AN OLD-FASHIONED HOG SLAUGHTER

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FIG.4 HANGING THE CARCASS

After the scalding and scraping process is complete, the hog is ready to be hung and gutted. A slaughtered pig should be strung up by the hind-leg sinews that are known as gambrel tendons. Cut through the skin on the backs of the rear limbs between foot and hock (being careful not to sever the tendons themselves), and gently pull the fibrous connective tissue loose from the surrounding flesh.

To hang the carcass, you can insert a sturdy wooden dowel, an axe handle, a metal pipe, or the hooks of a short singletree under the gambrel tendons (see Fig. 4). Then attach a line to your pole (the stick is called a gambrel), and use it to hoist the corpus and suspend it from your butchering structure. The swine's rear legs should be spread at least 14 inches apart, and neither the animal's head nor its forelegs should touch the ground. A final scrub-down of the body after hoisting will insure that you have a clean hide to work on . . . and a tub placed under the carcass will serve to catch the innards as they fall.

EVISCERATION

The object of gutting the hog is to remove all of the internal organs, the leaf fat (the layers of built-up adipose tissue around the pig's kidneys, which is used in making lard), and the head . . . leaving only the meat portions of the carcass. It's a good idea to work slowly when eviscerating an animal (especially if you're new to the job), because mistakes can be costly. Should you rupture the viscera, for instance, a great deal of meat could become contaminated. (If, despite your best efforts, you do puncture the intestines or organs, wash the meat off thoroughly with cool, clean water as quickly as you can.)

It's a good idea to start by cutting of the head, because doing so will permit the draining of any residual blood which isn't trapped in the body cavity. To accomplish this, first make a cut all the way across the back of the neck, just above the ears and at the backbone's initial joint. Then sever the gullet and windpipe so that the head can drop forward, and continue cutting around the ears . . . to the eyes . . . and on to the point of the jawbone (this pattern allows the head to come free, while leaving the jowls on the body). If you intend to use the head, it should be cleaned, trimmed, and chilled as soon as possible.

Next, score the belly downward along its midline, from a point between the hams to the incision made when the pig was stuck, being careful not to cut through the stomach wall. Then place your knife deep in the neck wound — its point against the backbone — and cut upward, using the blade to split the breastbone and divide the first set of ribs. (If you're butchering an animal that's older or heavier than is usual for a tablebound hog, you may need a saw or cleaver to split the sternum.) At this point you'll be able to see whether you did a good job of sticking the pig . . . because a substantial flow of blood from the chest cavity will mean that you cut too deep when you stuck the swine.

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