Anyone butcher their own pigs?

[Woodford]

Hey all. I'm from Santa Rosa and new to the website. I'm interested in how you all process your pig meat once the animal is down. I'd rather learn the trade myself and invest the money into the tools to do so instead of paying someone else. Anyone on here butcher their own pig meat? How foolish would I be to attempt it myself? Thanks for any advice you can give me.

-Woodford

 

[weekender21]

It wouldn't be foolish at all! I butcher all game on my own. This is what I do:

Field dress the animal as soon as possible, don't forget to take pictures first!

I prefer to hang hogs with a gambrel by their rear feat but you can skin one out and debone him on the ground if you have to.

After the hog is skinned, cut his feet (hooves) off at the first joint and the head off.

Next I use a Wyoming saw, which is basically a take-down hack saw, to cut the hog down the backbone from the hams all the way to the neck. At this point you have two halves that can easily be hung in a walk in cooler if you have access to one. Don't be afraid to get water on your meat, I always spray mine down if I have access to a hose.

You won't get much benefit from aging a hog like you get from aging venison but it certainly doesn't hurt it at all if you need to leave it in refrigeration for a few days.

You'll need a fairly large, sanitary, flat surface to breakdown your hog. I cut the hams off at the H bone, cut out the tender loins, cut the back straps off the spine, and cut the shoulders off the carcass.

Hams (hind quarters)- you can smoke them whole or separate the muscle groups into roast that can either be cooked whole, cut into small pieces for stew, or be sliced into steaks.

Tender Loins and backstrap loins- slice into steaks or cook as a roast.

You can use the shoulder meat for roast too but I love pork breakfast sausage and usually use all remaining meat for sausage. You should add domestic pork fat to your sausage to make it easier to cook without drying out. I add 10-15% domestic pork fat to all my sausage. You can always make your own seasonings or order pre-made seasoning to mix with your meat.

You can buy a really good meat grinder for about $250 and one that will work just fine for quite a bit less. The bigger the better if you want to save time.

I'm by no means a pro but I really enjoy the entire process from the stalk to the table. I've never met someone who didn't enjoy butchering their own.

Lastly, I highly recomend buying a wild game butchering video. There really isn't much difference between butchering a deer and a wild pig so no need to buy a pig specific video. Good luck!

 

[Woodford]

Hey thanks for the response! My main concern is the lack of a walk in freezer like you mention above. I have a garage and a spare beer fridge with plenty of freezer space. My plan would be to field dress the hog, bring him home and immediately butcher the meat, freeze the non-bacon/ham sections and place the bacon and ham in brine to prepare for smoking and further processing. So I'm worried about spoilage mainly.

 

[weekender21]

I have a 120 qt cooler I bought for about $50. I've left pork in the cooler for several days on ice without a problem. Make sure the cooler is clean and place the meat on top of the ice.

Keep the water drained to prevent bleaching the meat. It's fine to spray off your meat initially but you do not want it to soak in water.

I usually put a few game bags or a clean bed sheet on top of the meat to help keep it cool.


You don't need any fancy set-up to butcher your own, sounds like you're on the right track.

 

[rodneyshishido]

We usually butcher at home and being lazy use a sawzall for cutting the bone. Just make sure all the paint is removed from the saw blade. We also bind the end of the saw (where you fasten the blade) with duct tape to keep any debris already on the saw from getting on the meat.

We do one thing differently. We soak the meat in ice water for 2 or 3 days draining the water each day. This is to remove as much blood as possible. We do not have facilities to hang a carcass to let it drain.

I think this is a personal choice. At certain times of year, especially the boars, the meat can get a "strong" flavor.

By the way, if you like oriental foods at all, wild pig makes really excellent won ton.

 

[Woodford]

You don't need any fancy set-up to butcher your own, sounds like you're on the right track.

Thanks for the words of confidence! It's probably 20% saving money and 80% being able to do it myself. I enjoy the full process, probably why I have way too many hobbies as it is.

We usually butcher at home and being lazy use a sawzall for cutting the bone. Just make sure all the paint is removed from the saw blade. We also bind the end of the saw (where you fasten the blade) with duct tape to keep any debris already on the saw from getting on the meat.

We do one thing differently. We soak the meat in ice water for 2 or 3 days draining the water each day. This is to remove as much blood as possible. We do not have facilities to hang a carcass to let it drain.

I think this is a personal choice. At certain times of year, especially the boars, the meat can get a "strong" flavor.

By the way, if you like oriental foods at all, wild pig makes really excellent won ton.

Do you switch to a handsaw for cutting the hams and mid section? I was planning on buying a cheap sawzall at harbor freight for splitting the pig. Do you hang the pig to split? I don't have a block and tackle but they are cheap enough I suppose. What do you use for a work table?

Thanks!

 

[weekender21]

The electric saw isn't absolutely necessary but it is nice. I've used one a few times on elk. I would definitely buy a blade that is for cutting meat only and keep it sanitary.

Hanging the hog to split it is best but I imagine you could get it done on the ground. It's not absolutely necessary to split the pig but it does make it easier to work with.

Any sturdy table with a surface that can be sanitized will work for butchering.

 

[rodneyshishido]

I use the handsaw for final cutting if I am butchering by myself. Trying to hold a piece and control a sawzall can be tough. If I have help I use the sawzall for everything.

Our pigs are not as large as yours so we can usually just lift it up and tie it up. I have had a couple that I used a come-a-long to lift.

By the way, ever use a come-a-long to skin the pig? I put a nice clean tarp on the ground, tie the head to a good anchor point, cut off the feet, cut the skin around the neck, down the backbone and another along the belly. I have pair of vise grips that I can hook the come-a-long to. I clamp the skin where the cut along the backbone meets the cut around the net and start cranking the come-a-long. Every so often the skin stops peeling. You just give it a touch with the knife and it will start peeling again.

Told you I was lazy!

 

[Fugaloo]

I'm in Rosa too

I am in SR too. I have a friend who is a butcher at Safeway. What I saw him do to my pig I could probably reproduce with poor results. He has been a butcher for over 15 years and if it's worth a fifty to you I might be able to get you a hands on lesson from a pro. Once skinned, a good sharp knife is really all you need. If you have access to a saw you can make pork chops, but other than that almost everything else can be cut off.
For skinning I would use a box cutter and slice down the skin on a hanging pig in 3 to four inch strips. Get a few replacement blades as the tough skin will dull the razor quickly. If you truly want to "go it alone" I would recommend researching on you tube to see somebody else getting it right. Just seeing the muscle to cut will help you when it's your turn.

 

[bux-n-dux]

If you get a hog and want ehlp butchering it for the first time, shoot me a PM. I run a small butcher shop in Pt Reyes and we deal in whole carcass. I'm a journeyman butcher and know my way around a pig carcass. I'll help you make sausage too.

bux-n-dux

 

[Woodford]

Thanks Bux-n-Dux, I might take you up on that when it becomes closer to when I'm ready to go hunt one.

 

[easymoney]

I myself do the gutless deboning technique as I make it all into sausage.
Traditionalbutchering is not that hard with a very sharp knife and a little knowledge. I would take buxndux up on his offer and learn the rioght first time out. Then it will be easy.

 

[Woodford]

Hey one more question I have is what needs to be done about the hair on the pigs?

A book I got on butchering farm raised pigs said to dunk the pigs in 145F water in a 55gal drum and then scrape off the hair with a bell scraper. Is this necessary with wild hogs (which I assume are more hairy)? Or is there an alternative?

 

[rodneyshishido]

I tried dunking and scraping the hair off the hogs with no luck. The old timers advised me that if I wanted the skin on, I should burn the hair off then scrape. Just one word of caution - burned hair has a nasty odor.

 

[Woodford]

I tried dunking and scraping the hair off the hogs with no luck. The old timers advised me that if I wanted the skin on, I should burn the hair off then scrape. Just one word of caution - burned hair has a nasty odor.

Is there a reason why would you want the skin on? If you didn't want the skin on and didn't want to dunk... could you just skin the hog?

How did they recommend burning the hair off? Hang hog and use torch? ig-laughing:

 

[rodneyshishido]

Here on Maui, a lot of locals enjoy eating the skin. It's just a personal preference. I suspect it may be healthier to take the skin and underlying fat off, but, many of us here ignore the health issue and go the taste route. The filipinos will deep fry the skin and underlying fat until very crispy and serve it with chopped onions and tomatoes.

You're right on as far as burning the hair off.

 

[westcoastr]

I still remember my first pig kill. only had a few supplies and had to bone it out as I was a longgggggg way from the truck. I had to use zip lock bags as gloves and a map as ground sheet to try to keep it clean and free of dirt (didn't have a rope to hang it). I used a long sleeve shirt to cover it and keep the flies off. only had a Gerber knife with a small serrated section and a small cheapo folding saw. Real Lord of the Flies stuff. But it came out fairly good. Surprisingly more exhausting than I would have thought.