Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game: Beef, Veal, Pork, Lamb, Poultry, Rabbit, Venison

by John J. Mettler

Overview

This guide takes the mystery out of butchering, covering everything you need to know to produce your own expert cuts of beef, venison, pork, lamb, poultry, and small game. John J. Mettler Jr. provides easy-to-follow instructions that walk you through every step of the slaughtering and butchering process, as well as plenty of advice on everything from how to dress game in a field to salting, smoking, and curing techniques. You’ll soon be enjoying the satisfyingly superior flavors that come with butchering your own meat. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780882663913
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	01/10/1986
Edition description:	1ST ED.
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	215,364
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

John J. Mettler, Jr., D.V.M., is a retired large-animal veterinarian in upstate New York and has written several books on animals, including Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game and Horse Sense. An avid sportsman, his appreciation of the noble turkey was the inspiration for his most recent book, Wild Turkeys. John has written on a broad range of veterinary topics for various magazines and has written a veterinary column for American Agriculturist for over 20 years. He has professional memberships that include the New York State Veterinary Medical Society (past chairman), the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the Society for Theriogenology, and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

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CHAPTER 1

TOOLS, EQUIPMENT, AND METHODS

A PROFESSIONAL BUTCHER, like a professional carpenter, has many specialized tools that make his work easier and help to make his finished job look better. This book is written for the do-it-yourself butcher who, like the do-it-yourself carpenter, wants to do a good serviceable job at the least cost. Special tools might make the finished product look better in the market and so sell better; but we are interested only in how it looks and tastes on your dinner table.

Some tools are necessary, some are unnecessary but handy to have, and some are optional. For example, for veal or venison you only need one good all-purpose knife, such as a hunting knife, and a light rope, but a meat saw makes things easier. If you don't have a meat saw, a carpenter's saw will do.

For beef you need at least a couple of knives, preferably a skinning knife, a butcher knife, and a boning knife. You also should have a meat saw, but the job is made a lot easier with the use of an electric meat saw to split the carcass. For beef you do need some sort of lifting device, such as a block and tackle or come-along; rope, pulley, and tractor; or a singletree. And you need a stunning hammer or gun and, of course, some good help.

Following is a list of equipment that is mentioned in the book. Where items are listed that you may not know by name, pictures or drawings are supplied (figure 1-1). Some items have more than one use, such as a curved skinning knife used to skin beef and to stick hogs. Still, both jobs can be done with something else, which is lucky because in the case of hogs, some of the butchering equipment is no longer made. For example, the double-edged sticking knife and the potash kettle are useful, but you'll only find them at an auction or antique shop. Many of the items listed, such as a tractor and scoop, are not essential, but if you have them handy, why not make use of them?

KNIVES AND ACCESSORIES

* Skinning knife

* Butcher knife

* Boning knife (several styles available)

* Cleaver

* Bell scraper (for hogs)

* Sharpening stone

* Steel

SAWS

* Hand meat saw

* Electric power meat saw (a similar saw made for wood is often used to split the backbone on beef)

* Electric band saw

LIFTING EQUIPMENT

* Block and tackle

* Come-along

* Ropes

* Gambrel stick

* Singletree

* Tractor and pulley

* Tractor and scoop

* Hog hook or hay hook

OTHER EQUIPMENT

* Axe

* Stunning hammer

* .22 single-shot rifle

* 55-gallon drum, potash kettle, or 95-gallon stock tank to hold water to scald hogs

* Meat grinder

* Sausage stuffer

* Pails

* Garden hose

* Crocks for brine for salting (pottery or stoneware, wooden barrels, or heavy plastic garbage cans)

* Floating thermometer

* Hydrometer

* Butcher string, freezer paper, and tape

SMOKEHOUSE

* Conventional, barrel, or small hobby size

More important than the variety of tools you have is how you use them. You can't do a good job of butchering without a sharp knife. Knives are sharpened on a stone at a 15- to 20-degree angle. Setting a sharpening stone in a frame made of ¼-inch wooden molding on a wooden workbench permits you to make full, even strokes from the heel of the knife to the point, and that allows even wear on the stone and on the knife. Most people can sharpen a knife on a Carborundum stone, or better yet use a Carborundum stone followed with an oilstone. Stones should be water or oil cooled to avoid heating the knife blade (thereby damaging the temper of the blade) and to float metal particles away from the blade. You can't get a really fine edge on a knife without the use of a steel, probably the most misunderstood and most necessary piece of equipment the butcher uses.

When a skilled professional butcher uses a steel, he touches the blade to the steel in a full stroke so lightly you can hardly hear the stroke. Slashing at the steel with a clatter, stroking so rapidly that the knife is a blur, is a sure sign of an amateur. To use a steel, hold it steady in one hand, and with the knife in the other stroke ever so gently from the heel of the knife at the point of the steel to the point of the knife, rubbing off at the base of the steel. Maintain the 15- to 20-degree angle of the blade to the steel as you did on the stone. Steeling lines up the microscopic teeth on the blade and straightens a wire edge; it maintains the sharpness of the knife. Once a knife is sharp enough to shave with, two or three strokes on each side after every few minutes of work are all that is needed.

Meat saws can usually be sharpened by the same person who sharpens your hand carpenter's saws.

When you are through using butcher equipment, clean it all well, spraying metal parts with light oil if necessary, and store everything in a dry place. When you're ready to butcher again, spend a short time checking over your equipment, and wash it with detergent and hot water. Germicides for slaughter and butcher equipment are available, but for home use nothing beats detergent and plenty of hot water for getting rid of grease and dirt.

General Guidelines

There are certain general observations that apply to slaughtering and butchering that are not necessary to repeat in the chapters dealing with specific animal species. For example, we can't influence the weather, but from experience you know when to expect the kind of weather you need for slaughtering. Keep weather in mind when you buy young pigs or as early as when you breed your ewes so as to have pigs or lambs ready for slaughter at the ideal time of year. Listen to long-range weather forecasts and pick a day to slaughter at the beginning of a period when daytime temperatures are 32°F to 40°F and nights go down to 25°F but not much lower.

In order to butcher, one must kill, but there is no need to be inhumane. The quality of the animal's life — that it has had sufficient food, clean shelter, and kind treatment from birth to death — is important; and death must come to all creatures at some time. The animal must be killed quickly, with little or no pain, but more important is that death comes without fear. To allow an animal to become frightened at slaughter is not only cruel, but unwise, for it causes the release of adrenaline, which some believe can affect the quality of the meat. Also, fear may cause the animal to struggle, doing damage to its meat or injuring the person slaughtering. Select the method of killing that will upset the animal's routine the least, thus avoiding fear, and select a method that is sudden, thus avoiding pain. Don't forget, however, that the heart must continue to pump briefly after death in order for the animal to bleed properly. Avoid sticking the heart of a pig, and don't delay cutting the throat of an animal that has been shot.

One home butcher told me, "The secret of good-tasting meat is clean hands." Wear gloves while butchering, and always have soap, water, and paper towels handy. A garden hose long enough to use to spray a carcass is an excellent sanitary aid.

Construct cutting tables to heights that are comfortable for you to work at in a place that is cool and airy yet not drafty.

When you are cutting skin, cut from the inside out, particularly on deer, to avoid loosening cut pieces of hair, which will give the meat a bad flavor.

If you don't have access to a walk-in cooler to chill fresh carcasses, a double-walled (insulated) room with sliding doors to the north to allow you to regulate temperature is the next-best thing. When the weather is warm, close the door during the day and open it at night; when it is cool, close at night and open during the day.

Federal law prohibits sale of beef, veal, lamb, and pork not slaughtered at facilities under federal or state inspection. Thus you or your family are the ultimate consumer of your meat and the sole judge of how good a job you have done. As you cut, trim, and pack, keep that in mind so that packages are the correct size and cuts are those that your family will enjoy most. If they like steak and stew better than roasts and hamburger, process the cuts accordingly.

Don't be afraid to improvise ways of cutting, tying, or preserving. Exchange ideas with other home butchers, listen to everyone, but do the job in the way that works best for you.

Aging Meat

The question of whether domestic or game meats should be aged has always been controversial. Because most people lack the proper facilities and because game meat is often ground for sausage, it seems impractical. If you choose to age meat, proper methods must be followed to avoid contamination.

The aging of meat is defined as the practice of holding carcasses or cuts of meat at 34°F to 40°F for 7 to 10 days. Aging allows the enzymes present in the meat to break down some of the complex proteins and may improve tenderness and flavor. Because wild birds and mammals forage for food, their muscles may develop more connective tissue than those of domestic animals, resulting in less tender meat.

The condition of an animal prior to slaughter has an overall effect on the quality of its meat. If an animal has run a long distance before being killed, it will have depleted its reserve glycogen stores. This may result in meat that is darker in color (a brownish red to a purplish black) and possibly sticky or gummy in texture. Meat from this animal will not undergo the desired change in pH (from 6.5 down to 5.6), which is the usual consequence of rigor mortis. At the higher pH value, the meat quality will decline because of bacterial growth.

The hide should remain on the carcass of a deer during aging to prevent excess loss of moisture but should be pulled off a domestic animal within 48 hours. Aging wild game that has been skinned often results in excessive weight loss, dehydration, and surface discoloration of the lean (muscle) tissue. The meat is also exposed and susceptible to deterioration by bacteria and mold growth.

Domestic animals may be aged with the hide off because, generally, the carcass is covered with fat that maintains moisture in the meat. If the game animal is young, the meat is naturally tender, and aging will not enhance its quality. If you slaughter a heavy-hided animal, such as bison, and the temperatures are a little warm, remove the hide before aging to encourage cooling and to prevent bacterial buildup.

Any meat that you plan to turn into sausage should be processed quickly to minimize bacterial growth and weight loss due to drying. Grinding is a mechanical tenderizing process, so aging is not necessary.

CHAPTER 2

BEEF

ONE MIGHT SAY that until you have butchered a veal or lamb you shouldn't tackle a full-grown beef animal. Still, if you can round up at least one good helper and preferably two or three, and if you have the courage to try, you can butcher a beef more easily than any other meat animal, on a pound-for-pound basis. If you have an experienced neighbor, you could be the helper when he butchers and then have him help you. Hands-on learning is the best way.

The Best Animal for Beef

Typically, beef animals (steers and heifers) are finished to market weight on a concentrate diet at age 14 to 18 months. Another option is to grass-finish a beef. Some people believe a heifer 30 to 150 days pregnant will make better beef than either a steer or an open (unbred) heifer.

A cow or bull at least 30 months of age and up to about 5 years old will make good beef if it has been confined to a stall and fattened for 60 to 90 days. Even after that the good quality of beef from certain individuals is amazing. A "short milker" (a cow that dries up too soon), pregnant about 90 days and fat, will make surprisingly good beef. In this hamburger age, some farmers find that butchering an old cow and grinding everything but the most-choice cuts is a good practice. However, don't grind beef until you've sampled a few cuts as roasts or steaks. I've seen cows as old as 11 years that made good beef after standing in the barn all winter taking on fat.

Unless they are beef bred, animals under 24 months old are usually half beef, half veal, and can be either tough or lacking flavor, or both. Figure 21 provides an overview of cattle anatomy.

Getting Ready

Unless you have a place to hang and age it, plan your beef butchering for late fall, late winter, or early spring. A clear day with temperatures in the low 40s is perfect. Confine the animal to a small, clean pen and withhold feed for 24 hours. Allow access to water. It takes days to really starve out a full-grown beef, but 24 hours without hay or grain will reduce some volume and weight when you are removing the viscera of your beef.

Before you start to butcher, get all your tools together and ready in the butchering area, which should be clean and swept free of dust, cobwebs, and hay overhead that could fall while you are butchering and hanging your beef. You will need at least one sharp butchering knife, a skinning knife, and an extra knife for each helper, with a steel and sharpening stone. For cutting up beef you will need at least one boning knife. A hand meat saw or electric power saw is handy, but a carpenter's saw can be substituted.

A stunning hammer or a gun is needed to kill the animal. Some people consider a .22 too small, but if properly used with long-rifle ammunition it is big enough. For lifting you will need a block and tackle, a come-along, or a rope and pulley and tractor to pull it. A heavy singletree is usually safer to use than a gambrel stick. A heavy 1?-inch pipe with a ring welded in the center to keep the lift from slipping sideways may also be used for a metal "gambrel stick." But unless the rear legs are wired or secured in some way, the carcass may slide off the pipe while you are splitting or quartering, which could cause serious personal injury or loss of the meat to spoilage.

You should have pails, soap, paper towels, and, if possible, a water hose with water left running a bit to keep it from freezing if the temperature is below 30°F. Containers for liver, heart, and sweetbreads, and a means of disposing of other insides should be ready ahead of time. String to tie the animal's anus, or bung, should be handy when you need it. Light ropes, an extra rope halter, and an axe should be available but may not be needed.

Killing and Skinning

When all is ready, shoot or stun the animal, not by a blow between the eyes but by striking above the eyes and just off center of the forehead. If you drew a line from each eye to the opposite horn, forming an X, the spot to aim for would be just beside where the lines crossed, as shown in figure 2-2. For shooting cattle a shotgun at 12 to 18 inches is deadly and less dangerous to people and other livestock than is a rifle or pistol. No matter how you kill the animal, be as humane as possible.

The animal's throat should be cut immediately after the animal is shot or stunned. Wearing rubber or surgical gloves, cut just behind the jaw (figure 23). Be sure to cut as deep as the bone to get not just the jugular vein but the carotid arteries as well. You can tell you've cut the arteries when you see and hear blood spurt.

If you have a tractor with a lift capable of safely picking up the animal, you can kill it right in the stall and then carry the dead animal by the hind legs to where you are going to butcher. A quiet animal, of course, may be led to the butchering area, or you can kill the animal and then drag it with a tractor or tackles to where you are going to butcher.

If you have done a good job of cutting both carotid arteries, the animal will bleed out well whether you hang it up or not. As soon as you are sure that the animal is dead, cut off the dewclaws of each rear leg and skin from there toward the body until you have uncovered the hocks (figure 2-4). Hook the hocks from a singletree through the gambrel space (figure 2-5). When the hocks have been carefully secured in the gambrel space, you may remove the legs at the location shown in figures 2-1 and 2-4. Use a saw if you can't find the exact joint. Be careful not to cut off the legs too close to the hock or the carcass may pull loose of the gambrel space and fall off the singletree. As you continue skinning, start to raise the animal with a block and tackle, heavy come-along, or pulley and rope pulled by a tractor. If you have a big enough tractor and small enough animal, a chain attached to the scoop of a tractor will do the job most easily.

Remove the skin as you lift, cutting the skin from the inside out where possible to avoid getting cut pieces of hair on the meat. Have warm water and paper towels nearby so you can wash and rinse your gloved hands as needed and before you touch any meat. It has been said that the secret to good-tasting meat is clean hands, so it will be worth the effort to take cleanliness seriously.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game"
by .
Copyright © 1986 Storey Publishing.
Excerpted by permission of Storey Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

The Law

1 TOOLS, EQUIPMENT, AND METHODS

2 BEEF

3 HOGS

4 VEAL

5 LAMB

6 VENISON

7 POULTRY

8 RABBITS AND SMALL GAME

9 LESS POPULAR MEATS

10 MEAT INSPECTION

11 PROCESSING AND PRESERVING

12 RECIPES

GLOSSARY

Table of Weights and Measures

INDEX

Editorial Reviews

"With this book in hand, you should be able to take just about any animal from pen to freezer."

"Provides clear, concise, and step-by-step information for people who want to slaughter their own meat."

From the Publisher

"Provides clear, concise, and step-by-step information for people who want to slaughter their own meat."

Mother Earth News

"With this book in hand, you should be able to take just about any animal from pen to freezer."

Countryside magazine