Knowing where your meat comes from...


 
M

MikeV-MI

New member
Disclaimer...If you don't want to know where your food comes from, then STOP reading right now. This will also be picture heavy...

Seeing as I'm going to Alaska, in the near future, to hunt bears with my longbow and wood arrows, I thought it would be best to get in some skinning and butchering since it had been a couple years since skinning my last bear. So, I contacted my friend, who raises pigs for the 4-H (simply cannot beat the meat quality) and told him what I was wanting to do. We agreed on a price and my son and I got to WORK. I have skinned and butchered quite a few big game animals, but never a domestic hog. The amount and quality of the meat I got from this hog was very impressive and will be enjoyed by family and friend for many meals to come.

Started out with a 305# Berkshire hog.



After slaughtering and removing the innards (I'll save the pics and details of those two processes), I got to work with skinning the hog. Yes, hanging the animal would make the process MUCH easier to skin and cut into major cuts, but I won't have that privilege while in the Alaskan Wilderness, so the work was completed as if I were skinning a bear on the ground.



After skinning one side, I put a piece of house wrap down, to protect the freshly skinned side, and rolled the hog over to be able to skin the other side. Once skinned, and head and trotters removed, I broke the hog down into manageable pieces (we call it "Quartering").

Here I am removing one of the Hams.



Yeah, this Ham was HUGE. Later, when butchering, I opted to cut the Hams into 4 roasts and a hock each, instead of curing into one giant ham.



Once the hog was "Quartered" and put into coolers with ice, I let the meat to cool down till the next day, while continuing to add ice to facilitate proper cooling. The whole time the drain plugs were open to allow the melted ice to flow out.

The next morning, I got to work butchering. One thing I know for sure, is that I will NEVER make money as a "Production" butcher. My cuts are probably unorthodox, but they work for me and My family, and that's what matters most to me.



Just one of the Backstraps, or if you prefer...boneless Chops.



My oldest, and I, on the "Grind Line". We ended up with 57# of grind (25# of which became breakfast sausage). Total amount of meat was 171#. Everything was boneless, except the 4 Hocks.










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I started curing the bacon last Sunday. I'll save you the details on my bacon "process".



I had this Friday off, so I decided I wanted an outdoor "Kitchen" for my 22.5 WSM, so I built a place to call My Kitchen. Now my wife is wanting to know when here INSIDE kitchen is going to get done. HA!!!





Time to smoke the bacon.



The only thing left, is to slice, bag and put the bacon in the freezer (Of course this will happen AFTER cooking some for breakfast). Which I will be doing as soon as I'm done typing this.

I had a dilemma of how to wrap the pork to freeze it, and since I don't have a vacuume sealer, I opted for Ziplock freezer bags, since I don't have a local supplier of butcher paper that is wider than 15". I figure that with two growing boys, this meat won't have time to get freezer burned.

I'll say that this bacon tastes better than the Costco pork bellies I have turned into bacon just a few weeks ago.

Thank you for following along. It is very rewarding doing the entire process yourself
 
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Thanks Mike. I can appreciate what you've done. On a very small scale I (used to till they became generally unavailable) cut my own roast, chops and ribs from smallish whole rib portions.

It is rewarding to understand how an animal is "put together" and those skills can be applied to other animals as well.

Most people are so sanitized as to this process. By that I mean you get chops in a cellophane/foam package that is "like magic". They have zero understanding as to how it gets to the consumer from the first stage to last.

Good stuff.
 
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Looks great but remember the limits of your freezer to protect the quality of your meat,probably took way too long to get the meat frozen,a fan set to blow on the left side of the cabinet next time will help a lot.Good luck on your hunt and stay safe,a 44 with hard cast would make a great back up weapon :)
 
Mike V;
I thoroughly enjoyed your post. It takes me back to my hunting days. I have been in on the "autopsy" of 35 black bears or so. I have also skinned a deer or two. I and some friends, many years ago. went bear hunting (Black Bear) in Canada many years ago. We were quite successful and one of the party was a professional butcher. After we got back, I helped the butcher cut up the bear (and did ground meat, etc). It was quite educational.

Thanks again for sharing this with us. I have observed that some city people don't seem to know where their meat comes from. My kids learned as I kept our freezer filled with game for many years. I spent a number of years when a kid on a working farm. The knowledge gained was helpful my entire life.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
Nice work, I agree, one does need to know the basics of the food supply! I have never broken down a whole hog until post cooking. My brother was making big noise about it and I went out bought a new "large, breaking" knife, mostly unused but, I'm ready to give it a shot(or would that be slice?)!
Good luck on the bear hunt!
 
Thank you for the kind words.

As for the hog, the quality of the meat was MUCH better than that we have bought from the grocery store. Seems to be much more meat, and less fat. From what we have ate, so far, I'd say it was money well spent on a quality product. I'd gladly do this again if the opportunity were to come up.

As for over loading the freezer, the meat never got above 40*, and was placed in the big freezer after alternating between three others, so as to allow everything to freeze quickly. Food safety is a high priority of mine, and I take it very seriously.
 
Great post, Mike!

I agree - when kids are old enough to understand, it's good that they learn how it gets to the table.
(I still have the image in my head from when I was about six, with some headless Muskovy Geese running around the back yard from my Dad and his friend...)

You going to be hunting Black or Brown bear? Going old-school with a longbow takes some stones
(I believe it's only "true sport" when the game has an equal shot at YOUR carcass... I remember hearing some story about the guide handing a bow hunter a .44 with ONE bullet loaded. When he asked about only ONE, the guide replied that if the bear charges, there would not be time for a follow-up shot and the bullet actually was NOT for the bear...)

Good luck and send some pics from your hunt!
 
Ron G. said:
You going to be hunting Black or Brown bear? Going old-school with a longbow takes some stones
(I believe it's only "true sport" when the game has an equal shot at YOUR carcass... I remember hearing some story about the guide handing a bow hunter a .44 with ONE bullet loaded. When he asked about only ONE, the guide replied that if the bear charges, there would not be time for a follow-up shot and the bullet actually was NOT for the bear...)

Good luck and send some pics from your hunt!
Click to expand...

I'll be going after Coastal Black bears this time. Bears don't scare me much. If you go into anything not mentally prepared, then you shouldn't be putting yourself into that situation. At least, that is my thoughts.

Here is the bear I shot a couple years ago with my longbow. Bear was at 18 FEET, and a single arrow did the deed. No "backup" was with me, and if doing this, is how I go, I'll go doing what I love.



This bear provided LOTS of good meat for the table, and enjoyed by many.
 
Wow - impressive

Looks like somebody is quite the prepared / experienced Archer!

That bow does not even look like the HEAVY sort of thing that I would expect to see being used for bear
(but then again, my knowledge of archery, especially traditional, is pretty limited...)
 
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