My country experiences mainly come from living in South Georgia when I was in the school grades, 5th through 9th. Just like Corn Shucking Day, we’d gather once a year for butchering hogs. Mr. Bruce, our close family friend and farmer, often gave us a pig from his farm each year. On a cool day, we’d all gather at the home of his father-in-law, Mr. Grooms, the neatest old man you’d ever want to meet. (He wore coveralls, and black suit jacket and a fedora to church.) Mr. Groom’s house was an old farmstead and had the setup needed for butchering hogs.
Three or four pigs waited in the trailer. Mr. Bruce would lean in carefully and tap one in the middle of the forehead with a 22 rifle. I don’t remember the other pigs even noticing. The stunned pig was pulled from the trailer and quickly hoisted under a beam. Funny, that out of the six adults present, Mrs. Grooms, who had to be in her late 70’s or early 80’s was always chosen to wield the knife. Her hand, steady from a lifetime of butchering, made the cut to bleed the animal.
The next task especially showed how appropriate the old homestead was for butchering. Under a nearby shed, Mr. Grooms had a large steel basin mounted on top of a low brick fire chamber. I don’t remember the exact dimensions, but it was large enough that I could have taken a bath in it. The wood fire below heated the basin’s water, and the carcass dipped in that hot water was much easier to scrub clean and butcher. Long tables set up outside served as butcher blocks.
I was too young to help much. Back then, no one trusted me around sharp objects, so I mainly watched and played with the other kids. Maybe I ran some gopher errands.
As the carcass divided into the various cuts of meat, any trimmings or cuts not intended for regular consumption got tossed in the sausage pile. Mrs. Grooms had a metal meat grinder that clamped on the edge of the kitchen table, and after those meat pieces were well ground, the moms would mix in sausage spices by hand and test fry small pieces. Once they hit the spice combination and amount they liked, the sausage was sent through the grinder again and extruded into casings. But with hungry children pacing just outside the kitchen doors like a pack of wild animals, some always got mysteriously diverted into the fry pan and into waiting biscuits for everyone to enjoy.
Three or four pigs waited in the trailer. Mr. Bruce would lean in carefully and tap one in the middle of the forehead with a 22 rifle. I don’t remember the other pigs even noticing. The stunned pig was pulled from the trailer and quickly hoisted under a beam. Funny, that out of the six adults present, Mrs. Grooms, who had to be in her late 70’s or early 80’s was always chosen to wield the knife. Her hand, steady from a lifetime of butchering, made the cut to bleed the animal.
The next task especially showed how appropriate the old homestead was for butchering. Under a nearby shed, Mr. Grooms had a large steel basin mounted on top of a low brick fire chamber. I don’t remember the exact dimensions, but it was large enough that I could have taken a bath in it. The wood fire below heated the basin’s water, and the carcass dipped in that hot water was much easier to scrub clean and butcher. Long tables set up outside served as butcher blocks.
I was too young to help much. Back then, no one trusted me around sharp objects, so I mainly watched and played with the other kids. Maybe I ran some gopher errands.
As the carcass divided into the various cuts of meat, any trimmings or cuts not intended for regular consumption got tossed in the sausage pile. Mrs. Grooms had a metal meat grinder that clamped on the edge of the kitchen table, and after those meat pieces were well ground, the moms would mix in sausage spices by hand and test fry small pieces. Once they hit the spice combination and amount they liked, the sausage was sent through the grinder again and extruded into casings. But with hungry children pacing just outside the kitchen doors like a pack of wild animals, some always got mysteriously diverted into the fry pan and into waiting biscuits for everyone to enjoy.
1 comment:
Sounds like you were doing a scald and scrape. This removes the hairs which are loosened by the warm water as well as removing the outer layer of dirty skin prior to butchering.
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