how many of you butcher

[bigben]

after reading the calf and the coyote post I got to wondering who here has butchered their own meat?  I was taught that it was a way of life and we should show our children what it takes to put food on the table.  my family does our own hogs every year and also do beef when needed.  I know that with hogs that when the gun cracks it sometimes is not a pretty site.  but it is something that has to be done. 

[studabaka]

I do my own deer and other game, but never did any domestics.

[awh]

We used to raise hogs when Dad was still living and each fall would do all the work ourselves. We no longer raise them and the beef we raise is sent to the local slaughter house so it can hang in the coolers a while before they cut it up.

Now the wild game we still do. Cam got his first taste of it this past year when he killed his first deer. Here he is doing the final cuts on his backstraps. (BTW: He cut the entire deer up and put it in the freezer all by him self. Not that I could help, he wouldn't let me. But while he was doing his, I was doing mine so he got to watch on how to do it.)

[Silencer]

Shot the hogs we raised ourselves and skinned them but shipped out the meat, did our own chickens ( will never forget the first one I wacked ), awlays done our own deer and other wild game.
First hogs I raised I loaded one in the truck before shooting it, what a mistake that was, bout took the box off and got myself crushed then it fell off hittin the ground brusing alot of the meat.
Second pair of hogs I got smart...lol   Shot them, took a backhoe and hung em to bleed then skinned and loaded up  to take  to the butcher 
Havent raised any in a few years now.

awh, we make the deer butchering a family affair as well, kids wife and myself.  Kids love to help out.

[Bob D]

I've cleaned and cut up so many deer over the years that I can't eat the stuff anymore. I can smell it cooking a mile away. You can slice it, spice it and dice it anyway you want, but I won't eat it.
Bob

[Hawks Feather]

I had watched a few hogs be butchered, but I had never done it myself until I got the deer last year.  I think butchered had a new meaning when I got done with it.  It was a good learning experience and hopefully the next one will be better.  Most people around here take them to the custom processors.  I was just too cheap to give them between $150 and $225 for processing.

Jerry

[bowjunkie]

I do all my own wild game and have done domestic as well but its a pain ...my niece and her hubby have opened a butcher shop now so they get the cows 

[awh]

The hogs were a treat for me. I got to stay out of school for a week while we worked them up. First few years my job was helping one of my brothers scald and scrap the hair. Dad shot them and after we got done with the scalding he hung them off a boom pole attached to the tractor. Then grand dad would start cutting them up. While waiting we carried the meat to the house were mom, grandmaw and sis would start the sausage grinding and packaging of the cuts. That was some good sausage and I still hate the thought of scalding them. Always thought it would have been easier to skin them but no doing around grand dad. It always amazed me to watch him take a hatchet and cut the rib meat out. I couldn't take a knife and cut that straight

[Silencer]

I never did the hog scalding or even seen it done, the reason for us skinnin them is because the butcher charged an ungodly amount with the skin left on. But you're right about the taste of the meat, WAY better tasting !  Sweet porkchops, sausage, bacon..... I'm makin myself hungry. 

[awh]

If-n Bopeye see's this he'll short out the entire web with drool hitting the keyboard. But I can post a pic of a rattler a friend killed this past weekend to run him off too.... Nah, I'll save it for the next bite me 

[bigben]

I have done both the scalding and the skinning.  skinning is less messy.  when you scald is seems after 2 hogs you got wet feet legs and arms.  we do the hogs in january and it allways seems to snow whenever we pick the date.  when you skin you just get greasy.  I do agree everything tastes better when you butcher it. 

[ohiobob]

I was a Meat-Cutter,,I went to a Vocational School for it,,in school they would bring it to us in hanging 1/4 er's,,then when I graduated I worked In an IGA store,,well about 3 months of that and me AND the employer figured out that
I do NOT work well with the Public  ,,so then I went and worked in a Slaughter house,,I started out in Sanitation
well Sanitation in a slaughter house it a "DIRTY JOB" ,,I had to clean the Blood pool out and the De-Hair chute
They would run the Hogs through a chute,,"stun" them and throw a chain around their hind legs,,and there were about 10 workers standing on a  3-4 Foot high Ledge,,the Hogs came up at a 45 Degree angle and level out,,there was a 3-4 foot deep pool,,just like a swimming pool,,well the hogs would come pass the workers and they would "STICK" the Hogs and they would bleed out into the pool,,and then the chain would drag the hogs through SCALDING water,,a lot of the hogs would "Quiver" when they went in the scalder,,then they would go through the "De-Hair" Chute,,it was a Cylindrecal Chute and there was rubber paddles about 1 1/2 to 2" thick with steel 1" square plates/tabs on them,,these cylinders would spin at a FAST rate and BEAT the hair off of the scalded Hogs,,then they would go up throught he ceiling to the next floor and then the Hogs and Beef would go down a sort of "Production" Line and get cut up in no time flat,,and they use EVERYTHING in a Slaughter house 
Bob
OH we also do our own Deer,,,, Jerry,,did the butchers charge $150-$200 to butcher A DEER !!! ?

[Nelson]

We raised a steer every year to butcher.  One year I shot the steer in the butt with my BB gun to see what it would do!  Well he jumped pretty good.  That wasn't the end of the story though.  I was in the kitchen when MaMa was cutting up that particular piece of meat and out rolled that BB!            Despite my denial, I found it difficult to sit down for about a week!!   

I helped neighbors scald and scrape hogs.  It was also my job to shoot them between the eyes.  One shot from that .22 and over they went.  After scalding and scraping, they would skin them and cut up the skin and put in a big vat of oil to make cracklings.  That was some good eating.  They also made chitlings but I passed of those.

I process my deer every year, when I'm lucky enough to get one.

Nelson

[Hawks Feather]

Bob,

Yep.  That is what they get to cut up,  package for the freezer, and make some sticks.  The more of the stick or jerky you get the higher the price.  I had a friend that had said his doe  cost him about $185.  I thought that was pretty high, but when I took my deer in to get it tagged there was a sign on the wall  not to accept deer from people who had not paid for prior processing.  There was nothing under $150 and a couple, that I assumed were for more than one deer that were around $400.

My wife got me a Cabela's jerky shooter for Christmas and I made my own.  Tasted pretty good, or at least good enough that I have eaten it all.   

Jerry

[ohiobob]

Damn we use to cut and wrap Deer for $10 in 1979,,and we put it in the Blast Freezer ! the old guy down the road butchered Deer for $15 ,,cut and wrapped,,My Oldest Son makes Deer Jerky,,he cuts it in thin strips and he also uses that Gun to make it,,he does it both ways and to be honest,,they BOTH taste great
Bob

[bigben]

I have allways wondered about them shooters but have not got enough gumption to buy one.  does the jerky stick together good?

[studabaka]

I think Yerry should start a thread in the Betty Crocker section on this..... I bought the spices to do this and have read a bunch of different approaches, but would love to get the views of folks here on what worked good for them..... I have my eye on one of them guns cause it would be a heck of a lot easier to just cube all I don't steak and then either speedie or grind for burgers or jerky.

How bout it Yerry? 

[Mallardsr]

Well , ...........goats .......barbie q goats........ boy go out there and bring me a goat! yes sir! I think I was 9, but I came back with a goat. We strung that goat up alive by his hind feet.....................Now boy, go cut that goats throat! Yes Sir! ....................Damn!!!!! Never forget that goat drowning and bleading out right in front of me. I was green as a goard and that was a first for me but I'm glad at an early age I learned that someone had to do it. Every piece of store bought meat you must know someone did your dirty work. Dont complain about the price, just take it out of the package and put it on the grill.

[Hawks Feather]

I am a little short on time tonight, but will try to get a Betty Crocker post tomorrow.  It is pretty simple.

Yerry

[cb223]

I butcher all my own game unless it is early season to warm to hang and I don't have time.  I do take some  venison to the processor to get ground and have the fat added for burger after I de-bone and cut. He usually does it while I wait. Charges about .25 cents a pound.

When I do have to take a deer in(due to warm temps) it only costs around $70. I don't have anything special done, no jerky and such. 

I've never done any beef or pork.