HOW TO BUTCHER PORK
(Page 2 of 9)
Pork is our most nutritious
meat andproduces a higher
per cent of edible meat
products than any ether
meat animal.
RELATED CONTENT
There is no section of the country where hogs cannot be
profitably grown for the home meat supply. Hogs reproduce
faster and in greater numbers than any other meat animals
and most efficiently convert grain and other feeds into
edible meat products.
The following table shows the weight of the different cuts
from a 225 lb. and 250 lb. hog. It also shows what per cent
of the carcass the different cuts represent.
SELECTION OF HOGS FOR BUTCHERING
High quality meat with a sweet, rich, full-bodied flavor is
always worth a premium, and hogs that produce this kind of
meat should be the only ones butchered and cured for home
use.
Good meat, of course, depends upon many factors, and one
important factor is the kind of hogs butchered. Thrifty,
properly fattened hogs, weighing from 180 to 250 lbs. and
from eight to ten months old are the best ones for home
butchering. Hogs of this size are more easily handled and
the meat chills out more quickly. They produce medium
weight cuts which are more suitable for the average family,
and medium weight cuts will cure quicker and more uniformly
than heavier cuts. Medium weight hams, shoulders, and bacon
are finer in texture and flavor and are of better quality
than those from older, heavier hogs. Non-thrifty shoats, or
heavy 400 to 600 lb. hogs do not produce the best type of
meat for home curing. Also, it costs more to produce each
pound of meat in heavier hogs than in lighter ones.
CARE OF HOGS BEFORE BUTCHERING
When does meat curing start—after the meat is cut up
and salted down, or before the hogs are killed?
Of course, the actual curing starts when the meat is salted
down, but, more broadly speaking, the result of the cure
begins with the live hog because the quality of the
finished meat depends a lot on how the hogs were handled
when butchered, bled, cleaned, and chilled.
Thousands of hams, shoulders, and bacon sides that could
just as easily have been high quality meat are often low in
quality. Also, actual souring has been brought about
through improper butchering. The prevention of meat
spoilage and also the foundation of quality meat begins
with the handling of the live hog. For this reason the wise
thing to do is to practically start curing the meat at the
time the hogs are killed—which, of course, means to
do every step in the butchering and curing job properly.
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