Hi all, The several conversations here about slaughtering hogs and what to do with it all afterwards got me to thinking. After a bit of research I confirmed what I suspected. Years ago I learned a LOT about the hows and whys of many of the procedures in killing and processing the meat. I have found a newer version of the guide I used that was published in 1973. For a mere four bucks you can purchase the Morton Salt guide to meat cutting and curing. Now I have not seen the new version, but the old one I have includes killing, meat cutting, and curing the meat, plus a LOT more info for not only hogs, but also veal, beef, and lamb. This contains a wealth of information helpful to anyone who contemplates doing this work. And all for a mere four bucks. More than worth the price! I simply cannot recommend this information highly enough. Morton Salt company has made this booklet available so cheap to help their sales of their salt and curing products. I can say that they are first rate products and certainly do what is advertised. Buy the booklet. Buy their curing products. Expect success in your meat production beyond your expectations. http://www.c-els.com/sfCatalog.asp?sn=E032120020070034&pchid=10196 bearkiller
Of course, those of you who have collected all the old Mother Earth News may know that the Morton Salt guide to meat curing was reprinted over several issues of TMEN back in the '70's, not long after they discovered the guide when it was first published by Morton Salt. For those who are too new or don't have all the old issues, everything published in all the TMEN are available online and can be found here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/index.php?page=archive Just type in "meat curing" and go to all the articles. Enjoy! bearkiller
I see it's on backorder...anyone know where to get BIG bags of salt for curing? Mortons there sells 45 lbs for $45 plus shipping which has to cost a fortune. Any cheaper alternatives?
I bought a load of butcher tools and the retired butcher threw in a copy of the Morton book. It is a great book. I looked at the Morton site once because a friend wanted his own copy. Here's the deal. That $4.00 book costs like this: $3.99 Book $2.50 Handling for less than $25 $7.72 ground shipping to my place $13.21
We preserved hogs through winter and up until about August using Mortons Sugar cure salt that was rubbed into the hams shoulders and sides. You had to cure it or can it to keep it in warm weather. That sounds awful high for straight salt to pack the meat in. There are some on here that do that.
I like the morton products, they are so easy to use. Poorme, you might check with your local grocery store. They might be able to special order it for you and save you part of the shipping cost at least.
