- Nov 24, 2010
- 3
- 10
Hey people, Thomas and family here. As you might think from the screen name, yes we live in a cabin in Ohio LOL. We build a new home 5 years ago with the intent of doing a little homesteading. We have our own laying hens, raise a few hogs each year, along with doing a lot of canning and freezing. Fenced in a little over 1.5 acres this fall for a spring calf. I have helped aunts & uncles butcher over the years. I never was around when the cured or when the smoking took place, so I have been doing a lot of reading. This is the third year we raised hogs. Three the first year, all weighted around 245#. Last year Nine was raised, one for a roast at 150#, with the other butchered at 225-250#. Each of those years we took them in, and I have to say very disappointed, will explain that at later time. Just really a poor job. This year we did everything from start to finish. We got four feeders on April 19 at 45# and a total of 800#s of feed per pig, they ran out of food and time on Oct. 14th. 8 o'clock am Oct 16 we started the butchering, Working with one hog at a time it took 2 days to have the fresh in the freezer and the bacon curing (TQ) and the soon to be hams in the brine. Well all the fresh turned out great, I think the sausage is the best I have ever had. Seasoned only with salt, pepper, sage, and a small amount of red pepper. It makes great gravy. The bacon with the TQ, W/sugar, B/sugar and Course black pepper & 12 hours of cold smoke at 77-80 degrees in the smokehouse with hickory and wild apple that we cut right here on our property has a wonderful flavor. Eggs over easy, fried taters w/onions, and bacon just make the start to any day that much better. Well I pulled the hams from the brine ((#1 cure, salt, w/sugar, b/sugar, little "real maple syrup") & some with (#1 cure, salt w/sugar)) Sun. and washed them well and air dried them. They went in to the smokehouse today 4pm. I will smoke them till they hit 140ish, again using hickory and wild apple. They will be sliced as ham steaks for breakfast & dinner or even grilled. A little about the smokehouse: we have a saw mill around from us, I had hickory cut 2x4s and white oak rough cut 1" thick. We built the house 4'x8' with a 7' ceiling which worked out great so far. I am using a box stove coming in low on the back north-west side, with my vent on the upper south-east side to get a full cross ventilation. I have found it very easy to control the temp so far. I have a few Amish friends that have said it as fancy as a four door buggy, lol. A couple of them are trying to figure out how to put wheels on it so they can use it. Well I have to go check out the fire & smoke. Hope to talk and meet some of you here on the board sometime. Anyone close by, shoot me an e-mail. Oh ya I have pics......but there on my new droid X and I have no clue how to works it yet. Later Thomas