Sue, Ted is sharpening the knife!! How come you're not hoppin' in there! <VBG!> Just kidding! I still run and hide for the actual shot, but after that, I was all over it.
Bob got me a special little skinning knife with a replaceable blade, which I hope is sharpen-able. It certainly did an excellent job, but it was slowing down at the end. The hunting knife that I used, I thought had been professionally sharpened, then unused, but the point would barely pierce the hide, so yes, all the tool will be gone over before cutting and honed during. My kitchen knives won't cut a tomato skin! <VBG!> We have a barn with a loft, and a 1/2 ton electric chain hoist that runs out the front on a trolley. We call it our Geezer Barn. Got too old for packing sacks of feed up the ladder, over the shoulder! That was the clear deal for this job. Because we're so stuck on spring grassfed meat, we really do have an issue with the weather, and our new cooling setup seems to work perfectly. But that leaves us in the dilemma of needing a 3rd freezer - one dedicated for cooling. We also got a heavy duty grinder some time ago. This will be our first chance to use it. Have a sausage recipe all picked out! MMM!! Barb ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 5:32 PM Subject: Re: [blackbelly] Reluctant Butcher > Barb, > Julian is right about what he said. We do ours all the time ourselves. > Ted > is constantly sharpening that knife!!!!!We have 2 posts in the ground > and a > board across the top. We use Rachet tie downs to hoist the carcass up > so we > can do the skinning and necessary preparation outside. We use the hose > to > clean off the carcass ( Julian - a power washer would be excellent to > have > for that!!). Then we have a chain with a hook in our shop which we can > hoist > up again to do the actual butchering. We usually start in the early > morning > when it is cool out. We usually take out the loins and then just > quarter the > carcass and lay it in a freezer to cool it down so we can do the rest > of the > butchering. It does take time but it is well worth it. We grind up our > own > ground lamb and cut our roasts, etc. The only thing Ted says we really > need > to invest in is a new meat saw!!!! > > Good luck in your endeavor - it's well worht it. Sue > > > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info > > _______________________________________________ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
