communications from tundra land

[L. Wakefield]

   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

[Lenny]

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

[Norm]

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.

[L. Wakefield]

   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

[Haytrader]

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)

[Lenny]

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

[Norm]

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.

[OneWithWood]

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.