Filed under: December 2014 | Tags: family, home butchering, homemade sausage, homesteader, pork, pork chops, sausage
Two nice hogs cooling
December 18, 2014
Tuesday, I butchered these two nice hogs. They walked outside to their play area, looked up at me and dropped in their tracks. There was no stress, no shouting, no problem at all. They led a happy stress free life here. They had a clean dry bed, all they could eat and drink and access to a play area every day. The meat tastes wonderful.
Today we cut them up, made fresh sausage, pork chops, roasts and spare ribs. The hams and bacons have been brined and await smoking and cooking in a few days. It was the first big job we did in the new slaughterhouse. The building and equipment worked flawlessly. There was plenty of room to work and having the hot and cold water was awesome!
We had a nice full day with friends and family. My grandchildren made their own sausage, then cooked it in a pan. Fresh sausage sandwiches don’t come much fresher than that 😮 The children helped stuff sausage into casings and even leant a hand during clean up. They were very involved and have a good understanding where their food comes from. They are 5 and 8 and well on their way to becoming homesteaders.
I am tired, but very happy. I see the next generation learning skills handed down to me from my grandparents. My son worked right along beside me. He does better every time we butcher. He made the primal cuts, took the spareribs off his bacon. He deboned many pieces and helped with the brining process. He did most of the grinding and paid close attention to the seasoning process. My wife gave lessons to our daughter-in-law as she wrapped her family’s meat. Yes, it was a very good day!
Primal cuts, ready to go!
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RicelandMeadows 
Do you make your own bacon? I know that commercially-prepared bacon uses some chemicals that have been shown not to be great for health, but pig meat is my favourite and I was wondering if smallholders make their bacon in a different way???
Comment by jennyrecorder December 19, 2014 @ 12:52 amI think I still remember learning some serious wrapping skills as well some years ago. (Still comes in hand now and again)
Comment by Charlie December 19, 2014 @ 1:06 am