SC - Butchering, Part 2, long again.

[Alderton, Philippa]

First, I want to thank Par and Anne-Marie for their commentary on the first
post. I had meant to mention tying off the ends of the digestive tract, but
it's something I do automatically, and forgot. Also, I'm a leather worker,
and am very conscious of not cutting the hides, but I've found that the
connective tissue is tough enough in some areas that a knife will save a
lot of arm strain.  I had heard of the gallon jug method of butchering
chickens, but had never seen it done or done it, so thought it wise to keep
my mouth shut. Thanks, folks!

The following is addressing large animals primarily, so if all you want to
butcher is rabbits or guinea pigs (that's for Lord Ras!) or poultry, you
may not want to continue. But if you quit here, at least I got my
thank-yous in ;-)

So now you have your animal hanging, innardless, and skinless, what do you
do? Basicly, nothing for at least 12 hours. Period people butchered in the
fall for several reasons- to save feeding the animals other than breeding
stock through the winter,, to put food by before winter, and because it was
cool enough to allow the meat to chill and age for better flavor. All you
need do at this point is to remove the feet, wash the animal down for any
extraneous hair, etc,  cover with cheese cloth to discourage flies, and
depending on temperature, let it hang for a day or two. To help the cooling
process, some friends of mine split the animal down the spine and breast
bone, using a standard cross cut saw, others wait until they're ready to do
the rest of the cutting. I've done it both ways, and while it did cool
faster, there was no appreciable flavor difference. In warmer weather, I
usually make a cheese cloth tube by tying it over a wooden or plastic hoop
and draping rather like how you hang mosquito netting so the cheese cloth
doesn't touch the meat- this keeps flies at a safer, in my mind, distance.
I know the ideal is a walk-in cooler, fly free, but most farms don't have
one so you cool the meat in a not-necessarily -fly-proof shed.

Once the hanging meat is cooled and aged to your satisfaction, you
dismantle the beast. This is done in a manner similr to sectioning a
chicken. First take off the fore-legs at the shoulder, and lay them on your
table and cut to your satisfaction. If you have trouble at the joints, your
crosscut saw will help. Next (having split the animal lengthwise), take a
cut across the spine and free the shoulder, chest and neck. This section is
very heavy and awkward in a cow, so have a clean drop cloth below in case
of accidents, and a friend to help. Cut this section up to your
satisfaction. Then, take the lower back of the animal away from the hip
joints, and finally remove the hind quarter. If you're slicing things into
a lot of steaks, a band saw is a big help. I use a friend's, and he has a
blade for his he uses strictly for meat. If you DO use power equipment,
please watch your fingers! Otherwise the crosscut saw works well.

At the cutting table, I usually have 3 5 gallon buckets handy- 1 for trash,
1 for fat, to be later rendered into lard and cracklings, and one for
odd-shaped bits to be made into burger or sausage or jerky- I prefer most
of my meat as steaks or roasts. I have, however, butchered whole pigs into
chunks for whole hog sausage.

Special notes:

Don't discard bones! They can be made into wonderful stock, salt free,
unlike the stuff you get at the store. Marrow is nice, too, and can be
found in any of the long bones.

Don't leave any fat on or in deer meat unless you KNOW you like the flavor-
it's definitely an acquired taste. Instead, substitute beef or pork fat for
burger, or plan on using other fats or oils to cook it with, or wet-cook
it. It does NOT freeze well. And, if you're butchering a deer, after the
liver, the most special treat I know is one of the the back-straps sliced
across-grain while fresh and fried in a cast-iron skillet with just a dab
of salt and pepper. It's also known as the tenderloin, or basicly filet
mignon.

BEFORE YOU SECTION THE ANIMAL!  If you have a friend who is a Buckskinner
or leatherworker, there is a very tough, silvery ribbon which runs down the
spine of all large animals into the hip. If you wish to make your friend a
special gift, slip a dull knife under this ribbon and run it back and forth
until it comes loose, cut it away at the ends, clean, and dry. You have
just produced real sinew, and although there is plenty of the artificial
stuff around, someone into authenticity will love you for it. You may lose
a little bit of solid meat, but it won't (it shouldn't ! ) be much, and it
goes into the burger bucket.

CAUTION !! 

  In the neck section of any large animal are the thyroid glands. If you
have bled the animal right, they should appear as whitish. REMOVE them!
They contain various hormones that will cause no problem in small doses to
a healthy adult, but can have interesting side effects when ingested as
part of burger, which is what most people use necks for.

Any questions or further commentary is, as usual, welcome.

Later,

Phlip

phlip at morganco.net

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider that cain't be throwed.
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