Butchering the Pig Carcass

After raising my two hogs with specific diets, I really get to see the quality of the meat.
It's beautiful, fresh and been taken care of from start to finish. That being said, I was really hoping I wouldn't screw it up now :)
The female I did first. After they hang for about 4 days in the cool weather (30's- 40's), protected, you need to split the carcass down the middle. I did this with a sawzall. You need to get this as close to directly down the spine as possible, this can be a bit difficult but it makes butchering easier in the long run.
After splitting the carcass, it's ready for the butchering table. I watched several videos of how to butcher a half carcass and finally found a 3 part series that was incredibly helpful. I also liked that the butchering was done by a women, Camas Davis. Moving the carcass and cutting into primals (the three major sections) takes a bit of muscle and watching her accomplish this made me know I could certainly do it.
The breed I raised were Yorkshire's, known for free-ranging, good butchering size, and belly fat/striation (bacon). It all held quite true of this breed.

I did quite a few cuts as Camas does in her videos but I also wanted some other cuts as well. And with 4 halves, I had lots to practice with. I thought this French Culinary instructor was good, quick to the point but nothing really specialized. He is more from a restaurant point of view.

And finally, this Canadian Holistic butcher was pretty good and I followed some of the cuts he did. I do not have a meat band - which takes a bit longer to cut (and energy!) but you can maneuver cutting the bones at more angles.

So, after watching some videos and reading about butchering, quality of meat, and specific cuts I don't think I did too bad :)

Bacon slab. Between both of my pigs, they produced a combined 30 lbs of bacon.

Butterflied Ham Steaks. Cuts from a nice 'nut of the ham.'

Baby Backs. Run along the loin.

Back Fat. Used to make Italian Lardo. Also used in specialty sausage making; hard salamis, sopressato, etc. This is highly sought after in European countries.

The Coppa, or Capicola,is an Italian cut that until recently (thanks to the book Charcuterie) American's didn't know existed. Coppa meaning Nape in Italian, or neck. It's the muscle at the top of the shoulder that runs from the neck down the shoulder blade, inside. It's absolutely gorgeous. I cannot wait to cook with it.

Country style ribs. The top ribs that sit on the belly fat. How I cut these are also known as St. Louis Style ribs.

Practicing my knife skills, this is a Crown Loin Roast. Rib attached to the loin, but cut free from the spine.

Ham Hocks. These will brined, then smoked and thrown in a pot of baked beans. There are also specialty dishes that I will be making with these.

The whole ham. One of these is in brine being made into a Southern Blackstrap Molasses ham that is heavily smoked and the other, I tunnel boned (that was some work) to make a Salted Air Dried Ham- it's salted for 24 days in the fridge and let hang for 5+ months.

Loin pork chops. Skin and back fat taken off, the loin was so long and beautiful, I could make several meals out of it.

See! Look at this loin. Gorgeous.

Nut of the ham, when the ham is cut open and cut along the fat striations, you can find what's known as the 'nut of the ham' in France. It's the most tender part of the ham. Taken out, you can dry salt brine this, heavily pepper it, hang it to dry for a couple weeks and thinly slice this, apparently it's amazing, and YES I am doing this right now :)

Porterhouse steaks. An Italian cut including loin, rib, tenderloin, and back fat.

Rolled pork tenderloin/loin roast. This cut lays flat when not rolled so you can fill it with herbs, butter, olive oil, etc. The pile to the right is loin and tenderloin chunks. Great for stews, sauteing, specialty dried meats etc.

Rolled shoulder roast.

Sausage meat! Mostly shoulder meat because it has the perfect fat to meat ratio... 25:75
I got two 5 gallon buckets of sausage meat to play with! "Oh Happy Day."

Skins. We enjoy other natural meats such as venison and elk which can be dry, but wrapped in these will provide not only moisture but phenomenal flavor.

Skirt Steak. Runs along the inside belly. Very smooth and tender cut.

Tenderloin. Runs on the outside of the spine/ribs. It's not very big but very tender and requires very little cooking.

I did it. From start to finish and didn't take any of it to the butcher. They don't even do most of these cuts! I feel like this was such a rewarding experience and I am so glad I did. The list is long for those that want to purchase healthy pork from me so next year I am doing 6 pigs and making them a special garden that I can feed them from. Super awesome since I was hauling all the garden goodies from the main large garden in the front yard.