He's nearly double the size Steaks was last year. We had to cut him in half. The castration was also a total fail. He very definitely had both testicles still.
10 days to hang. The weather forecast is good. My mouth is watering already.
Farm life in Northern Ontario. Farm Life in Northern Ontario.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
It's Time
He's nearly double the size Steaks was last year. We had to cut him in half. The castration was also a total fail. He very definitely had both testicles still.
10 days to hang. The weather forecast is good. My mouth is watering already.
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I AM IN AWE! And did not mean to have caps, but they seem to work...lol. So, it turns cold and someone dies? Did the castration failure cause hm to break out so often?
ReplyDeleteWho is set for Fall 2013 menu?
You and your husband have raised your children well. Your father must be proud of you. Do you have sibling that can or are willing to butcher like you do?
Just wondering--did husband fall in love with you and decided you were a keeper also because you could butcher? I would think a man who married such an intrepid woman like you, good with an extremely sharp knife, would be verrrry good to you.
Are the littles chomping at the bit to jump in and help?
Is the meat from the grocery store hung for ten days? Why is meat hung so long? My brother killed nothing to eat larger than squirrels, frogs, and rabbits, but cooked them at least by the next day. Should they have hung and why? Maybe these answers are a whole new post.
Someone told me once in August that my bedroom with its own little ac was cold enough to hang meat. I just thought it meant meat would not spoil. Now, I know, I think.
Yes, we butcher with the weather.
DeleteThe castration failure was just a bone of discontent with me. I asked Husband in the Bigs to deal with it, since it was a boy thing. I always end up up to my armpits in the uteruses around here, I figured it was fair. And I didn't want Dorie to be mad at me for hurting her baby. I explained how the rings were supposed to work, and by all accounts I've read, it was going to hurt. They came in afterwards and told me it was a piece of cake, and he didn't bawl at all. Ok...
When he got a little older and the ring had fallen off, he still looked like he had at least one testicle to me. Having gutted him, I now know there were two. So all my big strong men accomplished was to shorten his sack.
It may have caused him to wander, being horny, but I doubt it, because he never really went anywhere. He just liked to eat the longer grass in the ditches, and alongside the garden.
2013 menu is debatable at this point. we're going to keep better track of our hay costs this winter, and see who produces this spring. If Mindy doesn't give us a calf in the spring, she'll definitely be on the menu. If Toothless gets nasty (more bull like), he could be on the menu. If they behave and produce, I may have to buy dinner at the auction.
My brother hunts and has helped with deer and moose. My sil did some butchering last year too.
Husband had no idea what he was getting into, and still hasn't figured it out. He was a catch and release fisherman, buy everything from the grocery store, city kid. He still worries about the lawn not looking pretty, talks about building white picket fences, and can't tell the weeds from the veggies. He's happy I deal with the food preservation, because he talks to his friends about grocery bills, and they scare him, lol.
#4 is getting curious about butchering, and isn't afraid of blood. #3 is such a whiny little girl, lol. I don't know if he'll ever get his hands dirty.
Not likely. Definitely not around here. Hanging reduces the weight (drying), and therefore the profit. It also takes a lot of space and time. Most grocery stores in Ontario don't even have their own butchers anymore.
Red meat can be improved by hanging. It is a controlled state of rot, optimum temperature 3°C. Pork and poultry, rabbits, squirrels are not improved by hanging. I've never eaten frogs, but I doubt they would improve either.
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI dedicated a whole post to your killing and butchering saga that will come.
http://practical-parsimony.blogspot.com/2012/10/butchering-and-hanging-meat.html
Thanks, but like I said, I wasn't planning to post much else, other than the tally.
Delete