HOW TO BUTCHER PORK
(Page 6 of 9)
Be careful in splitting the upper portion of the breast
bone not to cut into the stomach. This portion is thin and
the stomach lies immediately beneath. With older or heavier
hogs a saw may be needed to split the breast bone. The
blood that, has accumulated in the chest cavity will drain
out when the breast bone is split and you can tell -whether
you did a good job of sticking by the amount of blood in
the chest cavity when the breast is opened. If the hog was
swung before sticking and the vein and artery severed well
in front of the heart, very little blood will be left in
the chest cavity to drain out. Getting a good bleed is very
important as meat can not be properly chilled and cured
without being properly bled.
RELATED CONTENT
After the breast bone is split, make a short incision in
the abdominal wall near the top. Then place the hand
clasping the knife handle inside the abdominal wall, with
the blade pointing out. Let the fist that grips the handle
drop down until the knife blade slants upward. The cutting
is done with the heel of the blade and the fist crowds the
intestines away from the outer edge as the ripping is
continued downward. When the belly wall is cut through, the
intestines will fall forward and downward, but the attached
muscle fibre will not let them fall far.
This method of ripping the belly is the safest and quickest
way to do it and you can work without fear of cutting the
intestines. It is awkward and slow work to try to rip the
belly with the point turned inward as the slightest slip of
the knife can easily slit one of the intestines, and cause
contamination.
SPLITTING THE AITCH BONE
Make a cut in the lean part of the meat squarely in the
center between the two hams. When the aitch bone is
reached, the point of the knife is placed against the
center seam of the bone. By striking the butt of the knife
handle with the palm of the hand the seam of the hitch bone
is split quite easily.
Another method is to bear down with a straight cut with the
point of the knife in order to split the hitch bone. Either
method is good. With older hogs it may be necessary to use
a saw to split the aitch bone.
LOOSENING THE BUNG
Grasp the bung gut just below split in the aitch bone and
loosen upward toward end of bung. Then start in the front
and cut completely around bung end. Securely tie the end
with a cord and pull bung out and down, cutting around it
where it does not pull loose.
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