Slaughtering and butchering domestic pigs is not an easy task and requires certain skills and dexterity. An important point in this process is the bleeding of the mascara. The absence of blood improves the presentation and taste of meat.
Home slaughter of pigs
For those engaged in breeding pigs in the courtyard, it will not be superfluous to know how to cut a pig. More often the pig is slaughtered by cutting the neck. Sometimes they kill with a knife in the heart - in this case, you must immediately cut the carotid artery and jugular vein to drain the blood. Then the carcass is placed on a table or hung and the bristles are singed. This is done with a blowtorch or gas by connecting a torch to the cylinder. As the bristles burn, it is scraped off with a knife.
Having finished with this procedure, the carcass is "blackened" - the skin is completely burned to a dark brown color. Cover the pig with a rag soaked in warm water for a few minutes to soak the blackened layer. They scrape and wash the carcass white, thoroughly washing the head and legs.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to remove the skin. An incision is made around the head. Areas of skin near the genitals are excised. They begin to peel the skin from the hind legs towards the head, pulling the skin over with one hand, and carefully separate it from the bacon with a knife with the other. After removing the skin on one side, the pig is turned over. The removed skin is sprinkled with coarse salt, rolled up with bristles and left to salt.
How to butcher a pig
Having finished with the processing of the skin, they begin to butcher the pig. The carcass is turned over on its back, secured so that it does not fall: the head, legs are removed along the knee joint, the peritoneum is cut out and, after cutting the sternum, the insides are taken out: stomach, liver, intestines. Do this carefully, trying not to tear the intestines.
Following the insides, they take out the internal fat, separate the kidneys, put everything in a clean dish. The diaphragm is excised, and with it the heart and lungs. The gallbladder is removed from the liver, incisions are made in the heart, and the blood is washed. Leaver is suspended to drain blood. The contents are released from the large and small intestines, cleaned and washed - they are used to make homemade sausages.
Further, subcutaneous fat is removed by cutting it out with belts. It is divided into fat - a dense subcutaneous layer more than 2 cm thick and fat - a thin, up to 1.5 cm thick, soft layer of fat. The carcass is cut into parts in a certain order - first, it is cut along the spine, then it is divided according to the scheme:
- the legs are separated by the joints (shoulder blade and ham);
- brisket;
- neck;
- loin.
Experienced craftsmen cut the carcass along the joints and vertebrae only with a knife, without an ax.
In winter, the meat is stored in large chunks, hung on hooks. For storage in the refrigerator, deboning is done - the pulp is separated from the bones. At the scapula, the tendons are cut off, the pulp is cut off, and the piece itself is divided into the humerus and shoulder bones. The meat is cut from the neck in layers, the bone is divided along the vertebrae, the meat is removed from the ribs, the ribs are chopped. Pieces of pulp are cut from the loin along the vertebrae.
Pork is divided into first and second categories. The second includes: forearm (shank), tanks with a neck cut, shank, remaining carcass - first grade. The muscles of the upper half of the pig's body work less during life, so the meat from the shoulder blades and neck is considered the most tender and juicy and is used for chops or boiled pork.
