butchering....

Anyone doing their own butchering these days? When I lived on the farm we raised 2 pigs every year, one for us, and one for the neighbor, and we'd have a butchering party every fall. The first year the hogs grew a little larger than optimal, about 310 lbs...the best pork I ever tasted, of course I love fat and these guys filled the bill. My other neighbor had come over from Germany right after the war, WW2, and was a master butcher. His wife had a receipe for bratwurst that was the best I'd ever eaten, so we made lots of brats, as well as liver sausage. I sure do miss those times, as well as the meat.

That was another use for the hay fork ropes in the barn , to hang a beef or pig. I remember being at the farm and they would come and kill a steer and hang it in the hay barn if it was cold enough. If not they took it to the meat locker in town and would hang it there then my dad or grandfather went and got the halves home  then my dad cut it up and my mother and grandmother wrapped it up for the freezer. Pigs they did the same just took the hams to someone to smoke although I think grandfather smoked some. 

Just talking about this today. Even the folks still on the farm dont butcher like the old days. I am glad I have the skills and have butchered beef, hogs, chickens, and wild game. Lots of folks would have a hard time. if Walmart closed. As mentioned there just is no where to go. All the small butcher shops are gone. 

I butcher every winter. My brother raises cows if I want one I have to show up for butchering. About 20 years ago we put up a butcher building at moms farm. We butcher 4 or 5 cows usually in Jan. On weekends. We show up and cut up and grind a few quarters. The cooler will hold 10 quarters age them for 2 weeks at 38 deg and cut and grind.and package. A the half cow lasts me a year.

right now a butcher shop is making lots of $$$$, i'm sure the traveling ones are too. the fake news media now talking about farmers gonna hafta euthenize their livestock because the packing plants are shutting down. i still see a hundred or better bull racks going past my place thru the week. where are they going? local butcher shop is booked up til september at double the work. a friend is a pig grower, he's still pumping out thousands of pigs. 

My grandmother has 6 brothers, 5 of them made a living as butchers.  One of them still has a retail meat shop but no longer butchers, at 80 years old he still works 5 days a week along side his kids and grandkids at the shop.  His older brother at 88 is down to only working 2 days a week.   My dad said he helped as a kid but never learned the skill