yes more snow today, but still no snowday from school. ::) and in case you hadn't noticed the long underware is back on after only 4 nicer days. forcast for next week is some -7 or so mornings. personnaly responsible for heating oil shortage in new england :D
Little nippy in tropical SE Minnesota too. -9 last night but WARMED up to about +10 today. DanG wind made it seem A LOT colder though. I planted some snow peas today. Hope I didn't plant them too deep. ;D
Charlie,
You would have needed dynamite to plant those peas up here. Not even enough snow to cover the peas.
Minnesota_Boy, we didn't hardly have any snow until this week. We've had two snow days of about 2" or 3" each but the snow is pretty dry and this wind seems to move it around pretty easily. Had to shovel twice and I like shoveling snow about as much as I like to paint. I was up to Grand Marais the last of January and there was hardly any snow there either. DanG wind has really been blowing stiffly all day. I wouldn't doubt it if one of those Canadians isn't responsible for this..... ;D
Charlie,
It would seem you have developed a taste for peas. 8)
Hmmmm...you might be right Paul.....I hadn't considered that. I just figured that snow peas would be the only thing that might grow in this white stuff....but maybe way down deep I have a secret desire to consume peas. ::) ;D
DanG, boys, whatch all got against black eyed peas and hog jowl?
Absolutely nothing Don! I love black-eyed peas. In fact, one of my favorite dishes is Hoppin' John. 8) I always eat black-eyed peas on January 1st to assure that I'll have a good year. I just didn't figure black-eyed peas would grow in the snow. I figured snow peas would or they wouldn't have named them that. :P
looks like the temperature is going to bottom out at -9.8 this morning. pretty Dan g cold for this neck of the woods. the wind was a howlin last night I hope it has calmed down some.
Heck it alomost got up to freezin' here yesterday. The roads with some sun on 'em even got muddy on top. It feels almost like shorts weather. 8)
Charlie if you'd a planted them peas, they'd a blown away with the snow by now. Ain'tcha been up here long enough to know that ya gotta wait for that heavy March snow? ::)
Now if ya DonT mind workin' at it ya could take a pick axe or an iron bar out and get your iceberg lettuce put in. ;D
Mike says you need a power auger to do that- plant em right into the ice as a berg unto themselves.
So it looks like Iowa got about 12" of snow that's blowing around right about now. I think we will see another night or 2 of -20 or colder. Sure do like the wood stove right about now.
lw
Black-eyed peas? Yuck!(https://forestryforum.com/smile/sick2.gif)
Black Eyes, a good old southern staple. Rice'll make'em Hoppin' John and chopped onions'er sure good on'em.
Can't stand a big fried corn bread or Hoe Cake.. ....not for long anyway. It's special with lots of butter and sometimes you can find a bottle of cane syrup to put on it for desert. Mmm Boy!
I like it when I'm in the company of folks who have "yucks" because that leaves more for me. :D
Yessir... Love those hog jowls, smoked ham hocks, fat-back, side-meat, pigs feet, ears, snouts and grits. Okra and stewed tomato sandwiches such that you have to lift and eat fast less they fall through the crust. :D :D
Who'd ever think a Pear pie or Peach cobbler could smell so good till you experience it wafting down the street from your Grandmomma's kitchen in the cool of the evening after a hot afternoon.
......and sweet tea by the gallon to sip on the front porch while some of the older folks scare the beejeemers out of you before bedtime.
Ah-h-h-h Yes! Black eyes. ...and Ford hook limas and collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens.... most any greens with the sweet turnip root boiled in at the last and served with a jar of Hot pepper vinegar sauce and a loaf of homemade bread and soft butter.
.........I gotta quit this..... :-/ :-/ :-/
Yep some parts got up to 16"s or more, it looks like we got about 6" or 7". First real snow we've had this winter. Bad thing is when we get into one of these weather patterns they kind of stick around. Been real dry so hope it keeps up.
We butcher our own hogs but have never had the nerve to do the head but all this talk about hog jowls and stuff makes me wonder. Tell you what next one we do I'll freeze up the head and send it to however wants to give it a try.
Norm,
Cure the jowls right along with your bacon.
Noble
To tell you the truth Noble we just started butchering our own hogs a couple of years ago and don't have any idea how to cure the hams or bacon. Right now the bacon parts get put in the grinder for ground pork and sausage.
When I was a kid we had a smoker shed on our farm but didn't pay much attention to how they did it. Guess I'll have to see if the local library can get me a book on how to do it.
Norm
You could put them jowls into sausage ;)
Read up on Hog Head Cheese (Souse) when do. It's goo-od and stores good too. Makes some of the best sandwiches 8)
Isn't head cheese all of the leftovers that do not go into regular ground pork products like the snout and brains or what have you?
Tom,
I'll have to replace my keyboard after reading your comments on the peach cobbler!(https://forestryforum.com/smile/chef.gif)
Going to try and talk mom into making one for me since Grandma is no longer with us. :'( Also your greens and Turnip roots sounds great! If I visit your neck of the woods you better have some ready because I'm hungry for those now! ;D
In a nutshell, it's the head boiled and relieved of the meat which is ground/shredded, spiced, salted and packed into pans where it is allowed to naturally gel. Kept in a cool place it remains gelled and is sliced for sandwiches or to eat alone.
I like mine on the spicey hot side. ;D
Go look in the Knowledge Base under food for recipes.
Try this Hog head cheese link (https://forestryforum.com/tips/tips.cgi?display:1045353245-10005.txt)
Tom, you're right about that souse making a mighty fine sammitch. I don't like the hot stuff, but the mild kind is GOOD, and heart-healthy, too. ;D
I'm athinkin' our young friend, Mr. Beyer, hain't never had no fresh blackeyed peas, right outta tha garden. Them dried up things they sell in the store gives'em a bad name. You pick'em in the mornin, shell'em in the afternoon, and have'em for supper, and you got the real thing. 8) 8)
Dang if you aren't right, DanG. I'll takem anyway I can gett'em though. ;D
Now, dontchaknow, I'm glad you brought that up... the lother night we were talking at work and I brought up scrapple as a topic to drool over. Someone else was insisting that scrapple and head cheese are the same. But your recipe for the head cheese doesn't have the cooked cornmeal in it. To make scrapple you just take the broth from cooking the meat, add cornmeal at an amount to make 'regular' textured cornmeal mush- then add back the meat scraps and seaonings when the cornmeal is cooked. It all goes into the pans to cool and then is sliced and fried. Yum, and yum, especially with maple syrup. I know I've written this before. lw
Norm,
If you want to send me your address, I'll send you a sheet that gives simple instructions for curing the best ham ever. It's easy and foolproof. I've not tried it with bacon, but don't see why it wouldn't work too.
How long has it been since you had ham that would make 'red eye gravy'? Maybe you called it 'speckled sop'. Boy now there is something to go with your cornbread and blackeyed peas.
Noble
Thanks Noble that's nice of you to offer, I sent you an IM with my address.
Most of the comercial hams you buy around here have too much salt in the cure. Haven't heard of red eye gravy since I was a little boy. We used it on mashed potatoes. I never heard of grits till I was older and went to my aunt's place and had em. Good with lots of real butter or chipped beef gravy.
Norm,
The guide sheet is on the way. This is from The university of Mo. Extension guide sheet 'Curing Country Hams' I had an extra one. A lot of home cured hams use a liquid that is injected around the bone. That method is faster, but not as flavorful as the slower method where you rub the dry mix on the outside of the ham. Salt is the major preservative in all of them, but replacing part of the salt with sugar makes it a lot better according to my taste buds.
We have a guy that turkey hunts on us from Tenn. He always brings us something to eat, often a salt cured ham. I don't know just how they are prepared, but you have to boil them in two or three waters before you can eat them. Still mighty good grub with beans and cornbread.
Now you've got me wondering, we don't grow any critters. Just have the natural ones that feed themselves. Is there a reason not to salt or sugar cure deer? I kinda like the super salty ham sliced thin on biscuits, heart stopping I guess ::)
Don P you could add pork fat with deer and make sausage . Then sew up some white cotton sacks to stuff the sausage in then rub it down with suger cure and hang it up in the smoke house . The salt pulls the water out of it .good eating :)
We grind the really fatty cuts of pork and mix it with ground deer, re-grind it and use it like hamburger. Never thought about trying to make sausage out of it, have to give it a try.
Good readin from the old timers way of life,
The Foxfire Book. edited with Introduction by
Eliot Wigginton.
Anchor Books
There's like 6 or 8 additions I have the first 3.
Ed K
Your right Ed,
I have the first one for sure, and if memory serves me, have two more as well. I need a good bookcase for my books....another one anyway.... because my wife fears for the safety of the books and puts them in a safe place. I have no idea where they are when I want to read one.
You can find out everything from log cabin building to hog slaughtering to home remedies for gout in those books. They were one of the best projects for high school students I have ever heard a teacher devise.
We have a teacher member with that kind of aptitude, Ravioli Kid. She's not been on much lately, probably because of projects like planting trees or making paper or.............
Another good reference more recent than the foxfire series is Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living. Tells you how to do most anything. lw
QuoteNorm,
If you want to send me your address, I'll send you a sheet that gives simple instructions for curing the best ham ever. It's easy and foolproof. I've not tried it with bacon, but don't see why it wouldn't work too.
How long has it been since you had ham that would make 'red eye gravy'? Maybe you called it 'speckled sop'. Boy now there is something to go with your cornbread and blackeyed peas.
Noble
Hey Noble! Not to butt in, but is that AgpubG2526, 'Country Curing Hams' ? If so I just found it online and printed meself off a copy. I saw your note but didn't want to pester you for a copy since you'd just sent off your extry one.
I tried several times to cure hams and bacons, but while they'd get salty and technically 'cure' they always tasted dead. I think that's what the smoking process does- goes from dead to mouth-watering.
Some of the old folks down in NC thought that the airing process in those curing sheds had a lot to do with it. They did make some righteous ham, and I still love red-eye gravy, ham n grits.
I haven't raised a hawg since coming up to Maine. Maybe sometime...
webpage is http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/ansci/go2526.htm . I found it by using dogpile.com for a search for 'curing country hams'. It was the first hit.
Thanks for the reference. It goes onto my cookbook shelf.
lw
Oops. typo. I put a o where it should be 0. The CORRECT
webpage is http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/ansci/g02526.htm lw
LW,
That is the same guidesheet that I sent Norm except that it is a revised version (about 25 years newer) and has some important additions. Thanks
Norm, copy the version that LW has found for us----it's better.
I think I have all the Foxfire books. Seems like there are ten or twelve all together. Some really interesting stuff in them and some of it is useful as well.
Noble
Thanks for the detective work LW, I'll print up a copy. We ended up buying one of those two door refrigs like you see in restaurants, now we don't have to worry what the temp is when we butcher. Great during deer season also if the temps get too high.
Nice thing about keeping a pigger and some chickens around is the garbage disposal never gets used and leftovers turn into good things to eat. Amazingly enough we are one of the few farms that does this, most others around here go to the grocery store for stuff that is easy to raise yourself.
Ooh, Ooh, I want to know more about the reefer! I came THIS close to making or buying a walk-in cooler this summer/fall. I drew up the plans and picked out the corner of the barn, but stalled out at buying the reefer unit for it. I figure I can frame it in easy enough and the insulation is available cheap. But cooling... I'd love to know prices and brands if you want to share info, and I'd take suggestions from anyone who has done this. lw
Those Foxfire books are great, I've got the first one and I think two others. I got the first one years ago when I was in school, and it really inspired me as to what a person can do for themselves. It kinda got me started learning how to do a lot of stuff. To which my wife would give a big ::) . Actually she has a lot fun with it too.
Someday I'm gonna get the time to figure out that still they write about in there. :o ;D
My parents ran a restaurant when I was growing up, walk-in's are huge energy hogs and lots of wasted space to cool. You can buy the shells for next to nothing at used rest. equip. places but the innards are expensive to buy, maintain, and run. They finally unhooked it and went to a couple of two door coolers and a couple of freezers. This is the one I bought, not too bad on the electricity and they knocked off $250.00 dollars because it came in with a dent in the side.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/YaBBImages/userpics/TRUT49_b.jpg)
I got it at www.bigtray.com. Free freight and no taxes.
Eggsander,
The NC State Fair used to have one working all through fair week as a demonstration. I guess they wanted to show the right way? Shame was they dumped the product :D. Awhile back we were talking about things in the bottom of ponds. Bobbit hole on the Eno River near where I grew up was one of our swimming holes. About 17' deep, rope swing, rapid into it with a natural jacuzzi. I knew of several still furnaces on feeder creeks to the river. Rumor had it there was a still pot at the bottom of the hole thrown in by an escaping moonshiner...we tried but never found it.
So do you think if you slaughtered a beef that was 1000# on the hoof, or two good sized hawgs (or a moose), that you could fit the sections in there to age? I like to age meat for a week or 2 at 32-36*- I've not been real happy with laying things down because of the air circulation factor. Seems stuff is always piled in and facing surfaces tend to discolor and have some waste- of course that's been stopgap in regular refrigerators. I tend to cut beeves into FQ (2), HQ(2), and then have a rib section. Last year when I did the 3yr old Ayrshire bull, I took one section of scaffold and put it on my woodporch which I could regulate the temp fairly well (this was January). Those sections were huge and I felt like it took about the whole scaffold area to accomodate them. I'll have to lay out the cubic feet description. It seems small but tell me what you think, esp if you have your unit already. Thanks for the good word. I will bookmark the site. The reefer units I'd priced new (just the compressor part) were about $3K. lw
er, no, that reads like I was trying to age the meat at the bottom of the Eno River. I was actually referring to Norm_F's post. sorry bout that..
All you guys talking about the Foxfire Series reminded me that in one of the books there was an article about a guy who built his own vertical band saw, mostly from scratch, pretty good sized as I remember.
I'm not sure about the beef fitting in there, I haven't tried butchering one by myself yet, but I had the hog I butchered on just one shelf. After skinning I cut into halves with a sawzall and laid them bone side down on the shelves. During deer season I had three deer that were quartered in there and had room to spare. I really prefer to let stuff hang to age but the temp here can go from just right to freezing to hot. Never just right when needed for aging. Here's a good site for the home butcher. http://www.home-processor.com/
The inside dimensions are 54" tall 50" wide and 22" deep, came with three shelves that are 50" wide. There is a circulating fan at the top that is always running whether or not the compresser is. I think it helps in the aging porcess.
Hope this helps, so how hard was it to process a steer?
It'd be fun to see an operation like that run Don, but I don't think I could stand to watch 'em just dump it out. :-[
You'd think they could at least throw it in the tank and drive home on it. :D
There's a big ethanol plant just south of our place, now that's one big still. They haul in a poisonous chemical of some sort that they inject into the process just to make sure that what they're producing ain't drinkable. ::)
Steve, are you talking about that Ethanol plant in Claremont over by Dodge Center? That place could sure make a lot of shine. 8) 8)
Norm_F- that sounds pretty promising. Do you happen to know the approx. wgt of the hawg?
I've done numerous beeves- about 4 since I started up the operation up here in Maine, and about 3 or 4 down in WV.
Secure temp control is essential. You'll be cussin and jumpin thru hoops if it gets too warm or too cold. Too cold is actually DanG funny as you not-too-patiently wait to get to cutting temp. The last beeve-but-one I had that happen and I was on a tight schedule- working nights, killer tired, depressed over some DanG family thing- and I haul in a quarter- and can't figure out why it's cutting awful hard. It was just too frozen. Went much better after I figgered it out.
Another Very Good Thing to do esp if the animal is over 1000# is to withhold feed for 24 hours. I should've remembered-kinda forgot on the last one. I usually work by myself (just too ornery when someone else gets involved and then tries to take over..)- and of course an animal that big you have to use somehting to lift- so that was the time I was using the tractor that was almost out of gas and a production to start- and I was going slow- and he commenced to swell as soon as I dropped him- and by the time I was ready to pull out the paunch it just wouldn't FIT no matter how wide I cut him- I would've had to cut a window through the ribs- so ( :-/ ) I took the rumen out in sections. I won't be doing THAT again!
But it's just like a deer or a hawg only bigger- so you have to have the gear to handle it. I drop him, bleed him and gut him, then either skin or not- last time I tried not, but I wasn't happy with the results- and then hang either whole (NOT likely) or in sections. Back in WV one of the old timers could see I wouldn't do real well with a hawg in quarters, so he cut it in 6ths- that got me started with that pattern, except I usually do the rib section whole.
When Mike does his bull this winter, he may have to use the snowmobile with a sled to get the parts to the house. I'm going to recommend that he use the wood porch of a cooler- but don't think I'm getting involved and trying to take over.. :'(
With my limited space I boned out the last one. It was like the Flintstones around here afterwards. I hauled the bones WAY down in the woods- and Franklin hauled them right back to the front yard. I am known to the young kids in the neighborhood as 'the lady with the big bones n her yard'. I had been wondering why I didn't get any trick-r-treaters this year!
lw
My hats off to ya' LW, that is one lot of work. I couldn't get bones like that far enough away that the dogs wouldn't bring 'em back. Worse yet they think they've really done something good. :-/
Naw Charlie we got another one of them plants down in Glenville too. It s been a pretty good deal for the local farmers.
Thanks for the pointers LW, I know how much work doing a hog is so you've got my respect for tackling something like a steer. A couple of things that I bought that really helped out are a commercial meat grinder with a stuffing tube and a hand meat saw, but we still bone out most of the stuff we butcher also. The cooler probably weighs about 300#'s, it took me and my two sons to get it in the basement. It has to go through the door on its side so if you have a spot in the garage it would be easier. Our dog Cole tries to bury everything we give him for leftovers that is too big to eat on the spot, then drags it out when he gets hungry again. Makes for some interesting spring plowing.
I've always loved the harvest- guess it's the squirrel in me, stowing away the nuts for the winter.. with veggies and fruits it's good to see the jars stashed. With meat, it's more bloody, granted, but it's still an excellent survival skill. And the added benefit is that I KNOW what these guys eat, cuz I feed em. No mad cow leavings. It would be better if I raised my own grain.
Sometimes I feel like a total barbarian (and not that efficent a one at that)- or a throwback. But that's one thing I like about the forum. That's OK with you guys...there are people on here interested in making charcoal, small scale smelting of steel- all things that we are at risk of losing and should not forget how to do.
And the distillation of- well, you know- while not a legal skill for the unlicensed- is nonetheless a very important skill. It's right up there with knowing how to make gunpowder. Now what I want to know is- why do they lump tobaccy in with that 'ere group? 'Sotweed'- do they think it's that potent? Or just a major economic bone to fight over? lw
If most people nowadays couldn`t buy in A store they would starve. ;D
I`ve done our own beef.pork.chicken and turkeys.
I find the cooling is the biggest problem if you don`t have the equipment.
I have axcess to a drive in cooler used for apples kept at 34 degres that is ausome.Back the truck in and offload with a forklift and hang on some staging. ;D only downfall it`s seasonable. ::)
Beef i let hang for about 2 weeks quartered.
Pork I only let hang long enough to thoughly cool so its stiff enough to cut easy.Pork seems to be more work to clean.
By the time I set up the dip tank and get the watter up to temp,grind up the rosen.drop the hogs, dehair.clean. split in half and haul to the cooler.ect. I now find its easier to take them to the local slaughter house for 20 bucks each slaughtered cleaned and split.Bring them home in 3 days nice and cold and start cutting.About 20 min to cut a side.Get the hams. shoulders and bacon off and in the frig.cut and wrap the chops ,roast and spare ribs.Then its time to skin the hams and shoulders then haul them to the smokehouse.
Then its sausage time.I cut everythang into stew meat size and add seasonings.Mix well and let stand until All the sausage meat is ready.Coarse grind straight into links.Smoked sausage well then go into the cold smoker and the fresh sausage will age in the frig for about 4 or 5 days then wraped and frozen.
The smoked stuff I like to age in the frig for a couple weeks to age before its cut and wraped for the freezer.
I leave bone in until it comes off the bandsaw .debone after is much easyer.
Lenny
I`ll try to post some sausage recipes later
We raise hogs, chickens, ducks and an occasional turkey for the freezer. All these things could be bought from the grocery store but like LW said I feed them so I know what I'm eating. I skin our hogs instead of dipping, seems to be personal preference but I use the front end loader to peel the hides. I use the same method on deer, don't gut them, hang them by their hind legs tied off to the forks. Skin out the hind legs down to the tail and cut thu the tail bone, tie a rope to the loose hide and the other end to the ground. Lift the loader up and it peels the hide down to the head. Remove the head and gut them. I have found that gutting works better with the hind legs lifted up in the air. This doesn't work very well for anything you can't process quickly after the kill.
Sure would appeciate it if you get a chance to share your sausage making recipies, mine leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, I always skinned hogs as well. For cutting, I've used a hand meat saw, a sawzall (NOT recommended), and a bandsaw- but never had a meat bandsaw- just an old thing that was from NC surplus- tough to clean up afterwards. I THINK I remember using a chainsaw for some minimal backbone cuts, but only if it's bone only- I don't like to get into the meat with that 'ere power tool. Too messy. I think I stopped after the one cut and went back to the hand meat saw. I remember the first fella who taught me about hogs had some type of power saw (hand held) that he used- but I don't think it was a chainsaw per se. DanG if I can remember thought. That was about 16 or 18 years ago. lw
I have used both the old meat saws and a sawzall to split a hog, beef, or deer. I prefer the old saws as I generally have someone around that this is all new to and like to let them take a turn.
I like to see some spinal cord in both halves. Shows that ya know what yer doin.
8) 8) 8)
(Or are lucky)
I use an old board saw for ripping down the backbone.one with very little set.Until I get to the hogs head,Then its time for the battle axe ;D(sharp old brush axe)
Once the peices get small enough I got spoiled with the old butcherboy 8) Cleanup isn`t too bad as the saw comes apart easy, hook a hose up to hot watter and wash it down with antibacterial soap and watter.Hardest part is carrying it outside to clean.Been thinking about putting wheels on it. ;D
Lenny
Of all the things we process for ourselves the ducks are the worst. The more feathers you pluck the more that appear. I've tried dipping them in parafin but that's even messier.
I've thought about trying the Arkansas method of plucking but everytime I even think about it I get to laughing so hard it hurts.
When processing ducks we just skin them. Cuts way back on the amount of grease and feathers. To ccok them we just rub the meat with olive oil and spices then grill.