Ok, I have another gross story for those of you who liked my last story about my husband and dad's deer they shot (cough, cough, EMILY). This one does not involve any pictures though, because I think most people probably couldn't stomach it. So here goes....
Since we raise beef, it is only natural that we use our own beef to fill our freezers as well. Usually at least once a year in November our family butchers beef, and cuts it up so we can have meat the rest of the year. Here is a detailed account of the process. I warn you again in advance that if you have a weak stomach, you shouldn't read this.
1. Pick out the cow.
2. Isolate the cow from the rest of the herd and bring it into a small pen all by itself.
3. Shoot the cow in the head. If you miss, shoot again.
4. As soon as you shoot it and it falls down you run up to the cow and slit its throat with a GIANT knife. This helps the blood drain faster so it doesn't spoil the meat.
5. Let the cow bleed for a bit and die.
6. Cut open the belly from the ribs down to the poop chute and watch the guts spill out. This is gross, yet oddly fascinating.
7. Detach the guts from the inside of the cow and scoop them out.
8. Skin the cow. This year my in-laws are going to get the hide tanned to hang somewhere in their house. Usually we just get rid of it.
9. Cut off the head.
10. Hang it in the shop. It has to sit for a week so the meat can settle properly and so the body temp cools down. We are able to hang it in our shop right now because it is cold enough...colder than freezing temperature, so the meat won't spoil. If the weather is too warm, we keep the carcass in our neighbor's walk-in refrigerator.
11. Wait for a week.
So, this gives you a picture of how the whole process of butchering works. Next week, I'll go over how the cutting up process works. And I will include pictures with that.
Sorry if this grossed you out. But one of the whole reasons I started this blog was because my family in the cities (LA and NY) were oh-so-curious about my life on the farm. So, I'm just pleasing my readers, people :)
Sorry doesn't freak me out. We had to do this to a horse in college. Not for meat, but for learning. I have pictures of that if you want me to post them.
ReplyDeleteI was oddly fascinated by reading that...I wonder if that means that something's off about me, but I'll just not think too hard about that. Oh, and when I want a burger for lunch, I just walk across the street (literally) to Wendy's. No walk-in freezer round hurr. MT v NY.
ReplyDeleteAgain, ew. But thank you for not posting pictures. :) I find it funny that this Wyoming girl was way more squeamish than your NY and CA family members. If I didn't genuinely love a huge juicy steak on occasion I would dabble in vegetarianism.
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