The Complete Book of Butchering, Smoking, Curing, and Sausage Making: How to Harvest Your Livestock & Wild Game

257 Pages·2010·131.49 MB·English

by  Philip Hasheider

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H WT HARVE T V UR
LIVE T K'WILD AME
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PHILIP HASHEIDER
Voyageur Press
First published in 2010 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company,
400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
Copyright © 2010 by Philip Hasheider
All rights reserved, With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hasheider, Philip, 1951-
The complete book of butchering, smoking, curing, and sausage making:
how to harvest your livestock & wild game / Philip Hasheider. - 1st ed.
p.cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7603-3782-0 (flexibound)
1. Slaughtering and slaughter-houses. 2. Meat- Preservation. 3. Cookery
(Sausages) I. Title.
TSl960.H372010
664'.902---dc22
2010002969
Except where noted all photographs copyright © Marcus Hasheider
Editor: Leah Noel
Design Manager: LeAnn Kuhlmann
Designed by: Chris Fayers
Cover designed by: Matthew Simmons
Printed in China
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my grandfather, Herbert Hasheider, who first 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.
MUSCLES AlE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
~6
Chapter 3 36
All CIATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Chapter 4 72
.
.
Chapter 5 92
rIULTI' All IIHEI FIWl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 6 114
•
•
VEIISII, MIISE, ELI, BIC CAME . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 7 140
.
,
IABBITS, SMALL CAME, FISH. . . . . . . . .
Chapter 8 . 162
MEAT BYPIIIUCTS rIll rIESEIVATIII. . . . . . .
Chapter 9 186
,
MEAT CUIIIC All
Chapter- 10 •••••••••••••••• 198
SAUSACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 1 J 208
BUILIIIC AB UTCHEI' BUSIIESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 12 236
CLISSAI' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
248 ..
METIIC EaUIVALEITS All CIIVEISIII. . . . . . . . . .
251
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 252
ACIIIWLEICMEITS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
256

he ~a§~jnaJori~Y 'of people today no.lQ.ng
er hunts, for their food or tHe oppor
hav~
tu~ity 'to do so. The long arc of human:
'civi~iz~Jion acr'~ss" the millenni~ has see~ tpe
, . '
~ of . .~
transformation
hunt~r-.gatber~~ Scici~t!~s
into ones where consumers rO\lti.' elM'p'.utchase
P',~.j.;,J;
.,
.
~
their daily meals ..
a:~ superma12k~ts, restal;l1:~ants,
convenie,nce stores, Slrid.a n~st Cjf of~x, ven4es
. wnere the food, or map ¥ or}h~}ngre i~~~s. are
d ff .t
~.~~~~~f; prepare ·e. :," ' "
'!~" .0 -Sl < ,'{;I. ~. ;I. • ~
,lo. ... r ,
t. • fI. t
Agriculture, the b'asis for all domt:isti~atedfooctproduction,
."~. ~
reaches baok at lea,s,t :aut in JIlore times,
19,QOQ9.'e~rs. recen~
industrializatiorr .. have Been to .animal agricul;
m,o~e.J:s ~pt>lted
ture .'Y·tliJt lj.e : esult l110re. food "is produced
pra~pces th~t ~otq.~
by fewexpeo1?I~j:h~nat any ~ime iii ~stor~. The<~unter-gather:er
moUel in present terms'maymostly inc ude hunting and gath-
. , J ....
ering.in market or . t fatmer-'s market stalls, the desire tb
ai~les
prowde top qualIty 'f(iJbd f~r t e {?-mily, tabl~. Int~rest in b~tcher:'
... l '
ing and meat for faJ)lily useI ha, s increase.9. in •
~rocessing -ec€n~'
years. This-in ~rest ~ay Be artly attrlbu,t'ed to th€-~umerolls . '~i!~~~~~ :r\:~1;-:::1l
brQadca~f cnanriels-highlighting. ~ooking ,and"c uli~ary topics, ';.k~~~5~3fj'~"1l,~ln·
I p •
populaT c'hefs, and food promoters. Eqll}.ipmentlh:at is eas to u,se
ana maint makes d6-it-ydu~~e fi food processing attainable
.
~
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 difficult 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
of better-paying jobs. Many urban areas or
meat spoilage before the era of modern refrigeration. Today,
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
satisfied, 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 sufficient quantities to and elk.
Introduction 9
Over time, as the nation's population Lamb/Goat 5.3%
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
sumers rarely eat any other kind of animal,
especially some that we now label as exotics
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-five 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 significance 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.