Butchering in the Early Times

Times were different in the 1920’s and 1930’s and farmers just assumed they’d butcher sometime during the year. They usually fattened a good hog and calf for their meat. The butchering was a tedious process and if it wasn’t done correctly the meat could be destroyed.
At butchering time a large black kettle or barrel was filled with water and heated over a hot fire. A few people added pieces of iron to make the water hotter. If the water was too hot, it would “set the hair.”
There were a few tests that could be used to test the temperature. One test was to put a corncob in the water for a few minutes. If you could hold it when you took it out of the water, the temperature was right; if you couldn’t hold it, the water needed to cool.
When the water was the correct temperature, the men would lean a barrel and scald the hog. The knuckles on the hind legs were split so a gambrel could be hooked into them. The hog was raised from the ground by using a rope and pulley. The head and the hide were removed and the animal gutted.
Many people made cracklings when they butchered. They’d melt the fat to make lard. The fat was cut in small pieces and melted in a big iron kettle so the fat would be cooked out. The lard was then put in a crackling press or a lard press, to get even more lard out of the cracklings. When they were finished, the cracklings would be used to make cornbread.