So, I just bought a 275# pig for $100 bucks.

[kit s]

What kind of hog?
50¢ / pound is really good. (I'm giving 1/3 loss to discard)
My 2¢
Prepare hot water.
Kill.
A soak in the hot tub to scald the skin.
Hang to bleed as you scrape. It really doesn't take as much effort to scrape a hog as they whined about in the video you posted.
2 people can scrape and wash a scalded hog in 10 minutes.

Have fun. Wish I could join you. My Saturday forecast is -26°F low and -9°F high

If you have or a friend has a steam cleaner...t is great for scraping...no dipping...just scrape as you wash..walla...

 

[daveomak]

https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/lsddhps.pdf

That pig shoulda cost you near $180 +.... show pigs are very well fed.....
You fell into it again and came up rosey !!!

 

[indaswamp]

https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/lsddhps.pdf

That pig shoulda cost you near $180 +.... show pigs are very well fed.....
You fell into it again and came up rosey !!!

How do you interpret that page Dave to get that price?

And yes, the pig has been very well fed. Been eating protein pellets and green kitchen waste up to the show. Has been on corn since the show. Not the best feed for salami fat production, but it'll eat for everything else.

 

[daveomak]

DAILY DIRECT HOGS PLANT DELIVERED as of 1:30 PM ...Carcass price.... live price.....

That's based on 100# basis..

 

[indaswamp]

DAILY DIRECT HOGS PLANT DELIVERED as of 1:30 PM ...Carcass price.... live price.....

That's based on 100# basis..

Gotcha...thanks Dave.

 

[forktender]

I'd have snatched it up quicker than spit nice score.

By a bandsaw with a meat blade if you don't have access to one a cheapo Harbor Freight with the lifetime warranty would be my choice.

 

[bill1]

.... show pigs are very well fed.....

Exactly. This is going to be some great-tasting pork no matter the breed!
Just hope things aren't too bad for the seller. Selling off your herd at a potential loss just so you can buy piglets to do the same thing again in 6-12 months sounds like a recipe for financial disaster.

 

[daveomak]

I was told grey with a white belly... Not real sure what breed and don't really care for the price. They were raised for show hogs, did not make the cut at the show this past Saturday and Grandpa is culling them for the cost of new piglets.

It's a good lesson for the kids, the pigs not making the cut... Next year they will have to do better... Whether it's select better stock or feed different chow... Either way, it's a valuable learning experience.... Failure is the best learning tool their is...

 

[bill1]

...It's a good lesson for the kids, the pigs not making the cut...

Good point Dave...I might have overlooked that the "seller" here could have been kids in a 4H or Future FarmersOA club. Kids are definitely "allowed" to make a few unwise financial decisions! Giving up is the exact last thing you want to teach kids.

Thanks for opening up to me a whole new way of looking at this!

 

[Fueling Around]

Thanks daveomak for your info.

"Show" food animals are raised for 3 separate judging categories.
1. live only
2. live and slaughter
3. slaughter only

Outer and inner beauty is the eye of the butcher?

 

[indaswamp]

Both pigs are Hamshire hogs...not Berkshire.

(Stock photo, not the pigs we are buying)


https://www.roysfarm.com/hampshire-pig/

 

[indaswamp]

Butcher day tomorrow....starting early, 5:30am we meet up. I'll take some pics.....

 

[Fueling Around]

And a good day it will be.
Hope you have lots of help.
Processing in the commercial kitchen?

 

[indaswamp]

And a good day it will be.
Hope you have lots of help.
Processing in the commercial kitchen?

Will be four of us butchering 2 hogs. Will not be in the commercial kitchen I have access to...we are doing it At a guys house, but from what I'm told he is set up to do it. I'll find out in the morning...

And with that, I'm gone to bed....long day tomorrow.

 

[indaswamp]

Long day indeed...
I got about 130-140 lbs. of meat. Not bad for $100 bucks. We horse traded between each other, he wanted more ham and loin for chops, I wanted more bacon, butts, and coppas...we are both happy. I kept one ham, he kept one butt, I got all 4 coppas, 3 butts, and all 4 bacon sides. He kept 3 loins, I kept 1.

I will be processing and curing meats tomorrow, putting 25# of bacon to cure, trussing and curing a culatello, fiocco, and a lomo, and breaking down the rest of the parts and sausage trim.

I also have both livers, hearts, and all the flair fat for lard, which will be use to make the sugna for the culatello and fiocco.

Few pics.

We got them split then took a break for lunch. Air temp. was 37*F so we let them hang a bit to chill before breaking down. Tractor definitely made it easy, and a cordless sawsall with a 12" blade made splitting a breeze!

For lunch I pulled out some of P PolishDeli 's Lemon brats... put those on the grill to heat up, then on a bun. Damn fine lunch!

I'll post more pics. tomorrow of the cuts...but boy are they pretty! These Hamshire hogs were too heavy...too much fat on them..that is why they did not make the cut at the show, but it just made them better for what we wanted! 2" fat cap on them.

 

[indaswamp]

I had all rookies with me today. They did not want to burn or scrape so we skinned. I broke down all the cuts, butchered the Italian way, cut the shoulders between the 5th and 6th rib; got the full coppa cut. They learned how to do it, now they can butcher a pig if they ever need to....

 

[Fueling Around]

Thanks for the update.

Nice job. Appears you did most of the work, plus you had to feed them?

You got some great cuts.

 

[indaswamp]

Didn't have to feed them, but I needed to make some room inda freezer! HA! LOL!

 

[indaswamp]

I also kept both livers (about3-4# each) for boudin, and both hearts too...I'll put those in smoke sausage.

 

[jmusser]

That is a big process there Inda. Great deal and lotsa fun to have furthering the process. Sounds like an awesome game plan going on. Gonna be busy for a bit. Thanks for sharing!