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Butchering whole pig - What cuts to ask for?

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Hey folks,

My Daughter in law's father/mother are pig farmers. They've offered the kids a whole pig; all the kids have to do is pay for butchering.

Question is; what cuts should they ask for? I'm not sure how this works.

We for sure want all the porkbutts, ribs, and tenderloin it can give. But we're not big fans of pork steaks; we want to give those up for something else, no sure what that something is called? Also want lots of thick bacon with a good rhind and sausage.

Thanks,

John

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Re: Butchering whole pig - What cuts to ask for?

Hey folks,

My Daughter in law's father/mother are pig farmers. They've offered the kids a whole pig; all the kids have to do is pay for butchering.

Question is; what cuts should they ask for? I'm not sure how this works.

We for sure want all the porkbutts, ribs, and tenderloin it can give. But we're not big fans of pork steaks; we want to give those up for something else, no sure what that something is called? Also want lots of thick bacon with a good rhind and sausage.

Thanks,

John

Don't forget the nose and feet for pickling!

:lol::lol:

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Thanks for reminding me; :sign7: especially want the pigs feet.

But not for pickling; Wife makes a killer spaghetti sauce with them.

I'll take the hocks too! Maybe I'll try Schwein Haxen on the grill! if not I'll definitely use them in beans!

Primeats, I need your ideas. Thanks.

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Thanks for reminding me; :sign7: especially want the pigs feet.

But not for pickling; Wife makes a killer spaghetti sauce with them.

I'll take the hocks too! Maybe I'll try Schwein Haxen on the grill! if not I'll definitely use them in beans!

Primeats, I need your ideas. Thanks.

You should be able to get most any cuts you don't want as sausage. But don't forget to ask for plenty of chops (PorkChop would never forgive you).

BTW, last time I did schweinehaxe,we used the hocks found here locally (usually cannot find fresh). But we much prefer using the leg end of the shoulder as it has tons more meat. I think the traditional cut is the section between the hocks and where the shoulder ends, but I have never really seen anything cut that way around here. Also believe the cut is different from front verses rear (one side the cut is from below the knee and the other is above the knee).

Also might mention the pressure cooker worked like a champ for the first half the cook. The second half the cook is still a work in progress, but dropping them in a deep fryer was most excellent and crisp! If you have a recipe, I would love to share notes as this is my favorite German dish. All the recipes on the internet seem to be the same generic / bland one. They don't even have juniper berries in them (which is a must have ingredient for me).

-=Jasen=-

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Oh Ya Jasen!!! Thanks for reminding me; definitely want Pork Chops (Thick Cut).

Good thing I posted. When the kids get ready to order I'll have to re-read this entire thread to make sure I don't forget anything.

Where do Country Style Ribs come from? beef or pork. Need those too!

The only Haxen recipe I seen was at the "you know where" forum; the one that suspends members for posting personal suggestions, that do not bash the company.

I've never done haxen before, but think I printed the recipe and put it in my recipe book.

I've eaten it only in Germany. My favorite and most often was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen; at the Frauen Dorfer. Yummmy-Yummmy!

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John, I had the same meal at the same place! Then proceeded to drink with my "ancesters" and closed down one of the gasthouses(something called "pearinschnappes" ?). I swear the piano player looked like Dan Rostenkowski. Got a great beer stein and my wife got a nice coffee mug. Went skiing the next day and nearly had a heart attack! For some reason nobody wanted to stand near me in the gondola as we ascended the mountain( and thank God nobody tried to light up a smoke). I will try to get some cutting tips for you later, this is all I have time for until after the Derby on Saturday!

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Oh Primeats; I knew someone else must have been there. How cool is that. I spent 13 years in that area.

Boy that pearschnaps will rock your world. Oh I don't like the taste of that stuff, might as well be drinking rocket fuel eehhhh?

How about the Bierschnapps, did you try that one at the Frauen Dorfer? That stuff is great. Served in little tiny beer mugs, with a whip cream head on top. Yummy.

Okay, thanks Primeats; I'll be standing by.

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When my german shepherd was young and wanting to chew I would give her pigs feet.
Were they still attached to the live pig? If so' date=' I bet Gerard would not be the only one squealing about it! :snorting:[/quote']

:lol::lol: she was pretty funny when she tried to hide them away for later. I would keep them in the garage refrig and she would go stand expectantly in front of the refrigerator.

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If they are going to get the hog processed at a locker plant, this is what my Father and I used to offer to folks: Few people asked for the head, but you can make some great sulze(head cheese). either have the jowls ground up for sausage or smaoked like bacon, the shoulders either the picnics( the round bone section) or the boston butt( the blade section) for roasts or sausage or cured and smoked-especially the picnic section.You can only get the ribs from the loin area(baby backs) or the belly(spare ribs) from the belly. you also will have from a whole hog, two slabs of fresh bacon that can either be sliced fresh for fresh side pork( great with salt and pepper in a frying pan) or cured and smoked for,you guessed it, BACON! By all means have them save any skin that they can. boiled down for gelatin or fried for pork rinds are a great treat.

If you can get the bacon smoked with the skin on, save it! can you say baked beans? or if they can string beans, slice some and put a few cooked slices in each jar. As far as the loin or back section, if you want baby backs you won't have any bone in pork chops. This is not altogether bad, a couple of nice 3 to 4 lb bnls roasts and some butterflied chops cut for the KK on the upper sear rack are Fab! If you go this route, have the small pork tenderloins trimmed and wrapped for the freezer. Now for the hind legs, the obvious choice would be to have the hams cured and smoked, however fresh ham( green ham as we call it ) can be one of the finests pork roasts you will ever fix! Save the shanks( the calf muscle) for your schweinenhox!You can also save the shanks from the front quarter as well. The actual hocks are the ankle/wrist section and I would have them smoked if you can, they are really only skin and bone but make a great boiled dinner with carrots,potatoes cabbage and the like. The four feet can either be smoked, pickled, or boiled down to add to the Sulze. For the squeemish I have omited the sausage casing part , but some folks have a taste for the liver as well as the kidneys( you have to boil the p*** out of them first) We usually had the heart ground up, but again you can either do that or cut up with the kidneys in the sulze or head cheese. The only thing that the old timers had no use for was the squeal! Didn't have time for spell check, the race is about to begin!

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Be sure to tell them how many people you want them packaged for. This will make it so you get the right amount each time you defrost. I just had a hog butchered last week and they sent the loin WHOLE with the bone attached, it was 21/2-3 feet long, had to take out the sawsall and cut it into small roasts. You will get LOTS of sausage. I probably have 20 packages and lots side, probably 10 packages. I also got neckbone, backbone, hocks and tail. Going to give that stuff to a local country girl that may know what to do with it. I agree to keep the hams uncured, they make great roasts. Hope you have a large freezer as it will fill up a large floor freezer.

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absolutely!!! Jeeze, how could I forget the sausage!tell them to keep it kinda lean(around 80% is my pref.) Fresh ground pork is nice too, for meat loaf or pork burgers. Defo save the bones, if you make any kind of spag. sauce put them in the sauce and simmer for a few hours, what a great flavor! Tony, did you use the wood blade or the metal cutting blade??!! Hopefully it was new and not one you may have used after cutting pressure treated lumber like my buddy at deer camp!

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