Hog Killing Time

Anyone who comes from an old-fashioned Canadian farm background remembers the varied activity at pig-slaughtering time. There was so much to do that the whole family joined in to help. The men, of course took care of the actual sticking and butchering, and the women prepared the sausages, bacon, and hams(fresh and cured), and put the chops down in lard. Nothing was wasted.

The pigs head simmered gently in a great pot with herbs and seasonings; then the meat and juices left to chill and turned into that cold jellied dish, head cheese. Ears were boiled, then dipped in crumbs and broiled to be eaten with a spicy devil sauce; tails were cooked for hours with sauerkraut and beer or wine; pigs feet were pickled, or maybe boned and stuffed with ground pork to make an unusual sausage. Even the fat was used and in the process of rendering out the lard you got great cracklings. You buy them at the store today in packages labelled pig skins but they don't taste anything like fresh cracklings.

What wasn't rendered to make fine lard for pastries was used to preserve the chops and pork steaks. In the old-fashioned process, these were cooked down slowly and packed into great crocks; then melted lard was poured over the meat. Stored in a cool spot, a deep cellar or spring house, the cooked chops and steaks would keep all winter. They needed only reheating and crisping for dinner.

Tools of the Trade: Include a boning knife, steak knife, steel, and meat saw-many meat cutters would also include a heavier butcher knife and a cleaver. 

Weather and Scalding Barrel

After the first good cold spell of the year was the time to butcher the hogs; it had to be cold enough to keep meat from spoiling but not cold enough to freeze the carcass. Utensils, knives, buckets, straining cloths, and barrels were gathered. The wood for the fires was cut and neighbours and friends were waiting. Butchering day started before daylight, a fire was built just to keep warm, and one was started under the scalding barrel and another iron kettle (often this was just another barrel [this step is now pretty much obsolete, as most people use a propane torch, instead of scalding and scraping).

Killing

Killing the hog was usually done with a single 22 calibre long rifle bullet between the eyes. A larger calibre was too destructive and just sticking inhumane, messy, and wasteful. Draw an imaginary line from the right ear to the left eye and a line from the left ear to the right eye. Where these lines cross is where you placed the shot. The job was usually given to an expert hand and for good reasons. There is a lot of "good eating" on a hogs head. One delicacy (which I do not recommend) is pig brains. Another reason was; a misplaced shot could just injure the animal and a 180 to 240 pound hog can be very dangerous.

Immediately after the hog was shot, it was bled. This was accomplished in more than one way. One way was to insert a knife about three inches behind the jaw on the left side of the neck and cut the jugular vein. Another way was to lay the animal on its back and find the breast bone. Insert a 6 inch or more knife pointing to the rear and parallel to the backbone, with an upward thrust sever the carotid artery.  The important thing was to bleed the animal within about two minutes of shooting it. If you waited too long the animals blood pressure could increase and a condition called "blood splash" could occur. It didn't ruin the meat but it did give it an unpleasing colour.

Scraping

After the hog was bled an incision was cut in the hind legs just above and back of the foot. The gambrel tendons in the back of the leg were stretched out and hooked to a hoist; in this way the hog could be lowered and raised in the barrel as needed. The water in the scalding barrel needed to be heated from about 165 degrees to "just below the point of boiling". If it was too hot it would set the hair and make it almost impossible to remove and if too cold the hair would not slip and could not be scraped—it helped to add just a little wood ash, to soften the water and loosen the hair

You judged the time by raising the hog and scraping a small section to see if it would slip or remove easily. It was important not to let the hog stay in the water too long or the hair would set and was almost impossible to remove. Small patches of hair were removed by pouring hot water on it and scraping

Some people made the mistake of using a scraping knife that was too sharp. The idea was to scrape it away, removing it roots and all, not shave it. After the scraping a very sharp knife could be used, Just in case some hair escaped the scraping. Today some people use propane torch

Head

Removing the head was next and this was done simply by cutting around the neck at the base of the head until the entire neck bone was rounded. It was finished by a quick and firm twist then set aside for later use.

Gutting

It was important to have your tubs ready for this operation. It was also the time when you came to appreciate the withholding of food from the animal for the last day or two. The idea was to open the entire gut cavity without puncturing the gut. A cut was made from from the crouch to the chin. With this done, and the tubs ready; the large intestine was cut loose at the anus and tied off with a string and the entire mass was allowed to fall into the tub. When this was done; the liver was removed and the gall bladder was carefully removed. The liver was usually eaten that night for supper or it was used to make liver sausage.

Here is where you find people differ in their eating habits.

Cutting the Carcass

When the carcass was clean inside and out it was time to cut it into usable pieces. This was usually done with the equipment at hand—butcher knife and a chopping axe. At the same time the sausage making operation was started and the lard pot was going. The lean trimmings went in the sausage mill and the fat went into the lard pot. The lard pot was started while the hog was still hanging; with the fat from the inside cavity around the intestines or leaf fat. This is also where you get cracklings. The axe was used to cut the hog down the middle into halves. In the old days, they just cut down the back bone on each side, staying as close as they could. You got some good meaty backbones and a nice thick piece of fat back. Nowadays it is cut in half using a saw and the loins are removed whole.

The hams and shoulders are removed at the joints and you have the middling or side meat left. Separate the ribs from the side meat.