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PHILIP HASHEIDER
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to my grandfather, Herbert Hasheider, who fi rst exposed me
to the butchering process and taught me the basics at a very young age.
He made the best dried beef I’ve ever tasted.
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Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Chapter 1 MUSCLES ARE MEAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2 KNIVES AND OTHER EQUIPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Chapter 3 BEEF, BISON, AND VEAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 4 SHEEP, LAMBS, AND GOATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Chapter 5 PORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Chapter 6 POULTRY AND OTHER FOWL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Chapter 7 VENISON, MOOSE, ELK, AND BIG GAME . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Chapter 8 RABBITS, OTHER SMALL GAME, AND FISH . . . . . . . . . 162
Chapter 9 MEAT BYPRODUCTS AND FOOD PRESERVATION . . . . . . . 186
Chapter 10 MEAT CURING AND SMOKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Chapter 11 SAUSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Chapter 12 BUILDING A BUTCHERY BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
METRIC EQUIVALENTS AND CONVERSION. . . . . . . . . . 251
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INDEX 252
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 256
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It does not require owning a large acreage to raise meat animals. Small pastures of one to two acres would be
suffi cient to raise several meat goats or sheep for home use.
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INTRODUCTION
•
T
he vast majority of people today no long-
er hunts for their food or have the oppor-
tunity to do so. The long arc of human
civilization across the millennia has seen the
transformation of hunter-gatherer societies
into ones where consumers routinely purchase
their daily meals at supermarkets, restaurants,
convenience stores, and a host of other venues
where the food, or many of the ingredients, are
prepared off-site.
Agriculture, the basis for all domesticated food production,
reaches back at least 10,000 years. But in more recent times,
industrialization models have been applied to animal agricul-
ture practices with the result that more total food is produced
by fewer people than at any time in history. The hunter-gatherer
model in present terms may mostly include hunting and gath-
ering in market aisles or at farmer’s market stalls, the desire to
provide top quality food for the family table. Interest in butcher-
ing and processing meat for family use has increased in recent
years. This interest may be partly attributed to the numerous
broadcast channels highlighting cooking and culinary topics,
popular chefs, and food promoters. Equipment that is easy to use
and maintain makes do-it-yourself food processing attainable
77 •
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8 Introduction
ensure adequate nutrition for the hunters in
order to maintain their strength and stamina
for future hunts.
As human civilization evolved, com-
munity participation was an integral part
of its development. Shared concerns helped
bind them together as did marriages within
groups. This cohesiveness encouraged the
sharing of diffi cult tasks that were made
easier with the help of many hands. These
included planting, harvesting, and butcher-
ing, among others.
A major change in each individual’s
participation in gathering food occurred
during the Industrial Revolution, as people
Historically, home butchering was done in the fall of the year
left farms and rural areas for cities in search
when the weather was cooler. This decreased the chance for
meat spoilage before the era of modern refrigeration. Today, of better-paying jobs. Many urban areas or
with proper care of the meat, home butchering can occur at cities restricted the raising of animals within
any time during the year.
their boundaries due to potential health
issues and animal-borne illness that could
and has captured the imagination of even be transferred to humans.
the most inexperienced food aspirant. The With an inability to raise their own
opportunities are available to accomplish a livestock, urban dwellers needed markets to
safe harvest, fabrication, and food preserva- secure their food, particularly meat markets
tion program of your own. where they could purchase meat cuts and
sausages. This led to the rise in the number
Society Evolution of butcher shops and local meat markets,
For our hunter-gatherer ancestors, a suc- which could offer special products based on
cessful hunt, in which their prey were killed family or heritage recipes. As time passed,
and subsequently eaten, was a matter of more consumers became disconnected from
survival; with no success, there was little the farms and livestock their parents or
or nothing to eat. The development of small grandparents had known so well.
tribes or clans into cohesive units may have
been as much for banding together for hunt- Diet Evolution
ing purposes as it was for group protection Our distant ancestors often hunted wild
and socializing. The more members who game that was available, and this typically
became involved with the hunt, the greater included small game, such as birds and
their chances for success. To keep all members fowl, rodents, turtles, rabbits, and anything
satisfi ed, distribution of the captured prey or else that might have wandered across their
food was determined by the group in a man- paths. Some large animals that were hun-
ner that was fair and equitable. Food would ted often included bison, deer, bear, moose,
need to be shared in suffi cient quantities to and elk.
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Introduction 9
Over time, as the nation’s population Lamb/Goat 5.3%
Turkey 2.2%
changed and migrated to urban areas, their
diet subsequently changed as well. Today, a
large percent of the typical diet in the United
States uses four basic groups of animals for
Beef 23.1%
the majority of its meat: cattle, sheep, pigs,
and domestic fowl. The vast majority of con-
Pork 42.6%
sumers rarely eat any other kind of animal,
especially some that we now label as exotics
Broiler 26.8%
but may have been normal food fare for our
ancestors (squirrels, rabbits, frogs, snakes,
turtles, or other small animals).
Butchering Evolution
Butchering of the animals at the end of a
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in 2005 that
successful hunt became a family and com-
43 percent of the meat consumed in the United States was
munity activity as group members hurried pork. Ninety-fi ve percent of the total meat consumed that
to deconstruct the carcass before it had a year came from either pork, beef, or poultry. The chart above
represents the percentages in tons consumed.
chance to spoil. It took a tremendous amount
of effort to handle a large animal, such as a
buffalo, moose, or bear; kill and dress it; and Great signifi cance was assigned to the
then break down the carcass into manage- butchering of domestic animals for home
able portions that could be successfully dried consumption. Selection of which animal(s)
and transported. It took several strong mem- to use was an important decision. These
bers of the group to do a proper job of it. The were animals that were often regarded as
meat had to be preserved. Before refrigera- individuals, each with his or her own unique
tion, this was accomplished through a vari- characteristics. The decision to use a par-
ety of methods, including smoking, packing ticular animal was not taken lightly.
in lard, and, later, through canning. As the generations passed and fewer
Fall was typically when the family butch- people remained on farms, the knowledge
ering was done. The weather was cooler, of butchering procedures and principles
which made working with the carcass easier became fractured, and in many families, this
and helped keep it from spoiling as quickly as knowledge became lost. This loss may have
it may have in warmer weather. It was also a been voluntary because of a lack of inter-
time when less farm work needed to be done est or the desire to pursue butchering in an
after the crops were harvested. Butchering urban environment, no longer wanting to
also could be used as a communal or family contend with the mess, not having access to
social event, where members of an extended an animal or equipment, or for a variety of
family or neighbors gathered as they worked other reasons. Without teaching the proce-
to provide food for the coming winter. It was dures and practices of butchering to the next
often a time of thankful harvest for the crops, generation, these skills remained dormant
the animals, and the community as a whole. or nonexistent.
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