Home Butchering and Meat Preservation

Introduction

1 Why Raise Your Own Meat-Producing Animals?

2 Which Animals Should You Raise for Meat?

3 Tips on Raising Meat Animals

4 Are You Ready to Slaughter?

5 Poultry: Killing, Cleaning, Cooking

6 Can You Skin a Rabbit?

7 Butchering Goats, Sheep and Venison

8 Pigs: Slaughtering and Cutting Up

9 Veal and Beef: Slaughtering and Cutting Up

10 Making Your Living as a Home Butcher

11 Professional Slaughtering

12 Freezing

13 Canning

14 Curing

15 Meat By-Products

Appendix

Index

This complete guide to home butchering and meat preservation is the perfect place to start you on your way to enjoying more economical, convenient, nutritional, and delicious meat. Home Butchering and Meat Preservation explains in step-by-step detail all the ins and outs, the pleasures and the pitfalls of selecting, raising, caring for, breeding, slaughtering, butchering, preserving, and cooking poultry, rabbit, goats, sheep, venison, pigs, veal and beef. Everything you need to know to carry on the age-old tradition of raising and butchering animals for personal consumption or even as a side-line business is clearly illustrated with line drawings and photographs.

It provides professional tips and techniques, and invaluable advice on what equipment you will need to butcher any type of animal, as well as instructions for equipment and techniques for killing, hoisting, skinning, gutting, aging, cutting, and storing beef.

Meat preservation is also covered, with information on freezers and freezing technology, building your own smoker, canning, drying, salting, curing, making jerky, and more. Some by-product uses such as soap, pillow stuffing, and gelatin are also covered. There are even some 'old time' recipes for making the most out of the meat and by-products.