The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-03-04
BUTCHERING
The Proper Way to Handle the
Knife and the Cuts to Make.


Of the noise ma4s ny the hogs when
they are caught for butcheiing. New
ertheless, It Is a custom on most farms
to kill years supply OF pork for the
family and market the remainder II
there Is any left over Is killing hogs
as with everything else the work may
be made much easier by simply study
ing the best methods to pursue and
by providing suitable tools with which
10 work says he Rural New Yorker
lt is generally necessary TO do the
work out of doors. 50 a pleasant day
should be selected When there are
a great masy hogs to kill regular
slaughter-house should be provided.
Only healthy hogs which have been
properly fattened should be selected
for butchering, as it Is impossible to
secure good meat from poor, sickly
stock. The inside OF every hog killed
should be carefully examined for tu-
berculosls, especially hogs which have
been fed on skim milk OF whey from
O creamery, AMI The carcass discarded
II the disease is found in an advanced
stage The most profitable time for
killing hogs is when they are from
nine to IL months old. aud The best
PORK is made from hogs Of this age
provided they ar wei bred iork of
g,oG quality canct be made from
scrub PIGS.
A knife with an eight or 1O-inch
blade should be used for killing. The
hog should be held on its back or
side, and the knife inserted in the
throat about two inches in front OF
the fore legs, with the blade slanting
back directly toward the backbone OF
at an angle of about 45 degrees and
held crossways of the neck in such
a way that both arteries which rrn
just inside Of the breast bone WI lie
cut. The next operation Is scaidls
and scrapiBg. The tools reqnired for
this work are candlestick scrape'g 'g.
hog hook, knives, barrel of hot water
and bench or platform upon which
TO work. The barrel is set on a slant
so the top of it comes just to the top
of the bench. In killing heavy hogs
It is always advisable TO fasten a block
and fall about 10 feet above the bar
rel with which to lift the hogs on to
the bench. and to handle them In the
sralding tub. as it saves great deal
Of heavy lifting.
The water for scalding should be
heated to about 100 degrees Fahren-
heit If too hot 1t is liable to set The
will be required. A few handfuls Of
ashes or a tablespoonful Of concen-
trated lye will aid in removing the
scurf. but 1t has no effect upon the
hair. Do not try to scald a hog be-
fore life is extinct. In using barrel
for a scalding tub but one end OF a
hog can he scalded at q time. The
hog should be kept moving in the
water and aired occasionally. As
soon as the hair can be scraped OFF
easily the hog should be scraped
clean with the candlesticks, and hung
up by a gambrelstick run through the
gambrel cords OF the hind legs He
should then be Tinsed off with hot
water and shaved with a knife. and
then rlnsed with cold water. A con-
venient way of hanging hog is to
place a long pole with one end on the
ground and the other end against
some building. The gambrel stick
can then be pushed up this pole, with
the hog hanging to it, until Is swings
clear when it can be held In place by
driving large nail in the pole below
the stick.
The next step is to slit him down
the belly and remove the intestines,
stomach and liver. Cut the gall out
of the liver, being careful not to spill
any OF its contents on the meat Then
cut around the diaphragm and re-
move the heart, lungs. gullet and
tongue Wash out thoroughly with
cold water, issert cob or stick in
the mouth to hold II open for dtain-
age. In cold weather it is not nee.
essary to slit the hog down through
the center of the backbone until the
next day after killing, although this
would hasten cooling on warm night.
When properly cooled, which is gener-
ally tsthe end OF "a or 36 hours 1t
is ready to cut up. The carcass is
then slit down through the backbone
with a cleaver and the head removed.
The shoulder cut is between the
fourth and fifth ribs and the cut for
the ham is about an inch an a half
in front of the pelvic bones. Remove
the sparerib from the shoulder and
bacon by cutting close to the rib bones
Cut the fat part off from the loin. In
good hog this is two inches or more
thick. Cut the legs off just above the
knee and hook joints.
The ham and shoulders should be
neatly trimmed, using the trimmings
for lard or sausage. Split the head
into quarters by first cutting II
through the center with the cleaver
This Is generally boiled for head
cheese. The feet. snOut and ears and
tail are either pickled for souse OF
they may be boiled and eaten while
fresh The hams Shoulders and ha-