Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades All in 4 days work!

Went on a hog hunt with a bunch of guys last week. Twenty-five guys shot 60 pigs. Since many of the guys flew in and did not take meat back, I brought back three 160 qt. coolers packed the brim with pork. I bet there was in excess of 600 lbs of meat. I cut up and wrapped pork Tuesday thru Thursday









Back to the Salt Mines this AM.

used my recently acquired Nessmuk set to take the hide off these two skulls.













ya!


GWB

Love it!

You keep it in coolers all that time?

The hogs were shot between Thursday morining and Saturday morning.

They were skinned and in a walk-in cooler within 2 hours of being shot. I put a layer of ice on the bottom and continue to pack ice around the meat as I fill up the cooler. I elevate the end opposite the drain plug and continuously add ice. As a rule I "wet age pork 5 or 6 days. I started putting up the meat on Tuesday and put up the last yesterday.


The skulls were also kept on ice and then washed off with a water hose to get most of the dirt and sand off. They are boiling as I write this. I'll take them out, blast them with a water hose, then blow out the remaining detrius with an air nozzle. Later I will immerse in hydrogen peroxide.


Cheap and easy



and make great "props"

ya!

GWB

Wonderful! Great blades out there too. I love orange handled knives.

I like the Nessmuck set! who made them?

That Nessmuk combo does look handy! I think Gdub said those were from Gene Ingram. Good looking pair of blades.

Hope you didn't get your golf cart dirty.

I appreciate your concern,


but no prob, bub,



it washes off, just like blood!


ya!


GWB

Good stuff Gee'.

That orange Reno and 16 Bore is a great set. Lanyards match pretty well, too...

Dub, that's a lot of processing! Can I ask what you brake most of that down to? Lot of sausage or just cuts of meat? Also do you vacuum seal or wrap?

Hog skulls are cool!

Jason, first thing I did with my new Westy Ingram was pull that ugly cumbersome leather thing for a lanyard off the knife and slip one of yours back in its place. Now it's complete - don't be weird about that!

I was eye-balling those too.
They look like worked over Green River blanks to me.

I've put handles on several of those but I never thought about modifying the handles......until now.

That boning blade is one of my favorites....I see a project or two in my future this summer.

https://www.knifemaking.com/product-p/rh2317.htm



The paring blade makes a nice little inexpensive B&T too.

Lot depends on the size of the pig and the mood I am in.


The pig in the picture above was a sow whose live weight was weighed at 169#. I had the guides split it longways after removal the hinds.

On a pig like that I will take the tenders. Sometimes I wrap them in freezer paper, other times I vacumn pack. I will prep it for cutting pork chops but cutting the ribs at the junction of the loin, front to back. I then make cuts perpendicular to the loin. I will usually cut two ribs thick. I like thick chops.

Other times I will take the whole loin and cut it in half after separating from the carcass. Either vaccumn pack or wrap in freezer paper. The hinds and loins I wrap in freezer paper, usually triple wrapping. Depending on how I will prepare it for the table determines whether I bone it out after thawing.

ya!

GWB

FG

the Nessmuk combo set is Gene Ingrams interpretation of said style blade. It is A2 steel @ 60RC and desert Ironwood scales. The off blade is similar to his 5"Kingfisher. I like A2 steel. The Nessumk is 3/16" stock.

Here are a couple of Nesmuk style blades that I have blanked out of Old Hickory skinner/butchers and/or Russell Green River Skinners.



These would most likely be 1095 Carbon steel.

and a set "hafted" by VinceM in African Blackwood





ya!

GWB

Good stuff, GDub. Nice knifes too. Keep on perforating those pigs!

Those are all very nice.

I don't have Gene's skills but I'm gonna try to make something similar out of a couple of GR blades when my old arthritic hands thaw out this summer.

I've thought about modifying Old Hickory's in the past but never got around to it.
I love good ol Carbon Steel.

Stay after them pigs....from what I've seen you have your work cut out for you trying to keep the populations in check in TX.

Dub, any advice on the purchase of a vacuum sealer?

How much do you want to spend.

Just like anything there is appliance grade, commercial grade and pro-grade.

One can spend from under $100 to thousands.


I am using the 4800 series (4880 kit) Food Saver Machine. It had a decent rating (different tests rate savers differently and they are all over the place).

It is simple to use. Seals and vacs automatically. Works great for what I do.

If you are going to be dry aging using the Umai dry bags you will want to invest in a manual machine.

https://www.drybagsteak.com/dry-age-cure-vacuum-sealer-comparison.php


I have been thinking of getting into Charcuterie more and more and will be picking up some of the Umai bags and a Foodsaver 2400 series manual machine to accompany my 4800 series.



Several pork bellies I recently dry cured to make home-made bacon. It turned out really well.


Using the vacumn bags will spoil ya vs. wrapping in freezer paper on the small stuff!

ya!


GWB