DIY meat processing

[Goose87]

Just got done making 120 lbs, made 30 jalapeño and cheese, 30 pineapple and brown sugar, 30 spicy Cajun and 30 regular mild, got it on the smoker now, my good friend who lives just down the road has a complete set up, it's really nice, everything you need all under one roof, we did a bunch for the public last year and are getting ready for this deer season, we were almost overwhelmed last year.

He has a custom made box smoker, 5' tall, 4' wide, 3' deep, nothing fancy just made outa 1/8" sheet metal.

the pineapple and brown sugar sounds awesome!

It really is, it's a really good breakfast sausage, smoked or fresh, link or patty, we mix 2 lbs of brown sugar and two 12 oz cans of crushed pineapple per 30 lbs of meat, we season it with 1 1/4 oz of rebel brand seasoning per pound of meat, it turns out pretty good.
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Goose, You should drop off a little of the pineapple & brown sugar sausage next time you are in the area & let me compare it to Charlies sausage. Im sure it will be a tight race but I will give you a honest evaluation. haha

I sure will.

[liefalwepon]

No, unfortunately, I was working for him here and there and he went in for a routine over 90% effective heart valve replacement. I was lined out to take care of stuff on his property while he recovered. Him and I cleared the spot he had a pond dug and levee built in the woods on his property and hung out many a long hours. the surgury went wrong and he died on the table. Next time I saw him I was Paul bearer at his funeral. ....month later I had a heart attack...wierd stuff.

That's a tough deal, my dad died of a heart attack at 72 and two uncles under 50, I better get checked out soon

[Black Streak]

Yeah I process all my own meat.  From hamburger (deer) meat and the fat I collect in which to had to it,  run meat through a hand crank tenderizer for my chicken fries,  make lots of jerky, make my own smoked sausage, raise and eat our own chickens, go fishing for the freezer, even feed raw to my dogs instead of store bought stuff.
         I use the Polish sausage seasoning you can get at Cabelas then add jalapeños and cheese.  Mix that with pig meat that the dogs have caught and maybe a litter deer meat at times mixed in with it, stuff it in casing and smoke it for a few hours.   That's my sausage recipe

[liefalwepon]

Anyone ever raise a domestic hog and dunk it in hot water to scrape the hair off and salt cure the meat like the old timers did?


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[jdt]

every year leifal .

[rdjustham]

Ive always processed my own meat.  never taken anything to a butcher.  Usually i just go through the spice cabinet/fridge and start mixing stugff together till i get what i like.  Make anything from burgers, sausage, steaks roasts etc.  never taken anything to a butcher. from live and walking to grilled ready to go i do all the work.

[charles]

JDT, so i tried a salt and brown sugar cure rub, but it didn't turn out to well. i was wanting to try a strait salt cur rub with some regularly used seasonings from the pantry this year. whats the best way and how long do you let your stuff hang and do you use a refer to cure your stuff or do you let it air hang and what temp do you do it at if you air cure it?

[Reuben]

Anyone ever raise a domestic hog and dunk it in hot water to scrape the hair off and salt cure the meat like the old timers did?


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we grew up on all that...also stored the lard in big metal containers for use when cooking...we let the hogs get up to 350-400 pounds...been many years since we have done one like that...

[liefalwepon]

every year leifal .

Man I love those cracklins!!!
Do you use plain salt or seasonings?
What brand salt?

I have two old spot heritage hogs that are about 300 lbs that I've been wanting to do that to but I've never done it. Was thinking about using a galvanized horse trough propped up on cinder blocks with a wood fire underneath, hoist the hog up with a block from a tree and dunk it. Scrape the hair off with a dull butcher knife. Salt the meat in some plastic bins with holes drilled in the bottom so it doesn't get brined.

Do you have any advice for a first timer?

[charles]

every year leifal .

Man I love those cracklins!!!
Do you use plain salt or seasonings?
What brand salt?

I have two old spot heritage hogs that are about 300 lbs that I've been wanting to do that to but I've never done it. Was thinking about using a galvanized horse trough propped up on cinder blocks with a wood fire underneath, hoist the hog up with a block from a tree and dunk it. Scrape the hair off with a dull butcher knife. Salt the meat in some plastic bins with holes drilled in the bottom so it doesn't get brined.

Do you have any advice for a first timer?

you gotta be careful not to leave the hog in the hot water to long. the heat will set the hair follicles and you won't get them out. when we do it, we build a fire around a 55 gal drum (the cattle trough will too), get it to a steaming boil and take a 1 gal metal bucket and pour the water on the hog and scrape. repeating till the entire hog has been scalded and scrapped. we left one in one time for to long and ended up just rolling the hog in the coals to burn the hair off.

[Reuben]

to scrape a hog and if he will fit in a 55 gallon metal drum...dig a hole at a 45 degree angle and set the drum in it...keep a fire burning and keep a big pot of hot water boiling...we used those big cast iron pots...don't know what they were called in English maybe kettle...put the front end of the hog in the barrel and then pour hot water over the hog for a few minutes and roll him...pull him out and some can scrape while the little kids can pluck hair...have to work fast before he cools off...repeat once or twice before finishing up...we also used a tan tote sack and laid it over the hog and poured hot water  to kind of steam the hog and then pluck and scrape...we also made cracklings in the same kettle we boiled water in...

we had a tote sack or a 20 pound flour cloth sack...ran a stick through each end...as the cracklings were done we dipped them out onto the sack used to squeeze the oil out and 2 helpers would twist the cloth opposite directions to squeeze the oil/grease back into the kettle...we kept a big container to dump the cracklins into and another for the lard....

we also set a grille along side the fire and pulled some hot coals and grilled the liver and slices of the meat and snacked as we processed the hog...we always waited for cold weather to butcher a hog...

[bolo]

I've butchered,cut up the meat,made sausage,bacon,porkchops,hoghead cheese, cracklings etc.  sinnce I was a kid,but instead of me trying to explain all the processes to yall, go to youtube & search. I'm 67 years old & really can't type worth a damn! Most of the youtube videos on curing bacon are pretty good.I recommend using Mortons tender quick to cure bacon(unless you're a yankee stay away from the sweet stuff to cure your bacon & wash & soak it alot before hanging it in the smoke house or it will be very salty).If yall have any specific questions on anything about taking a live hog & turning almost all of him into some very good to eat yall are welcome to p.m. me.  Bolo--the old blue boar

[liefalwepon]

I'm getting hungry just reading about it!

Hey Charles does burning the hair leave a funky flavor on the meat?


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[charles]

I'm getting hungry just reading about it!

Hey Charles does burning the hair leave a funky flavor on the meat?


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Not that i tasted or was told. It just smells horrible as your burning it off

[decker]

We always had a big pot of boiling water with a couple croaker sacks in it(burlap) took a sack out and put it on the hog where you wanted to scrape for a little bit and then scraped that spot with a dull butcher knife

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[decker]

Sometimes had to pour a little water on the sack if it wasn't scraping good

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[Reuben]

Sometimes had to pour a little water on the sack if it wasn't scraping good

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yes sir...and the tan sacks I was talking about were burlap sacks just as Decker said...

[justincorbell]

100 more pounds fixin to get turned into saysage.

[jdt]

sorry charles and leifal , been busy .

i have a regular scalding vat , get the water to 150 put hog in and keep him moving for a couple minutes . then check the ears and feet , when the hair starts slipping roll him up and check the back when it starts slipping flip him over and repeat. when the other side starts coming pull him out and scrape .

to cure hams i go to the co-op and get a bag of meat salt . that meat needs to cool out before going in the salt so i just spinkle a little salt and let lay out over night . next day i poke salt down olong any bones . then pour a layer of salt in the bottom of the salt box then put the meat in not touching each other and cover with another layer of salt . repeat until you have all the meat in except bacon . i put it on top and just frost the top with 6-7 parts salt and 3-4 parts sugar . themiddlins stay 12-14 days and the hams 30 days .

[justincorbell]

Bump. Anyone getting their smokers ready to roll yet? We should be startin up in the next week or so. Got 3 hogs in the walk in right now

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