When pigs reach the desired size, their owners have a serious job to process an adult animal for meat. However, not many people decide to do this on their own, since slaughtering and cutting a pig is a rather long and laborious process.
It requires a considerable amount of physical strength, skill and basic knowledge on processing and cutting carcasses from a butcher-chopper. If the first two points are available, then this article will tell you in detail what the cutting of a domestic pig is and how to get beautiful and juicy meat.
Preparing for slaughter and cutting a pig
Preliminary preparation of a pig is a necessary stage before slaughter. By observing a few simple rules in advance and preparing the animal, the slaughter can be carried out without any difficulties, as well as add the piquant properties of animal meat in a natural way.
Slaughter and cutting of pigs must be carried out in compliance with the following rules:
- If you do not have a large freezer at home, then you should cut the pig in the autumn-winter period. Thus, the meat can be stored longer on the street.
- The approximate weight at which it is recommended to cut "pig" is 110 kg and above. The percentage of pure product (pure meat) at this weight is 70%.
- Some livestock farmers feed a pig 0.5 kg of sugar a few days before slaughter. When this product is added to the diet of an animal, the meat becomes more juicy and tender.
- Before slaughter, a pig should not be fed for a day. So it will be easier to lure her out of the barn with the help of goodies. Also, after the pig’s intestines are cleansed, the quality of the meat will improve.
- A few hours before slaughter should be removed and drink.
- Show the pig to the veterinarian before slaughter. If you sell the resulting meat, you will be given a certificate of the inspection. If you inject a piglet for yourself, then you can not go to the veterinarian.
- If the pig was kept in a groomed barn, then it should be redeemed.
- Prepare blood collection containers in advance.
- Choose a place to kill. It must be such that the pig cannot escape.
- You won’t be able to deal with the animal alone, so find an assistant in advance.
After you lure the pig from the barn, you do not need to shout at it. Talk to her gently and courteously so that she does not worry and does not rush from corner to corner. And also it will save the animal from unnecessary torment.
Preliminary preparation before cutting
When a ready-made carcass lies in front of you, the question arises of what to do next. You are already aware of the basic rules of behavior during slaughter, now we will touch on recommendations for processing carcasses.
Butchering a pig will be successful if you follow the following tips from professionals:
- For your convenience, find a hook on which you can hang the carcass.
- Before cutting, all blood should be released from the animal to get high-quality and beautiful meat.
- After you have hung the animal, wash it or wipe it with a wet rag. You don’t need to wash inside, otherwise the meat may deteriorate.
- The skin is not removed from the carcass. Prepare a gas burner to scorch the pig. The resulting burnout must be cleaned with a knife.
Set of necessary tools
It is worth taking care of the tools you need in advance, so that in case of which you do not have to run to your neighbors. Slaughtering and cutting pigs at home requires speed, so all the necessary accessories should be at your fingertips. Minimum set of tools for slaughtering a pig:
- Desktop.
- Hook.
- Capacities for collecting blood.
- The device for slaughter. Most often this is a knife.
- Gas-burner.
- Thick ropes.
- Sledgehammer.
Slaughter a pig with a knife
The preparation stage has been completed, now you can proceed directly to the slaughter. First you need to lure the pig from the barn. No need to shout at him, kick or hit with a stick. Given that at the time of slaughter the pig will be hungry, you can lure it with the help of goodies. It could be anything. Bread, vegetables, fruits - absolutely everything will do.
If the pig does not go to your tricks, then you need to put on him a dense bag on his head and bring him back.
Beginners in this case should first stun the animal. To do this, you can use a sledgehammer or a stun gun. If you use a sledgehammer, then the blow must be applied to the frontal part of the head. Without stunning the animal, you may incorrectly strike, and it will wound around the yard wounded. Therefore, it is better to rid the piglet of unnecessary torment.
Slaughter a pig in the heart
A stab in the heart will not allow the animal to come to its senses, and it will die instantly and without suffering. A kitchen knife for slaughter will not work. The gun should not bend, the blade should be sharpened, and the end should be left slightly dull. The length of the knife should be at least 20 cm, and the width should be at least 3 cm.
After you stun the pig, turn it over on its left side. Hand feel for the heartbeat. The knife needs to be pierced into the sternum sharply and quickly. The impact should be concentrated between the 3rd and 4th rib. At this time, your assistant should hold the legs of the animal until it stops moving. The wound from the knife is covered with a cloth.
Then the carcass should be hung on a hook and wait until all the blood drains into the prepared containers.
Slaughter a pig in the neck
This method differs from the previous one in that it is more painful for the animal. But this is offset by the quality of the meat. A blow to the neck causes heavy bleeding from the carotid artery. The more blood flows out of the carcass, the tastier the meat will be. And also it will increase its shelf life.
In order to kill a pig in this way, you will need at least three helpers. Prepare the ropes in advance and find a sturdy crossbar. Next, perform the following steps in stages:
- Put a bowl of food in the yard and wait for the animal to start the meal.
- When the pig is busy eating, tie the ropes to the hind legs.
- Then throw the ropes over the crossbar.
- Pull the ropes sharply and quickly and wait until the pig stops twitching.
- Cut the carotid artery.
- Collect blood in prepared containers.
Pig cutting
Butchering a pig is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. The butcher must adhere to strict technology. This will give the meat a neat appearance and will contribute to its long-term storage. After the carcass is bloodless and the skin is treated, wipe it with a clean rag. You shouldn’t wash the carcass with water, since this will negatively affect the shelf life.
It is recommended to carve the carcass in a suspended state, due to the fact that the pig muscles in this position are in a tense state. Accordingly, the cut line will be more accurate, of course, if the knives for cutting pigs are well sharpened. This must be taken care of in advance. Experienced butchers know that non-sharp knives can easily spoil the product, so they always monitor their own tools.
Butchering a pig is carried out in the following order:
- Head.
- Stomach.
- Esophagus.
- Legs and sidewall.
Head
First you need to separate the head from the carcass. To do this, make side cuts on the neck. Next, you need a small hatchet or a hacksaw, since you will not succeed in separating the neck from the spine with a knife.
The head is chopped into small pieces and cooked from them jellied meat. Pig ears and tongue are considered a special delicacy. The ears are smoked and used as an appetizer for beer, and the tongue makes an excellent aspic.
Stomach
Next, proceed to the stomach. It is necessary to separate the fat and abdominal muscles. At this stage, it is important to use a suitable knife, otherwise you can damage the internal organs and spoil the meat.
Make a small vertical incision along the light line, which is located next to the chest. Then, in the resulting hole, insert the index and middle fingers and enlarge the incision. Make sure that the knife does not go deep into the carcass, otherwise you will damage parts of the abdominal region.
Esophagus
Make a longitudinal incision in the middle of the sternum. Now you need to remove the esophagus from the peritoneum. Previously, you can bandage the insides with a rope. After separation of the esophagus, the lungs, kidneys, heart, etc. are removed.
Extremely carefully you need to remove the bladder. Without sudden movements, pull it up and carefully pull it out.
The intestines should be thoroughly washed with water and salted. In the future, they can be used as a cover for home-made sausages.
After all the entrails have been successfully removed, we divide the carcass into two equal parts. With a knife, we make an incision in the direction of the spine and get two half carcasses.
Legs and sidewall
Then each half carcass is divided into six parts. First, the limbs are separated and cut into joints.
The top of the sidewall is cut, guided by the ribs and vertebrae. Next comes the turn of the sternum and neck. They are cut into large pieces. Then the fat is separated from the carcass, and everything else can be cut into small pieces. If everything is done carefully and slowly, then cutting the pig at home will not cause any particular problems, and the result will not be any different from the work of a professional butcher.
How much meat comes out after cutting the pig?
Directly during processing, the carcass significantly loses weight. The weight of the drained blood, head, internal organs, and so on is subtracted from the total mass. Butchering a pig involves separating large bones from meat, tendons, and cartilage. All that remains is called the release of "live" weight. The more the pig weighs initially, the greater will be the percentage of “live” meat to the total weight of the carcass. With a weight of 110 kg, the meat yield is 70%.
Pig Butchering Schemes
For butchers, processing pork meat is a whole art, however, instead of a brush, they have in their hands a knife for cutting pig carcasses.
In their work, they, as a rule, use 4 basic schemes for processing carcasses:
- German According to this scheme, the carcass of a pig is divided in half. Then half carcasses are cut into 8 parts, they are assigned to the corresponding grade.
- American Butchering a pig in American means that the carcass needs to be divided into two half-carcases, and then cut into 6 parts.
- English According to the English scheme, cutting the carcass is divided into 4 large pieces. Separate the head, front, back and center parts.
- Moscow . In the CIS countries, this scheme is the most popular. In it, the carcass is cut into 8 parts.
Of course, when cutting carcasses at home, each person is not required to adhere to any of the above schemes. The cut of each butcher is individual. Therefore, any of them, having their own experience, processes the carcass as it seems convenient to him.