The Potting Shed

lloyd · 5 Star Club Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 2549

We recently butchered our pig with Debbie, ten months after adopting him.
This involved sitting around the kitchen table first deciding on cuts, and how to process the meat afterwards, then a trip into the village to the local butchers to start the process.
The shop was closed to the public in order that Chris the butcher could spend a couple of hours helping to guide me through the process.
Chris butchered the first half, sorting out the cuts, joints, chops etc that I fancied and then it was my turn!
A sixty two kilo pig takes quite a lot of butchering and physical effort!!
Once finished, we boxed him up and returned to Debbie's. Fortified with mead and local cider, we set to work, making sausages, chorizo, mincing meat, smoking sausages in Debbie's Bradley smoker etc. After quite a long and tiring day, we finally finished at around nine in the evening. Debs helped us load all the meat into insulated boxes with ice packs to keep it all fresh until we got home. Since then we have made various cured bacons, a 16 pound brined ham, pressed pork pies, salami's etc.

This has been a fantastic Christmas present, looked forward to for ten months, and which will last at least another year unless the freezer breaks down. We've had many weekend breaks to monitor the pigs development, and it culminated in a really enjoyable weekend. Nice one, Debs! (and CP for buying him!)

Pilsbury · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 12:52 pm Post subject:

Fantastic post and pics, that is certainly something I would love to do andf the fact you had a proffesinal butcher to help guide you through the first time is great.
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Bovey Belle · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:55 pm Post subject:

We have a whole deer to collect on 1st November. It's in two halves, so that's something. We shall then discover how much different they are to butchering hogget . . . Perhaps I should go and chat up our friendly butcher . . . Best way to learn.
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fish · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:35 pm Post subject:

if you mean hogget as in a lamb over 1 yearold then yes the butchery is pretty much the same!
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lloyd · 5 Star Club Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 2549

Here's today's progress: One brined ham ready for smoking, two slabs of bacon now dry cured and ready for slicing:

Bovey Belle · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:10 pm Post subject:

Yes I do fish - they be big b*ggers!
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lloyd · 5 Star Club Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 2549

The ham hs now been brined for tendays, and smoked overnight. What do I do next?...Should I cold press it now, or simply hang it in the loft for a year? Confused

Pilsbury · Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:08 pm Post subject:

let me know how that loft thing works cos that the only place i can think to hang mine when i get round to it but i think it might get to hot in the summer.
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