How-To: Butcher a Pig

L

Lt.Col.Vortex

Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
752
Post #200 :), time for something useful to come flowing form me......

So I'll cheat this time and use videos, but they are VERY helpful videos. I've used them many times during my early times of cutting my pigs. Since I raise pigs and one gets the .38 every month or so, information like this is invaluable. You can apply this to wild hogs as well but with some minor differences, of which I'll hopefully depict.


So he starts by describing the various parts of the pig. His meat is already cut in half and de-headed. I assume that you already have cleaned your pig, if not let me know and I'll go into further details.

[video=youtube;XQrIR-RPAJU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQrIR-RPAJU&list=UUsU15yvILBmnHPeAf4SFVaQ&index=389&feature=plcp[/video]

Your pig may not be as pig as this at a year, mine aren't either. But basically everything still applies.

His first cut is between the 5th and 6th rib. His second cut is more of a general guess. You have to see the meat of know where to cut. The meat has a grain that you will see and know to follow. Your just separating the rear ham form the rest of the pig. For smaller pigs, you can ignore what he says about the front part of the pig ( the part with the 5 ribs and front shoulder ). Wild hogs dont have much in that region.

[video=youtube;Y_PbogtNrss]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PbogtNrss&feature=relmfu[/video]
 
Last edited:
A hack saw or any other saw you have meant for wood and that you've cleaned will work fine for bone cutting.

This is for larger pigs mainly, but all pigs have these parts, some are just smaller than others. If your pig is over 150 pounds, you can do everything he is doing. A quick tip for the ribs is to cut off the top and bottom off of the ribs, it allows them to separate more easily.

[video=youtube;M3B8caNVVzQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3B8caNVVzQ[/video]



If your wanting to get fancy you can cut this roast up like the pros with all sort of special cuts... but if your like everyone else, this is a great piece for pulled pork and sausages/hamburger. If your like me and you like tacos and hamburgers, this is where you get your meat.

[video=youtube;dV9rwD4rDRI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV9rwD4rDRI[/video]
 
All this skin he is removing can be and should be saved. All you do is render up some lard and fry the skin.....pork rinds.

The feather bones hes talking about, you will encounter them. Just make another cut to remove them..just like you did the top and bottom of your country ribs.

In case your lost, this is the meat above the front shoulder along the spine.
[video=youtube;IdjsI1q7N6o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdjsI1q7N6o[/video]
 
OK, now we're getting into the ribs, pork chops and other goodness :) Here he is describing rib separation. When he is referring to 12-13th rib, he is resuming his count form rib #6 ( you cut off ribs 1-5 earlier ). And this is whre pig size can vary some what. I've had pigs where I cant count up to the 12th rib, and others I've had to go to 14th rib. Typically 12 count is average, but if you want you can go past, it wont matter.


[video=youtube;XcdrjPQJ5HE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcdrjPQJ5HE[/video]



So he just cut between the 12th and 13th rib and proceeds to cut up on the saw the latter half of the pig ( the tail end ). This is where you get steaks from.

Onto ribs....he talks again about feather bones and how to deal with them. You do not have to french your ribs either.

OK, if you have noticed he has already cut his ribs from his chops. He did not show this so I'll explain. With your ribs facing you ( spine away form you ) draw a parallel line with the spine across the center of the ribs. The top half ( half closest to the spine ) is your pork chops. The lower half is your regular ribs. Its very simple so dont over think this and panic.

He goes on to remove the back ribs form the chop steak ( dont know if thats whats its called ). I recommend NOT doing this because you will have plenty of ribs from the rest of the pig. These are your pork chops, do as you wish to them but you only get so many of them from one pig.

[video=youtube;lsmtbF22py4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsmtbF22py4[/video]
 
Boneless pork loin roast....this is in case you removed the bone from your chops. This steak is for all intents and purposes the backstrap.

Also, here is the side ribs ( the ribs below the pork chops ).

[video=youtube;gFWpUxANjGA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFWpUxANjGA[/video]


Loins and tender loin....the back/tail of the pig. I dont deal to much with this part of the pig, so just watch an learn. Sorry, only could find a link for this video.

[video]http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/30180641[/video]
 
T bones and such. Again I dont deal to much with this part.

[video=youtube;eT5sXgTNTCc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT5sXgTNTCc[/video]



Again, could only find a link to this. Pigs feet....aka trotter and hams. Hams are not my specialty, more of my dads.

[video]http://lockerz.com/u/20604040/decalz/6711152/butchering_a_pig_part_11[/video]
 
More hams and specifics on hams. You'll just have to watch and learn on the bits about hams. Its an art to cut good hams. But dont be afraid, even if you screw it up and dont cut it right, it all taste great. its all a ham, you can just cut it up in several pieces.

[video=youtube;lMqro6dZ6E8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMqro6dZ6E8[/video]



Again...another link, sorry.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfsbec_butchering-a-pig-part-13_news

More or less this is all of the pig. You do not have to follow all of his more detailed cuts. You will not see cuts like this on common hogs or even farm raised pigs. Videos 1-8 is all you need, the rest is just preference.

Let me know if you need any more details on butchering a pig and I'll be glad to try and answer them.
 
Not sure when I would need to know how to butcher an entire pig. However I am watching the vids and think it was good info and interesting!
 
I raise pigs, so I need to know this stuff. It seams like a lot to learn, but I watched them 2 or 3 times and by the second pig I knew what to do. I also live in the south where pigs are like deer to everyone else.
 
I think you did a good job there, Lt. :thumbup:

I have often wondered how I would
break down an entire animal.

Congrats on 200 posts! :)
 
Good information. The only things I would add is that if you have a farm raised pig carcass you don't have to trim as much fat but a wild pig may have fat that is smelly. It all depends on what they were eating, age and gender so if you take a chunk of fat from a shoulder section and fry it to check the smell you may find you want to trim it tight or you are OK with it if it smells tasty. If it smells bad fresh cut it won't get any better with being stored.
 
One thing we do differently with all of our animals is we feed them whole grains, not pre-mixed animal food. Our fed comes from a farmer who grows, grinds and sells his own feed with NO boosters, stabilizers or man made substances in it. Our pigs get quite the girth to them, the last pig we dropped was around 250lbs and we're dropped ( we waited to long ) pigs around 400lbs. The meat and fat smells just fine and it all cooks great. On of the problems we started was too much fat ( pig fat is watery, it doesnt grind well in the meat grinder ).
 
I hear that. Quality food in makes for quality meat later. Do you all wait for cold weather or cut and cool whenever you need meat no matter what time of year?
 
With 14 people to feed, we cut whenever we need to. The whole family partakes in processing the pig so it goes sorta fast. The morning starts with a gun shot and by lunch there is not much left to do other than fry skins and grind some remaining meat for tacos that night ( we have a pork dinner that night ). I always find it intriguing that just a few hours ago there was a living animal, and now there is a freezer full or meat.

We use to be all worried that the meat would go bad if left out in the sun or if it was cut up during the summer, but that is not the case now. The reason store bought meat goes bad if not kept cold is because there is SO many chemicals, preservatives and taste enhancers in the meat and thats what starts breaking down first. Once the preservatives start getting warm, it starts to rot the meat away faster than it would naturally. Strait meat from NON treated animals ( no shots and not medicated/enhanced food ) does not go bad sitting in the open air. Think of smoking, sure the smoke cooks the meat slightly but that smoke is 200 F at most. Smokes meat is just dried meat with smoke flavoring. If you've ever smoked before you'll know that you dont eat the outer layer. You cut off yourself a chunk of meat and scrape off the outside layer then enjoy the rest. You want your meat to start to decay, thats what makes meat tender. The natural decay of meat is bacteria eating away at the fibers and loosening the meat up. Bacteria cant do their job in the freezer.

Now if your thinking about letting your meat set on the counter so it will tenderize, you've been misled. Smoking meat is a form of letting meat set, so is salt drying. Not freezing meat is classified as "setting it out"...meaning that if bacteria can break down the meat. Depending on the temperature determines how fast they work.
 
I agree with you on the ability to do a better job at home of cutting up your meat. I do my own deer and since I am going to eatand share it with friends I am highly motivated to do it right, plus I save almost $100 depending on the size. Commercial meat processors for beef, pork and poultry splash a lot of fecal matter around so they dip sections in bleach water to clean up the poop chunks. With the volume your family uses you have a good system, wish I had room to raise a few pigs myself but that's another dream.
 
We butcher a hog every year for my family reunion, and am looking forward to it next year. Very tasty, and with the size of my family, there's nothing left.
 
Great thread. Very informative. Thanks!
We butcher at least one pig every year in addition to other animals from any successful hunts we might have. It is nice to see how the pros do it and how I can improve.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top