# Hog killin at Thanksgiving.



## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

That was the time everybody killed. Probably cause the weather was favorable and more folks were able to do it then. It was an affair. Neighbors would choose a farm where a scalding tub was handy and already down. And only needed to be fired. They would kill their hogs and bringem in that morning. It was a big event, but backbreaking work. The old timers didn't consider a hog was ready til it got to 400# or better. An all day job. Hogs were hung and cooled and blocked out to lay overnight and cool enough so they could be trimmed up. All the trimmings were carried to the house for the canning and sausage making to start, The rest was then salted down. Hams, shoulders, middlins and fatback were salted. Anything with lean on it was trimmed off and went into the sausage. There was a reason that. Any lean would discolor the lard, plus you lost sausage by not trimming close. Thanksgiving evening meal meal generally consisted of fresh backbone,beans and biscuits, fresh pork shoulder and a washing tub of brown gravy and pan fried apples. with plenty of country butter and molasses and honey, plus any type of perserves you could name. Along with a baked chicken or 6. More later.


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## Orest (Jul 28, 2003)

*My sister-in-law husband family*

would do that everything year around Thanksgiving. They would process 4 or 5 hogs.

One of the uncles would make sausage out of the whole hog. He would eat sausage for the next year, until they did it again. He is still alive, got to be in his high 80's and he has outlived most of his brothers.


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## WV Cobbmullet (Dec 2, 2008)

Damm WD yous is maken me hungry. I broke up the cutten process one evening when I was alittle tyke [a couple a days ago] while the adults were busy cutten up the hog I was busy stuffing peanuts up my nose, nose swelled shut had to be took to the Dr. Never said I was smart just alot of FUN.


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## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

*Yep*

Did that for years. Was an all day job starting around 3am start the fire so the water was rolling by sun up and once the first hog went down it was game on till around 1pm or so depending how many hogs went down. Hadnt thought about those days in a while thanks WD


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Nose*

The peanut in the nose brings back memories. When I was young we would go to grandmaws to pick black berries. Hell we walked around all day picking black berries for the whole family (grandmaw, grandpaw and their 8 kids plus grand kids). Grandpaw had emphazema so he rode the tractor and pulled everyone on a trailer. He would take us kids fishing while the other picked black berries on occasion.

Well, this Saturday he didn't. We followed the adults around with our buckets eating more than we put in the bucket. Well I smelled one of those berries and it smelled good. So I stuck it up my nose. When I tried to get it out it woudl not come. THe juice ran out my nose and my parents thought it was blood for a second because I was crying like crazy because I could not get it out and I got scared.

Well, they tried and tried and tried. It got so far up in there tweezers would not reach it. They hauled me up to the ER. The Doctor laughed and the nurses held me down. I freaked. That black berry shot out of my nose half way across the room. I got my ass chewed for sticking stuff up my nose.

My sis-in-law rolled up a pixie stick paper and shoved it up her nose when she was small. She did not tell anyone. About a month later her breath started to stink. Her mama took her to the Dr. The Dr pulled out a month old pixie stick paper that was starting to decompose in her nose. Her breath quit stinking immediately. She still catches hell about that. Years later her daughter stuck a mini M&M up her nose. We held her down and and finally got it out. A week or so later the same girl stuck a piece of unpopped popcorn up her nose. By the time anyone noticed it it was swelled up too big to get out. The Dr had to dig it out.

Back to killing hogs. It is hard to kill hogs like they used to around here. Can't cure meat without a cooler. In recent years it has not been consistently cold enough. We have had mild winters with cold spells. This winter is a little different. One of the coldest Decembers on record. One of the only guys that still made fresh sausage died a couple of years ago. We now get fresh sausage from a old timer we go to church with that buys it down east when he goes to pick-up cows. Pretty good sausage.

Darin


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## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

I do miss the fresh sausage, that was some goooood sh%^^&t. Other thing I miss is farm fresh eggs, the eggs they sell in the stores around hear are junk.


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## WV Cobbmullet (Dec 2, 2008)

Ive done the scraping thing but did ya ever skin a hog? Really easy but has to be the uglest thing I ever saw with all that fat no smooth way to do it looks like ya blowed the hide off with a grenade.


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Eggs*

I have my own hens. Been eating fresh eggs for a few years now.
They cost more than store bought eggs but they are sooooo much better. And I sell eggs to to people I work with to pay for the feed. You would not believe what people are paying at the farmer's market for free range and organic eggs. $4-5 a dozen. I sell mine for $2.00 a dozen for brown eggs and people beg for them.

Also, raise a few cornish cross chickens for the freezer each Spring. Best chicken you will ever eat. They cost more to raise but 10lb chickens are hard to find in the grocery store and my chicken taste way better than those in the grocery store and only cost a few cents more per pound to raise. Cleaning is a pain in the ass but worth it. 

Thinking about raising up some cornish hens for the smoker to. Got to look into the cost for the chicks.

Darin


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## Shooter (Nov 14, 2004)

I remember one hog killen I went to, like ya said a few of the farmers got together and brought the ones they were gonna do in.

It offically got started by the one OOOLLLDDD feller taken one of the smaller hogs and hooken the dog leash to the ring in it's nose, he then let it calm down and wacked it right between the eyes with a big ol mallet.(Side note here: they said ya don't shoot them in the head cause that would ruin the brains for eaten) All 4 legs went straight out and the hog was in bye bye land. They then talked a young feller into do'n the same trick, well they picked out a big ol hog for the guy,,, things didn't go quite as smooth, when the young feller wacked the hog the hog took offence then the hog took off across the yard. One small problem, the young fellers hand was stuck in the loop of the dog leash 
After a few short moments to us anyway, he said it had to be 5 minutes of pure hail he come marching back across the yard headed to his truck. They asked where he was goen he replyed "I am gettn my gun and gonna shoot that damn hog and yall might be next" 

Most folks see'n a hog killen for the first time might give up bacon and sauage :--|


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*Friday- Day 2.*

Today was generally busier than Thursday. The men went to the meathouse and started trimming the hams, shoulders, middlins and anythimg that needed it before salting. This was brought to the cabin where the women took over. Dad had bought an electric grinder so the sausage grinding was a snap. All the trimmins were then double ground, weighed and seasoning put in. That was the youngens jod. To mix this by hand. 4 or 5 chaps would get around the washing tub and have at it. If you was old enough to have hair on your arms, you was out of the mixin and give a water bucket to shag. All the sow belly was brought in to be skinned and used in sausage or lard. All under Grannys close supervision. You mought wonder where all this help came from. A little background is due now. Granny was born in 1866, had 9 children and at her death in "53", she had 28 grand children and 32 great grand children. Help was not a problem. And yes, we had running water. Down under a huge scyamore at the bottom of the hill which had to be 1/4 mile away or so it seemed then. Youngens run water up that hill all weekend. The immediate job was to make the sausage and render the lard so everything could be canned. Loin included. I'll dig that recipe up and post it when I find it. Canning next.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*Sausage recipe.*

10 # of meat.
3 tbsp salt
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp rubbed sage[fresh]

The mixture, at least when I make it is at least 3# of fat to 7# of lean. Depends on how lean you want it. But, while lean sausage might be healthy it ain't worth a damned to eat, and won't have enough grease to fry an egg or make gravy. If you want to eat healthy and live forever, eat some turkey sausage. Most folks have never eaten country sausage, since McDonalds and Hardees don't sell it. The how to when I get a chance, along with the different methods of puttin it up.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*The 3 ways we did it was*

1---Groud meat was packed in jars, lids and rings and put in a tub for cooking[hotwater bath method].
2--- Patted out into cakes and put in skillets, cookie sheets, baking pans, anything that would hold the grease, and fried. Then packed into jars with hot boiling grease poured in to cover. Then lids and rings and set aside to seal and cool.
3---Fried as in #2 and then packed in a crock, 1 layer at a time and grease poured over to cover that layer. Then another and another til crock was full.


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## WV Cobbmullet (Dec 2, 2008)

wdbrand said:


> 10 # of meat.
> 3 tbsp salt
> 2 tbsp black pepper
> 2 tbsp rubbed sage[fresh]
> ...


Its a poor piece of meat that wont fry its self, except deer.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*I've left out*

a main part of every hog killin. There was always an old timer present who was brought on killin day. He came in his overall jacket and bibs and every pocket was full of whetstones. His job was to sharpen knives, which he did Thurs, and Friday. Saying was, the quickest way to cut yourself was with a dull knife. He got his winters meat for the job he did.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

There were farmers that sold a piglet for $100, you paid $20-$60 a month for 5 months to feed it, than $100 for the slaughter. He had a micro brewery and fed the leavings to the hogs($60). Got #300+ worth of good meat. Dear lean and hog fat make the best sauasage/meat stick/jerky. This was when I was in MI. My B in law had chickens that laid "easter eggs". Blue,brown, pink,etc. Everyone one tasted different. Some were huge. These "LARGE" eggs would not have been a "MEDIUM" 30 years ago.


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## WV Cobbmullet (Dec 2, 2008)

rattler said:


> There were farmers that sold a piglet for $100, you paid $20-$60 a month for 5 months to feed it, than $100 for the slaughter. He had a micro brewery and fed the leavings to the hogs($60). Got #300+ worth of good meat. Dear lean and hog fat make the best sauasage/meat stick/jerky. This was when I was in MI. My B in law had chickens that laid "easter eggs". Blue,brown, pink,etc. Everyone one tasted different. Some were huge. These "LARGE" eggs would not have been a "MEDIUM" 30 years ago.


Dont want to talk chickens dad raised fryers and sold eggs cant tell ya how many eggs Ive candled. For those that dont know what candeling is you had a box with a hole just smaller than the egg with a lit candel inside you put the egg up to the hole with the light shineing thru the egg you could tell if it had a chick inside.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*Bacon,*

was treated like all meat. It was salted. I can't recall how long it was left in salt except for what was canned. That was broke out after 3/4 days and brought into the cabin. It was then sliced longways in 3" to 4" strips, with the grain. Was skinned, sliced into 1/4" pieces cross grain. Then coated with flour and fried like the sausage. Was packed into jars and boiling hot grease poured ovet it to seal. Only the leanest and smallest sides were used for this. At some point in time[how long, again I don't recollect] the middlins were taken up and cleaned off and rubbed with black and red pepper and hung. Never remember any smokin tho.


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## GreenFord (Apr 11, 2009)

I guy I worked with years ago was from the hills of Arkansas. They would kill a couple of hogs every year around now. They would take some and cure some of the best hams I ever had. One year at Christmas he had a drawing for us and I won a ham. Wow that thing was the best I ever had!


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## WV Cobbmullet (Dec 2, 2008)

Dont stop now WD Id like to get into the ham curen.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*First chance I get*

I'll put that up.


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## runincode (Apr 23, 2010)

When I was a kid I used to help my Grandpa kill and process hogs every Thanksgiving. I remember him going in the hog lot with a sawed off 22cal short in one hand and a sticking knife in the other, he would shoot the hog in the head and it seemed like before it hit the ground he would have it stuck. Then we would drag it out with a tractor to a 55gal barrel of scalding water, come along it up on tripods and dip it in the water. Then the crappy part come of scrapping the damn thing, man I hated that smell!! We would then gut it and seemed like he would save damn near everything that came out of that hog! It was a lot of work, but I sure liked those slabs of cure beacon and hams.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*Runnin,*

the saying was, nothing was wasted but the squeal.


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

I want to see some pictures. 

@WD: I'm coming up the mountains to visit you one of these days. If you don't mind an open heart empty stomach asian up in your mountains.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*Love to have you.*

We should be able to find a hole to fish in and somethin to fill your gut. Mought be mounteen vittles tho.


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## runincode (Apr 23, 2010)

wdbrand said:


> the saying was, nothing was wasted but the squeal.


Yep! lol


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

Hams have been down for 6 weeks now. Time to breakem out and get on with the curing. There are many methods to cure hams, but I'm familiar with only 2 or 3, so I'll limit this too those ways. First method will be how it was done in Franklin Co., Va. where my dad was from. The hams were cleaned off, scrubbed and dried. They were then rubbed down with black and red pepper along with borax. Then hung hock end down after putting in a pillow case or cloth feed bag, and called done til time to eatem. Usually 6 months or so. And they were salty. 
The second cure came from Grayson Co. Va., from my moms folks and the method I settled on. Same deal, breakem outta salt and wash and scrub well. They were then coated with old molasses, completely. Then into a box full of black and red pepper and not so much as a fly speck was missed when coating. Then wrapped in brown paper, tied tight and placed in a cloth sack and hung hock down from the rafters in the meathouse. Have also seen Mortons sugar cure used and have tried it, but always went back to the molasses cure. Ab-so-by-god-lutely the best ham I've ever eaten.


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## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

wdbrand said:


> We should be able to find a hole to fish in and somethin to fill your gut. Mought be mounteen vittles tho.


If Teo brings out some of that noodle soup be sure to have something to wash it down with.


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## YakAttack (Aug 8, 2006)

GREAT thread WD. Just read it from the beginning. I was raised and still live "in the country". While a lot of those traditions died with my grandfather many years ago, they were some wonderful memories. Your post brought a lot of those memories back to life.

My grandfather raised melons, a little tobacco, and made sorghum molasses. His farm was called "Blue Gene's Molasses Farm". With a third grade education he designed the grinding machine, storage tanks, buildings, and cooking pans. My dad told me Grandaddy would lay on the couch planning it all in his head during the winter and once things started to thaw he and his boys would work long hard days bringing those plans to life.

By the time I came along his kids were grown and doing their own thing. My grandparents kept the farm going with the help of a few grandkids, my brother and I included, that trekked through the woods and across the creek (literally) on a regular basis.

I wish I had paid more attention to him and the things he talked about. I remember him always telling us little pieces of wisdom, how much the world had changed, how important traditions are, and how the traditions were dying. He was the one who introduced me to fishing, and who took me when I was young and always aching to go. He once told me on the bank of the Appomattox River fishing for what we called flatback in January that this was his Church. He said you could see God's work all around us. 

My dad just gave me an old fishing rod / reel that belonged to my grandfather a few days ago. I'll be restoring that soon. I'm going to take my time with it.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread but boy this topic got the memories going. Wanted to share a few of them...


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

*Thank Yak,*

for your post. Great read. If somebody don't keep it going, one day there won't be ANYBODY that knows, much less cares.


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