Norse blades and a quarter of a cow

koyote

koyote

Joined
Mar 29, 2007
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Last week we got a half side into the house. Getting primal cuts and processing ourself, we got a total price of $1.50 a pound. From a survival point of view in the current depression, that's a really amazing price. We're saving up for a really large efficient freezer now to beef that up to ordering full sides and whole pigs!

For those who don't know, my House is a multi-family operation, and our larder feeds 9. One of those housemates is Blanche, who will be in most of the photos. She's a pro at this, since she does it 30 hours a week at a local grocery co-op.


There's a whole bunch of knives in here, and I'll give some commentary on the various ones (including the one that's for sale, wink wink). But the surprising thing for me is that my old thin bladed straight edged seax won the day- over all options, not just the ones I made.


This is a large chef's pattern vegetable cleaver. Say what? Well, it's the general shape of a french chef's knife with a bit thicker blade and really works as a good east asian style vegetable cleaver. Hard to describe, but a really handy knife for the right kitchen.

Not the best butchering knife ever, but it did good duty cutting steaks!




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Now, there's so much more!

Here's a proper santoku styled cleaver we use in the kitchen. I've made a few of these locally, they tend to do well with the whole foods crowd :)

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That's blanche. She's one of the housemates and Mother of the other family. And she's a New Jersey Polish 1st generation Jew and do NOT piss her off! yow!
 
The animals... love this

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and it takes a long time to do... someone got tired.


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And here's the seax in action:


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and one of my personal EDCs- a partial double edged spearpoint with a really fine grind. the edge held up GREAT.


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The seax was surprising. It did more work, faster, with more tip detail cutting, than the boning and other commercial knives we had. This particular one is a really roughly finished osage handled one I made myself a couple years ago back when I was just beginning. It's thin- 3/32, and has a very basic (my first, actually) convex grind. And it just cuts for hours and hours. The dogbone handle is easy to hang onto when slick, too.
 
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Great stuff :thumbup: looks like the knives performed very well. I use my sierra machete in the kitchen pretty often ( well, pretty often propprtionally to how often I cook).
 
That is really cool. In China, butchers use a cleaver that resemble a seax for boning. There must be more to the seax than meets the eye.

God Bless
 
It's always good to have meat in the deep freeze, that's for sure. Just out of curiosity, what kind of bovine was it? Age, breed, gender, that kind of thing. We always butcher steers, but I know some folks like heifers or cows. And did y'all hang it for any time?

I covet that seax, by the way.

James
 
This one was a steer, named RDB6982

We found out that university here has a USDA training facility- UC Davis is a huge Aggie school. So you cna pop on by anytime and get decent to excellent prices on cuts in vacuum packs. Well, asking the manager we found out they sell quarter, side, or whole beeves. and half or whole pig and they'll even smoke hams and bacon for you for a reasonable fee.

6982 hung for 3 weeks before we picked up our quarter (200 pounds) and was fed a regular diet- this isn't special grass fed free range, but it's not medically weird, either- it's university level 4H :D

Pig right now is a buck a pound by the side. As soon as we have room, we'll be getting one of those, too.
 
koyote said:
This one was a steer, named RDB6982

We found out that university here has a USDA training facility- UC Davis is a huge Aggie school. So you cna pop on by anytime and get decent to excellent prices on cuts in vacuum packs. Well, asking the manager we found out they sell quarter, side, or whole beeves. and half or whole pig and they'll even smoke hams and bacon for you for a reasonable fee.

6982 hung for 3 weeks before we picked up our quarter (200 pounds) and was fed a regular diet- this isn't special grass fed free range, but it's not medically weird, either- it's university level 4H :D

Pig right now is a buck a pound by the side. As soon as we have room, we'll be getting one of those, too.
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Man. That is beyond awesome. We have have beef cattle, so we're never hurting for steak and hamburger, but I'd love to have a reliable source for pork. Do they have poultry, too?

Last time we had a steer processed, the facility pitched a fit because I wanted them to hang the meat for more than a week.

And yeah, I know about Davis. My wife and I got married in Carmichael and happened to pick the day of Spring graduation. A significant number of our guests missed the ceremony because of the traffic.

James
 
Great picture's Christof, I aint bought to many Side's of Beef, But have bought many a Whole Hog and It really add's up In saving Money In processing your own Meat, I dont use the Zip Lock's though Butcher's Paper Is the Best Wrap for the Freezer, It Look's like the Lady know's her stuff, I like your First Made Seax and 3/32" Is a Slicing Blade thickness I prefer that's a Nice looking Blade, And that Santoku Styled Cleaver sure look's Handy, I'm more In to Pork Poultry & Fish "But Beef Is Good ! I love doing my own Fish take out the Trammel Net and Load the Freezer ! Thank's for sharing the picture's,
 
Oh man i wished i lived closer to you.... I would love to have a small pig for a cook out over some nice coals for a few long hours... Or a lamb.............. Now im drooling .....

Sasha
 
JAlexander said:
Man. That is beyond awesome. We have have beef cattle, so we're never hurting for steak and hamburger, but I'd love to have a reliable source for pork. Do they have poultry, too?

Last time we had a steer processed, the facility pitched a fit because I wanted them to hang the meat for more than a week.
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They don't reliably have poultry products, but things turn up- I bought 2 flats of quail eggs a month ago! and the chicken egg prices are pretty good. They also will do whole or cuts of lamb when they butcher some.

For all the "usda training facility" stuff, it's mostly students there who care about their beef- hanging for a few weeks is no problem at all.


sasha said:
Oh man i wished i lived closer to you.... I would love to have a small pig for a cook out over some nice coals for a few long hours... Or a lamb.............. Now im drooling .....

Sasha
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Sasha- you should be able to head east a bit and call around and find something like that. Out Pearblossom ways? or the SE county area. I know there's still small farms managing to hang on down towards SD and inland- out by fallbrook or rainbow, and heading up north into riverside.
 
A Whole Hog over Coal's Is The Best Eating you ever had ! I've been thinking of doing some Goat's also, I got a Freind who has a Huge Goat Herd, And Grilled Goat Meat Fajitas on warmed Tortillas sound's Great ! Here's my Favorite Butcher Knive's Christof, Old School got the two on the Bottom from my Grandma, there all 1/16" Thick Blade's, Top one Is a Utica Forge middle one Is a Case XX 431-8 and on the Bottom Is a Early Hammersmith Hand Ground, Butcher Knive's are the Best at Butchering, I think that's how they got there name !

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We avoided the two real butcher knives for this- just to see what knives would work where. Blanche says she'd be happy homesteading with the seax if she had to.
 
Shotgun said:
Man I bet those all cut like lasers being that thin. Cool thread.
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There Awesome Cutter's Shotgun and I'll think there gonna outlast me ! Christof has got me all wound up now, I grew up Butching all sort's of Critter's my Dad was alway's bringing home Chicken's and Domestic Rabbit's from the Sale Barn, And we alway's had Fish, That was the Good Ol Day's ! I was Buchering at a young age, Tame Rabbit Is some Good Eating also, Christof you got me Thinking Now, Your gonna be In the Beef for quite some time ! "Where's The Beef ! There making It really hard on the Farmer's now In Butchering there own Cow's & Hog's with there Stupid Rule's & Regulation's "But You Know How Our FDA Is A JOKE :jerkit:" ! :thumbup:
 
Koyote thanks for the heads up, im go see if i can find anything close to me.. Just the thought of a lamb stuffed with herbs and cooked over coals.......... Brings some good memorys.
 
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