being gory for those with more sensitive tummies!)
Another that was just fun - All the right reasons to raise pigs! which I found interesting to read. :)
So, on to butchering day!
This is Flynn - he is the pig that I butchered myself.
Here's our butcher, preparing to shoot one of the pigs while he is distracted by something on the ground. I really like how he takes a humane approach to his job, rather than bullying and pushing at the pigs, he waits for them to be ready, relaxed, and in a good position for a one-shot-kill.
Two down, three to go...
This one has been gutted - those are the intestines you see that have been pulled out (they don't just fall out, they are really quite connected on the inside! It takes a good bit of work to get them out safely and without accidentally cutting an intestine, which would contaminate the meat.
Petunia and Anne, ready to go!
Flynn, in the back of our truck, so we can drive him up to the garage instead of trying to carry him or manage the wheelbarrow with all of his weight in it! :)
Flynn, up on the gambrel. We found a gambrel with pulley system on amazon this year - that was an excellent investment!!! It certainly made lifting that big ole heavy pig soooo much easier!!
Now, for those reading who don't know me IRL, I'm not short :) Used to be 6' tall, but am shrinking some, and down to 5' 9.5" - that kind of gives you an idea on the size of this pig! (and yes, those are socks on my feet - I threw them away when I was finished cutting! those were NOT going in the wash, lol!)
Working on skinning the first leg...
Forgive me, but I don't seem to get how to rotate the picture, so this one is sideways...
Just about finished...
Wonder how we know where to cut? Easy! There is this thin membrane (pictured below) between cuts or sections of meat (muscle) - it's a very good guide in knowing where each section should start and/ or end!
Here's a kidney (that went in the garbage with the carcass - we don't use the kidney for anything, it was just interesting to see!
the lungs - and you can see the pipe that the air travels through to get in and out of the lungs - neat!
this nasty little thing is called a scent gland... and you do not EVER want to cut into one of these... but if you do, stop immediately and sanitize your knife or put it aside and use a fresh, clean one so that you don't ruin the meat. This thing is potent. Yuck. (Thankfully, I'm blessed to learn that by proxy and not through my own experience - and I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much!)
These nice, meaty hams are now sectioned up and in a wet-cure in my fridge... when the cure is done (about a week after it was put in) I'll take it out, rinse it off, and put it in the smoker. THEN I'll wrap it up and put it in the freezer. Homecured ham is just sooooo yummy!
And on that note, here are a couple of links to home cure ham and
home cure bacon - the one, big difference between what I do and what those links recommend is that I do not use the pink salt - I just use Kosher salt, because we don't want the nitrate/ nitrite in our food. It's quite simple to do, really, and just takes up a large portion of the refrigerator while curing - but oh, it's so worth it!!
So, there you have it!
Who wants to try next? :)
