Hobbies And Interests
Options for the Kill
The hogs' death should be as quick and painless as you can make it with preferably as little squealing as possible. A high caliber pistol aimed downward into the hog's ear will work. Using a .22 or .38 may not have the penetration you need to kill it effectively. A direct shot off the skull may ricochet if you are using a smaller caliber. A .45 or .410 shotgun shell will dispatch the hog quickly. Experienced butchers know how to find the jugular vein of the hog and slice quick and deep. The hog bleeds out before becoming aware of pain. This method for a beginning butcher can lead to some quite unpleasant sounds as the hog dies.
Skinning or Scalding
Skinning the hog is exactly what it sounds like -- removing large portions of the hog's skin using a sharp knife and pulling. This eliminates the messy step of getting rid of those coarse hairs on the hog's body that can work their way into the meat and taint your food. The drawback to skinning is that some people use the pork skin for cooking. Scalding involves dipping the hog carcass into a 55-gallon drum of 120 to 150 F water for 20 seconds on each side. This loosens the hairs from the skin and helps in cutting it from the body. If you are using the skin for a food product, you can take a chemical- and soap-free scouring pad that has never been used to scour up and down until the hair is removed. Slice gently through the skin, but not into the meat, and pull it off the hog. If you are keeping this skin, immerse it into an ice bath until you are ready to freeze or refrigerate.
What Parts To Keep
There is literally no part of the hog, save the bones, that people do not eat somewhere in the world. This choice you have boils down to what you should keep and what you should toss. An animal's life has been taken; do not think of any part as a waste. The head of the hog can be ground and used in soup, to make cheese or for dog food. The ears can be smoked and used as jerky or dog treats. Pig snouts are used in canned pork products and some hot dogs. The tusks, if there are any, are often used in jewelry or collected. The feet can be removed and prepared as pickled pigs' feet, a delicacy in the South. And finally the tail can be used in stew or in dog food. The fat or lard is rendered and used in pate, gravy or in making pies.
How to Cut the Hog
Some choose to cut the hog right down the middle vertically along the spine. This can be done rather easily but doing so halves the loin where pork chops come from and will give you odd-sized chops. Others choose to cut the hog into the five recognizable sections of hog. The top front area behind the neck is where the Boston Shoulder cuts come from. Pork sausage, shoulder roasts and pulled pork come from this area. The bottom front area, including the two remaining leg portions is where the picnic shoulder, arm roasts and pulled pork come from. The top area along the spine is the loin where the ribs, blade roasts, sirloin and tenderloin cuts come from. The bottom center is called the Side, where spare ribs and bacon products come from. The rear bottom which begins at the back legs is where the cuts for ham come from. Each section will give you more than enough of a sample for each type of meat to share.