re: last nights hog kill

Here we are performing the "field filet". We did remove has and shoulders from some of the hogs. however it was pushing 100 degrees that day and with that many pigs we just didn't have enough time.

This photo shows one shortly before I removed the backstrap and then the rear leg (ham) and shoulder.

My wife is making the initial skin cuts. 1 down the length of the spine and two perpindicualr to spine in front of shoulders and at the front edge of the hams. The longer you carry those skin cuts down the shoulders and hams the easier it is to get at the them. To take the Shoulder off simply carry skin cut down the leg to the knuckle. Then cut behind the shoulder blade and simply pull it upward from the chest. It will still be attached under the arm/axilla by the skin and you will then need to skin down to the knuckle on that side. Then just cut through the knuckle and you have a loose shoulder. The hams are a bit more difficult but not much. In the following pic I am cutting out the backstrap. Just behind my right hand there is a deep diagonal cut infront of the leading edge of the ham. To remove the ham skin down like the shoulder, then take your knife and insert the point of your knife at the top of that diangonal cut and aim down toward the belly. Use the side of the blade to follow the bone of the pelvis. It will be shaped sort of like a wide short "W" with the base on the spine. Pull the leg forward and follow the cut down the back of the pelvis cutting around the anus. Once this cut is made reach in with your finger and find the ball of the hip joint and cut through the socket with your knife. Now elevate and cut away at the muscle until it swings free and then skin the under side of leg just like the shoulder before.




The pig at the front of the pic by my wife is already done. You can see the back strap has been removed and the front shoulder is visible with the skin folded down on that side. She is making the long cut in the skin down the length of the spine. She has already made the cut perpendicular to the spine in front of the shoulders and is now beginning to reflect the skin away from the spine as she cuts. I have already removed the backstrap on ones side of my hog and am about to reflect the skin on the other side.