December 7, 2012 Coats Museum News
Last week you were briefly introduced to a farm event called “hog killing” which was detrimental to the farm family for it provided an annual “in home” grocery store containing hams, shoulders, ribs, pork chops, liver pudding, souse meat, bacon, lard and cracklings. Did I leave anything out? Were the tender loins saved or were they the choice part of the hog that were eaten while still fresh?
Shall we continue our journey with the farmers as they begin the first day of hog killing by getting out of bed before sunrise. The water was heated in the vat and wash pots. The first hog was run into an enclosed wooden drag. Special care had been taken not to let it get excited or overheated. Bad for the curing process the old timers would say. Once the hog was carried to the killing area, it was either shot in the head or knocked out. This sounds cruel but it had to happen before the butcher knife was use to stick the hog in the throat. After it had bled well, a couple of men would move the dead hog to the vat that contained water that was heated to 140 to 150 degrees F. Some farmers placed the hog on two chains about the size of well chains. Did someone ask, “What are well chains?” The workers would then roll the hog into the water. They would sprinkle the crushed resin on one side of the hog. After a few minutes, they would work the chain in such a manner that the hog would roll over in the hot water and the other side was dusted with resin and floated in the water. After this process, the hair was easily removed from the skin of the hog when the men used hand scrapers. Some farmers preferred to place the hog on boards near the vat to scrape off the hair. Hot water from the wash pot was used to scald the skin that did not get enough heat in the vat. This hair was normally around the feet and head.
The next step required a man to slash the hind foot area and cut the hamstring. The gamble was inserted to lift the hog to the gallows where one side of the gamble was removed and then replaced over the gallows to hold the hog suspended. One man would split the abdomen in order to remove the intestines so they could b be prepared for stuffing sausage.
Working the chitterlings began with placing the intestines in a tub and taking them away from the killing area. A group of women usually worked in this area where a long bench was placed near a trench to hold the contents as they cleaned and prepared the chitterlings for stuffing sausage. After the intestines were cleaned, they were placed into salt water and soaked overnight. The next day some of the small intestines were turned inside out and carefully scraped with very dull knives in preparation for the sausage. It took a skilled person not to puncture the intestine.
The liver, heart, and lungs were hung and worked by another helper. While all this outdoor work was going on in the cold, several women were inside the warm house cooking a feast for the mob of people working the hogs. The menu could have been anything from chicken stew to the sweet breads from the hogs.
After the gutting of the hogs, the next step was to remove the head and feet of the hog. The hog was them split down both sides of the backbone. The fleet was pulled from around the rib cage: and the tenderloin was removed. The hog was blocked, cut into shoulders, sides and hams. These parts cooled over night on benches in the smoke house. If no trimming was done the first day because the meat had not cooled, that was the first task on day two of the hog killing.
The men used their sharpest knives to trim and shape the hams, shoulders, and sides. The trimmings were skinned and the lean was set aside to be ground into sausage. The fat was cut into small pieces to be cooked into lard. The small chunks of fat, about an inch square, were put into a large iron pot that was heated over wooden coals. Once the pot was full of the fat chunks, someone had to stir the meat with a wooden paddle to make sure the meat did not stick. The longer the meat cooked, the more fat cooked from it until all that was left were little fried cracklings. These cracklings were scooped from the hot grease and placed into a white bag where two people twisted the ends in opposite directions to compress the remaining fat from the cracklings. They were then placed in a container and stirred constantly to prevent their scorching.
While that process was going on, someone else was removing the hot grease from the pot and pouring it into tin containers called lard stands that were setting in containers of cold water to cool the grease. Some of the cracklings were grounded while others were left whole which were used to make crackling bread. Housewives took pride in their grounded crackling balls which were often eaten with a cold sweet potato.
If the sausage was grounded on the farm, that process was begun before all the hogs were trimmed. If the meat was taken to town to be ground, the sausage was mixed and seasoned at the butcher shop. If grounded on the farm, the farmer used his homegrown red peppers and sage and mixed them with salt and black pepper. This required hand mixing in large wooden tubs.
Once some of the sausage was ground and mixed with seasonings, some of it was fried to taste to make sure it was properly seasoned. A sausage stuffer was secured to a table with large nails. The stuffer held about ten pounds of meat. When the handle was turned, it pushed sausage out of a small tube at its base. The tube was about six inches long upon which was slid the chitterlings very tightly. Turning the handle too fast caused the sausage to rush into the gut and caused it to burst. A skilled arm was needed to crank the handle and not everyone could slide the guts onto the tube and manage the gut as it filled with sausage. A good team could stuff sausage in a hurry. Once the sausage was stuffed, it was hung on sticks in the smoke house to dry. The sides, shoulders, and hams were salted down to cure in salt in that same smoke house.
The third day was a cleanup day. Why did they call the building a smoke house? Why did some households pack sausage in jars of grease? How did electricity and freezers change hog killings?
A special thank you goes to Hilda Pope for her donation to the museum to honor the memory of her dear friends-Helen Carroll, Nellie Carroll and Joe Lee. Thanks goes to the Sorrell family for their donation to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Margaret Daniels Baker and Joe Lee. Don’t forget to give a Coats Museum Christmas memorial or honorarium for someone this year. Lynda Butler, Becky Adams, Nell and Bill Williams, Jonah and Alice Johnson, and Maude and Lentis Sorrell have already been remembered this Christmas.
,
Last week you were briefly introduced to a farm event called “hog killing” which was detrimental to the farm family for it provided an annual “in home” grocery store containing hams, shoulders, ribs, pork chops, liver pudding, souse meat, bacon, lard and cracklings. Did I leave anything out? Were the tender loins saved or were they the choice part of the hog that were eaten while still fresh?
Shall we continue our journey with the farmers as they begin the first day of hog killing by getting out of bed before sunrise. The water was heated in the vat and wash pots. The first hog was run into an enclosed wooden drag. Special care had been taken not to let it get excited or overheated. Bad for the curing process the old timers would say. Once the hog was carried to the killing area, it was either shot in the head or knocked out. This sounds cruel but it had to happen before the butcher knife was use to stick the hog in the throat. After it had bled well, a couple of men would move the dead hog to the vat that contained water that was heated to 140 to 150 degrees F. Some farmers placed the hog on two chains about the size of well chains. Did someone ask, “What are well chains?” The workers would then roll the hog into the water. They would sprinkle the crushed resin on one side of the hog. After a few minutes, they would work the chain in such a manner that the hog would roll over in the hot water and the other side was dusted with resin and floated in the water. After this process, the hair was easily removed from the skin of the hog when the men used hand scrapers. Some farmers preferred to place the hog on boards near the vat to scrape off the hair. Hot water from the wash pot was used to scald the skin that did not get enough heat in the vat. This hair was normally around the feet and head.
The next step required a man to slash the hind foot area and cut the hamstring. The gamble was inserted to lift the hog to the gallows where one side of the gamble was removed and then replaced over the gallows to hold the hog suspended. One man would split the abdomen in order to remove the intestines so they could b be prepared for stuffing sausage.
Working the chitterlings began with placing the intestines in a tub and taking them away from the killing area. A group of women usually worked in this area where a long bench was placed near a trench to hold the contents as they cleaned and prepared the chitterlings for stuffing sausage. After the intestines were cleaned, they were placed into salt water and soaked overnight. The next day some of the small intestines were turned inside out and carefully scraped with very dull knives in preparation for the sausage. It took a skilled person not to puncture the intestine.
The liver, heart, and lungs were hung and worked by another helper. While all this outdoor work was going on in the cold, several women were inside the warm house cooking a feast for the mob of people working the hogs. The menu could have been anything from chicken stew to the sweet breads from the hogs.
After the gutting of the hogs, the next step was to remove the head and feet of the hog. The hog was them split down both sides of the backbone. The fleet was pulled from around the rib cage: and the tenderloin was removed. The hog was blocked, cut into shoulders, sides and hams. These parts cooled over night on benches in the smoke house. If no trimming was done the first day because the meat had not cooled, that was the first task on day two of the hog killing.
The men used their sharpest knives to trim and shape the hams, shoulders, and sides. The trimmings were skinned and the lean was set aside to be ground into sausage. The fat was cut into small pieces to be cooked into lard. The small chunks of fat, about an inch square, were put into a large iron pot that was heated over wooden coals. Once the pot was full of the fat chunks, someone had to stir the meat with a wooden paddle to make sure the meat did not stick. The longer the meat cooked, the more fat cooked from it until all that was left were little fried cracklings. These cracklings were scooped from the hot grease and placed into a white bag where two people twisted the ends in opposite directions to compress the remaining fat from the cracklings. They were then placed in a container and stirred constantly to prevent their scorching.
While that process was going on, someone else was removing the hot grease from the pot and pouring it into tin containers called lard stands that were setting in containers of cold water to cool the grease. Some of the cracklings were grounded while others were left whole which were used to make crackling bread. Housewives took pride in their grounded crackling balls which were often eaten with a cold sweet potato.
If the sausage was grounded on the farm, that process was begun before all the hogs were trimmed. If the meat was taken to town to be ground, the sausage was mixed and seasoned at the butcher shop. If grounded on the farm, the farmer used his homegrown red peppers and sage and mixed them with salt and black pepper. This required hand mixing in large wooden tubs.
Once some of the sausage was ground and mixed with seasonings, some of it was fried to taste to make sure it was properly seasoned. A sausage stuffer was secured to a table with large nails. The stuffer held about ten pounds of meat. When the handle was turned, it pushed sausage out of a small tube at its base. The tube was about six inches long upon which was slid the chitterlings very tightly. Turning the handle too fast caused the sausage to rush into the gut and caused it to burst. A skilled arm was needed to crank the handle and not everyone could slide the guts onto the tube and manage the gut as it filled with sausage. A good team could stuff sausage in a hurry. Once the sausage was stuffed, it was hung on sticks in the smoke house to dry. The sides, shoulders, and hams were salted down to cure in salt in that same smoke house.
The third day was a cleanup day. Why did they call the building a smoke house? Why did some households pack sausage in jars of grease? How did electricity and freezers change hog killings?
A special thank you goes to Hilda Pope for her donation to the museum to honor the memory of her dear friends-Helen Carroll, Nellie Carroll and Joe Lee. Thanks goes to the Sorrell family for their donation to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Margaret Daniels Baker and Joe Lee. Don’t forget to give a Coats Museum Christmas memorial or honorarium for someone this year. Lynda Butler, Becky Adams, Nell and Bill Williams, Jonah and Alice Johnson, and Maude and Lentis Sorrell have already been remembered this Christmas.
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