Pig Processing

Warning: If intestines are not your thing, you might want to skip today's post. The above photo, with Joe next to Alice-the-pig's skin, gives a foretaste of what's to come.

Ara, our friend from Armenia who knows how to process pigs, came today to help us kill Alice and Abby.

When we bought our pigs, I heard them scream. I think everyone's life would be complete without hearing a pig scream, and I know the expression, "Squealing like a stuck pig." So I wasn't sure how traumatic or loud this butchering would be.

It wasn't loud or traumatic at all. I was eating a piece of bread and heard a little pop. Phil came down a few minutes later to say that one pig was dead. The pop was a .22 stun bullet to the head, and Ara slit the throat without a sound. There was some blood on the ground, but the other pig walked all around without any sense of terror or even vague concern.

Charlotte's Web did not portray reality! What a relief!

To butcher, Ara cut off the head and cut out the vent (or poop chute or anus). He carefully slit open the stomach. Immediately underneath the skin is about an inch-thick layer of fat. That's bacon. ("Full of energy," Ara said.) Below you can see the liver as the dark bit poking out of the stomach slit. Notice the nice inch or so of snow-white lard!



He put both hands in the body cavity. After he pulled out the poop chute, he loosened (and cut) the tendons or membranes that hold the inner organs in place. That was a strange sight!

Of those organs, he said that the spleen and the liver are edible. The rest are not. That large mass flopped into a bucket.

Oh--there is a membrane around the internal organs; very beautiful, like a spider's web.



Ara said that he will sometimes chop up the liver with some onions and salt, and wrap it, like dolmades, in this membrane, and grill. The membrane keeps the liver moist, which, since it has no fat, can be challenging. I might try it!

Next came the chest cavity. The frothy lungs come out, with the heart.



The heart, too, is edible. Ara said he had a friend who got diabetes and could no longer eat meat. His doctor said that he could eat heart, though.

After he dropped (killed) the second pig, and did the same thing, the pigs went to the Bessettes for further processing and butchering.



Legs off; skin off (pull the skin down while making small slicing motions with the knife--the skin peels away).



Hang for a few days to age.



I wasn't present for the removal of the kidneys, but those, too, are good to eat (apparently).

Phil cut the ears off the pig heads, and he skinned the pigs faces to get their cheek meat.

The amount of meat astounds me: Ara figured we'd have about 200 pounds of usable meat from each pig. The weight of the cheeks alone makes me think we'll have four meals out of them.

Dennis asked me how much these pigs cost, with their fancy organic (non-GM) feed. I think they were $160 to purchase, plus $880 or so to feed, plus $120 for butchering. So they cost about $1200, for about 400 pounds of usable meat, or $3 a pound.

That's less than organic pork would cost in the store, but we haven't yet done any converting into actual sausage or hams. It doesn't include any of the considerable cost for operation start up (fencing, feeder, waterer). And no labor.

So if you're buying organic pork from a producer, pay the price they're asking. You're getting a good product, and they're really not making bank, even at $6 a pound (or whatever they charge).

Of course, whether you should eat pork or not is a valid question. Today I came across this passage in my beloved Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

Investigation into the effects of pork consumption on blood chemistry has revealed serious changes for several hours after pork is consumed. The pork used was organic, free of trichinosis, so the changes that occurred in the blood were due to some other factor, possibly a protein unique to pork. In the laboratory, pork is one of the bet mediums for feeding the growth of cancer cells. The prohibitions against pork found in the Bible and the Koran thus may derive from something other than a concern for parasite contamination. However, in fairness it must be noted that many groups noted for longevity, such as the inhabitants of Soviet Georgia and Okinawa, consume pork meat and lard in their diet on a daily basis. Lard is an excellent source of vitamin D.

For now, we'll eat at our own risk, with thanksgiving.