How to butcher a hog class – Hog Harvest – Bakers Green Acres
Well, it’s a chilly fall day. The sun was out earlier and it looked so nice! Keith lit a fire in the cookstove for me, and there’re two chickens stewing on it. Layer hens who quit laying (see Chicken Run the movie) make the best soup and stew. After watching Chicken Run, Rachel is determined we need to make chicken pot pie. That’ll be dinner tomorrow night. Her 5 year old birthday night, as a matter of fact. This is our birthday week. Rachel turns 5 and Sam turns 12. As a present to Sam, last Saturday the Baker men went fishing on the west Grand Traverse Bay with Captain Bob Schlitts. They caught 4 lake trout and had a great time. While in Traverse City, they toured a sailing ship and explored a salmon laden stream. It was a great birthday day, ended with fresh trout eaten around a campfire with great company (all of us including Kyle and his girlfriend).
Today I spent some time doing some ground work for the Pigstock TC event coming up in November. It’s going to be unlike the previous Pigstocks, with several presenters besides the Wiesners on the second two days. Pigstock is a three day class focussed on the Mangalitsa hog. You will get to see what makes a Mangalitsa unique, plus doing the hands-on processing of several hogs from start to finish. The Wiesner’s specialize in a traditional “old-world” style of processing that utilizes everything on and in the pig except the squeal. Christoph will be teaching seam butchery as a way to break down a carcass. It’s a technique of taking the pig apart by muscle groups rather than bony landmarks. This leaves cuts that are designed for curing, something that will be well explored on the 2nd and 3rd days. More on that as the details are nailed down. Check out the website, or check back here for developing details. You can follow the links on the website, facebook, or let us know, if you want to attend. From experience, if you are at all interested in world-class pork products, you won’t want to miss this event!