Winter knife test (PETA members stay out)

flava

flava

Joined
Mar 3, 2000
Messages
2,785
This winter we went to visit our family back in Romania. It's been 6 years since we didn't go in the winter, so my dad prepared us some work ;)
We killed and prepared 2 pigs, about 200 kilograms each. I don't have pics, but a knife was used to put the poor things down.
After that part, a session of propane-flame epilation and some washing the subject looks like this: (I am the guy with the red NY hat hanging on the subject's tail, and not the other way arround)

1.JPG


After taking out the organs and cutting in half, the work is taken inside. That's my dad and I cutting the beast. Note the very professional grip I have on that knife (a custom made by Achim Wirtz, 7" 51200 thin blade and stag handle).

2.JPG


Some of the meat is cut in small pieces and will be used for the saussage mix.

3.JPG


After a full day of work, the result looks like this, before being salted and smoked:

4.JPG



The reward is on the table. Bon appétit.

5.JPG
 
You're making me hungry! Fortunately I have some spare ribs in the fridge ... 'scuse me, gotta go ... :cool:
 
What a good-looking dinner.

The meat looks excellent. But that bread is what's making me pine to join you.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your time with your family.
 
Great work, i would like to say that i have the same capabilities to prepare such a fine animals into top notch meat, but i can't. :( it looks like a fun thing to do, and strenghtens the family bond.

It's sad that in a modern society the meat we eat has been processed and transformed into cubicles wrapped in foil.

I would like to have the opportunity to teach my children that meat doesn't grow on trees, nor that milk comes out of the "milk factory", but it the suburban area i live and the strict hunting laws here is not a great chance of attending a similar experience. :(
 
I love bread, I spotted it before I even read Gollnick's post...
It looks absolutely scrumptious
 
kamkazmoto said:
Man, that looks good. What is your recipe for the sausages?
Click to expand...

Thanks. The receipe for the saussages is quite simple, but some of the quantities are "by eye". Here it goes:

- use pig meat with some fat on it and hatch (SP, i really don't know the word for the action of breaking the meat into small pieces using a device that has a spinning knife and a steel disk with holes at the front) using a disk with medium sized holes.
- put the meat on a clean flat working surface (like a wooden table) and make a 4" thick "carpet"
- put the salt on the meat (2% of the meat weight in salt)
- put black pepper on the meat (powder a thin layer all over the surface, not too much)
- put sweet red paprika, powder a uniform layer all over the meat (you put like three hands for 20 kilos of meat)
- put a handfull of crushed garlic (you use the same machine as for the meat to crush the garlic, with the small holes disk this time)
- mix all by hand until you get tired; the mix should be homogenous
- taste and add more pepper and/or paprika if you like it more spicy; don't add salt
- use the cleaned thin intestine of the pig to put the mix in, or equally sized in diameter plastic stuff for saussages
- after making the saussages, let them hang to dry a bit (1 day) in a cold windy place
- smoke them for a few days, as you smoke no matter what saussage
- hang them again in the cold windy place for 1-2 months until they are dry enough to eat raw; i usually eat them too early because I can't wait :)
- send a sample to me for quality control :p
 
Fantastic pictures and thanks so much for sharing.

Two questions: What do you do with the head?

And what about the organs?
 
cognitivefun said:
Fantastic pictures and thanks so much for sharing.

Two questions: What do you do with the head?

And what about the organs?
Click to expand...

The head is cut off before lifting the pig (less weight to lift). The tongue, organs and the skin are boiled and used for another type of saussage. Nothing gets thrown away except the head bones and feet nails.
 
Excellent, excellent rundown on the pig processing, Flava. Now that's what I call flava!! I'd like to try that sausage recipe. Thanks, man!!
 
Gollnick said:
What a good-looking dinner.

The meat looks excellent. But that bread is what's making me pine to join you.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your time with your family.
Click to expand...

The bread is home made by my mom. I don't know the receip, I just know that for this particular bread you use milk instead of water (or plus water???) for the mix. It's yummy.
 
Flava , the machine is called a meat grinder ,readily available here as a hand cranked or motor operated version. ....Cognitivefun, the head is made into a sausage called Head Cheese and though a good bit of work it is some very fine eating. The work of preparing a pig is well worth the effort .Americans unfortunately don't appreciate pork nearly as much as some other countries !!! DELICIOUS.
 
mete said:
Cognitivefun, the head is made into a sausage called Head Cheese and though a good bit of work it is some very fine eating.
Click to expand...

I'd love to try some. I have seen it. I believe it is made from gelatin (presumably from cooking the pork bones) and bits from the head, is this correct?

Around here, Virginia, in the rural areas there is a great appreciation for pork. They make Virginia hams here and a lot of people even around where I live (Northern Virginia, suburban) eat scrapple, which is made from pork and corn meal.

I have never slaughtered any animal, having lived my life in the city or the suburbs.
 
Nice work, that looks like some excellent chow. I love a nice, crispy, browned pork roast. Preferably with some homemade applesauce and cheesy garlic mashed potatoes on the side.

:)
 
Head cheese - the parts of the head and sometimes other things like the heart are cooked [simmered in water ] .The skin is coarse ground, the bones removed .Other parts may be ground or chopped.Return to pot with some of the liquid.Add spices, cook down and pour into shallow pans. Chill the head cheese and serve cold , sliced on a sandwich, maybe a bit of mustard !!!...Scrapple has gotten a bad name .I don't know if it's because people have had poor quality or just because they are dumb and won't eat anything 'different ' .I've had very fine scrapple and i've had poor scrapple but of course that's like anything else . The good is very good.
 
The bread is home made by my mom.
Click to expand...

You're lucky!

It looks very much like my sainted grandmother's homemade bread. Milk was her secret too.

Enjoy it because it is the taste of love.
 
Thanks for the great post! Definitly nothing like a family effort to make a meal special.

I have never eaten Romanian food, but if i is anything like the Czech food I had in Czech :) , I can only imagine it's great.

Having lived in Europe for six years I gained a much greater appreciation for pork than just southern style BBQ.

Regards,

Nick
 
flava
Thanks for the sausage recipe. I am a Southern Boy from Tennessee and was raised on a farm. I look forward to trying it. David
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top