Memories of an Oklahoma Farm Boy

by Virgle Chappell

BUTCHERIN' TIME

Though my dad, Leon Chappell, was a farmer, we didn't always have meat to eat during the Depression (1930's). Mom always had chickens, so an old hen or a "fryer" might be prepared for the table or often there was "Cotton Tail" rabbit. Though there were many more "Jack" rabbits at the time, they were tough and often carried disease so we didn't eat them. There was one time when my friend, Emmett Andrews and I were left to care for ourselves so we tried our hand at preparing a "Jack" rabbit. All I remember is the rabbit was pretty tough and we had to slice the gravy with a knife. 

I always liked biscuits and gravy for breakfast but when I complained to mom that she hadn't prepared any, she would say, "I need meat to fix gravy" I didn't understand and ate my oatmeal instead.

It was a special time when there was a hog to butcher and there were always neighbors who came in to help. Dad would dig a hole in an open place in the yard about six inches deep where a fire could be built. Three rocks about five or six inches high would be placed around the fire. A 55 gallon barrel with the top cut out would be placed on the rocks and filled about 2/3 full of water. The water was left to heat until it began to boil. A large board or perhaps a door would be placed on saw horses or some other stand near the barrel. Butcher knives were sharpened and a pole hoist was set up about 7 feet high. Wire stretchers were used as pulleys to hoist the hog up for butchering.

When all had been prepared and the neighbor, Mr. Gebhardt, had arrived dad would bring the hog over near the site. Either of two methods were used to kill the hog. Either it was hit in the head with the blunt side of an ax or it was shot between the eyes. Either method killed the hog immediately. The first act following the killing was to "bleed" the animal. A sharp butcher knife was inserted into the hog's throat and the jugular vain was cut. All the warm blood would drain onto the ground. Some people would save the blood and (as I remember, make blood cheese?) but we never saved the blood. As an aside, we would never eat meat which had not been bled. Rabbits or chickens were always beheaded immediately and left to bleed or they could not be eaten. It is still nauseating to me to be eating a piece of chicken and find a place of blood concentration or a broken bone.

After the "bleeding" the barrel was placed at a slant by removing one of the rock supports. The carcass was them lifted and placed head first into the scalding water. This operation was necessary to loosen the hair on the skin. After a few minutes of pulling the body up and down in the water, it was pulled out, turned around, and the hind quarters scalded. When the hair was loose, the body was placed onto the board where the hair would be scraped off the entire body, including the feet and ears. Nothing would be wasted. Butcher knives were used to scrape off the hair and there was an urgency to work as fast as possible as the hair would "set" again, after a period of time.

Tendons were opened on the hind legs and the hooks on each end of a "single tree" were fastened into them. The wire stretchers were attached to the center of the single tree and the hog hoisted until it hung head down about a foot off the ground. 

A large dishpan or tub was placed under the hog's head and dad would remove the head. The head was not a choice part of the meat, but it was nearly always used. Hog's head cheese, fried tongue and, I think, pickled ear were products of the head. A large tub was placed under the hog and the intestines were removed by slitting the stomach all the way from the hind legs to the throat and allowed to fall into the tub. The heart and liver would be kept and some of the intestines would be cleaned and saved for the preparation of sausage. I really don't remember mom keeping the liver, but it could have been because we kids would not eat it.

The carcass was then sawed in two as it was separated down the spine. It was then cut into parts and each part had it's own preparation for preservation. This preparation took hours to complete and actually required more time than the actual butchering. Mom had a hand cranked sausage grinder for preparation of sausage, and hams, bacon and shoulders had salt rubbed into them so they would keep.

Even much of the skin was used. Pork rind was used for special things. Rather than using bacon to add flavor to brown (Pinto) beans, a slab of pork rind about 6 inches square was cooked with the beans. Often this rind would also be eaten with the beans. The rind was also used in the preparation of lye soap which mom would prepare soon after butchering. "Cracklin's" was a by product which was that part left of the skin after the fat was removed. We children would eat these in limited amounts as it didn't take much to satisfy the taste. To make the lye soap Mom would use a "boiler" (a tub like container about three feet long, a foot wide and 18 inches deep). A fire was prepared outside and the boiler placed on it, where fat would be rendered into lard or lye soap. After salting, the hams, shoulders and bacon could be stored in the smoke house for future use.

That evening was always looked forward to. The neighbors would be given some of the meat for their own tables since they had given their help throughout the day. Mom would then prepare a meal for us which was special. She would fry pork chops for everyone to have all they wanted to eat. She would caution us that we could eat too much "fresh meat". But since meat was often a rare treat for our table, everyone always ate more than they should. 

I know this is too long and detailed a report, but that's the way it was, as I remember it.

Virgle L Chappell