Butchering Your Own Meat… Could You Do it? (Next Level Homesteading!)

Hey you guys this is Josh and Carolyn With homestaying family and welcome to This week's episode of The Pantry chat Food For Thought this week we are going To be talking about butchering your own Livestock at your own place like Actually doing it yourself getting your Hands into the process and uh you know Whether or not you can do it how to do It yeah and when you should start doing It so this is kind of more of a Need to Know Than A like technically how-to that Would be a different video and we may do Some more of those but this is more just To help you get started things to think About how to transition into butchering Your own meat from wherever you are in Your journey things like that that are Going to really help you approach this And it's it's a really important skill As a homesteading skill it's something That you can apply to different phases Of your homesteading journey and Something that uh in the end saves you a Lot of money when you're trying to buy Or raise good quality meat doing the Butchering yourself can save you quite a Bit and generally we've found use more Of your own meat a little harder to get Some of the cuts you might be used to But definitely you can use more of what You've raised well and let's be real Honest right here at this time in History with inflation being what it is

We're watching grocery prices just soar In some cases meat is one of those Things that is just going higher and Higher you know raising your own animals And being able to butcher them in your At home becomes a very good way to still Get that high quality food it becomes a Discussion we should all be having I Think well it doesn't even if you're not Able to raise your own meat yet if You've got a little bit of a property You could potentially even buy locally Raised meat and butcher it yourself in Order to save some money and get that Good quality meat in the freezer buy it In bulk when you buy a whole animal you Always get a better per pound price and Then you could process it yourself so That's still an option for some of you To get good quality meat into your Freezer or however you're preserving it Even if you can't raise it all yet yeah That's a great thought but before we Dive in all the way to the main topic Some Chit Chat first if you are not Interested in the chit chat or you don't Have time for it today we understand go Ahead and feel free to zip on forward a Few minutes into the main topic But how are you what have you been up to I'm good I'm tired I'm ready for winter And you know what first day of snow Today we woke up this morning and it was Snowing and we've accumulated an inch

And might be getting a few more so That's fun that's a change in season but We've been working to get the place Winterized ready for winter we got that Barn roof on which is really nice so our Hay our grain is protected we've got Some other things on the roof Butchering we've had two deer come in For the kids so far just had one come in Yesterday so yeah our daughter got her Deer yeah so it's helping her skin and In the beginning process of that so We're into butchering and of course we Process turkeys and geese yeah a few Days ago so those are in we've still got Pigs and sheep to do this year along With hopefully quite a bit more venison I think we've got five Hunters this year And we've got two venison in so a bit More there so really just thinking a lot About meat right now so it was topic is Relevant at least in our household and This time of year for a lot of people That are either hunting or processing Animals and And working on the next STS class which I'm excited about ah School of Traditional skills we can teach that so If you guys have been following along You'll know that school of traditional Skills is the other class platform that We run we launched with some other Creators which is really exciting so We're getting ready to release a new

Class well we're getting ready to film It it won't be released until January We're doing both so we're releasing it I'm sorry yeah okay we're talking we're Coming out that's right and Um yeah new classes getting ready to Release on sourdough bread by Maureen Diaz if you're not familiar with her God's good table check her out she's Worked with Sally Fallon for a lot of Years and Wesley price and been making Sourdough for uh 25 30 years yeah and That's great but I'm also excited about The class we're about to film here in a Couple weeks on herbal first aid this is With Dr Patrick Jones a lot of you guys Remember when he came on here he did a Couple Pantry chats with us he did a Couple how-to videos with us Homegrown herbalist and he's going to be Teaching a full class for school of Traditional First Aid really really cool Great thing for the homestead we all Need good first aid skills so this is Just going to have some you know who are First aid in it exciting but from using Herbal medicine and and simple herbal Medicine that you can grow yourself or Easily acquire for treating a lot of Different things so really excited about That we'll be filming that in a couple Weeks and of course we'll keep you Updated if you're not on the STS email List get over there that's where you're

Going to really stay up to date on Things right Um and if you're not a member yet check That out because we've already got a lot Of great instructors there yeah and just Because we're filming it here in the Next few weeks does not mean that it's Going to release the next few weeks yeah January Yeah yeah so so anyways that's that's What I've been up to what about you What's going on right just kind of the The same thing of like okay now it's Real Winter's coming yeah we're here and So people are transitioning in the house More yeah we've got a lot more people In-house all day Um which you know if you work at home And you homeschool and you everything Home And then the season changes this Drastically like this has been almost an Extended summer we had such a pleasant Fall and it went a really long time so Everybody was still outside riding bikes Jumping on the trampoline playing out in The yard sleeping out at nights right Until just a week or two ago week week And a half ago yeah and then all of a Sudden now it's like okay everybody is Inside almost all the time except for The little forays out into the snow but It's cold we have 10 degree weather on The forecast coming up here so you know

You get a little chilly the whole Atmosphere of the house changes and it Always takes me a little bit of Adjustment to be like You can't as easily say hey everybody go Outside you know when when it don't use That energy on the on the trampoline or Something absolutely now it's like okay I am I have to come up with creative Ways to keep them engaged and responsive One of those ways is we Seriously put a lot of energy diving Into school and we try to you know Obviously we start school a little bit Late because we live on the agricultural Calendar a lot more than most people do Definitely a lot more than the average School System calendar is and so we take This time to make up a little bit of That difference and to really focus get Ahead get extra done But it is a shift for everybody from This kind of Work and projects all day and free play Time outside to all of a sudden inside And focused on something like books Um so anyways that always takes a little Bit of navigation for Mom to keep maybe My own attitude in the right place but Also the rest of the House's attitude Just you know cheerful and relaxed even Though we've got to switch gear so yeah That energy the volume goes through the Roof even even for me working in the

House I'm working in the house more on The computer than things and people are Asking questions more and the volume's Louder and it it just takes takes a Little bit of adjustment to get into That wow it does yeah but it's good but It's good love winter time yeah we're Doing that and then you know I'm afraid I've made a big mistake here this year No Because this one's stressing me out a Little bit actually and that is that I I love my flowers and I love my bulbs And this spring when I was watching all My bulbs Bloom and thinking about where Else I want all the bulbs in the yard I Ordered Way too many bulbs okay some women have Problems with clothing and shoe buying I Think she's pretty cool she's not asking To go to Nordstroms He wants to plant flowers make sure I do Not have a credit card that attaches to A Bulb Store right or any kind of seed Store or seeds or plants it's dangerous Um but here's the thing is that When the bulb stores see where we live They kind of do zones by ZIP code and They think we live in a much warmer Zone Than our little micro climate right here And so I I wasn't thinking that far Ahead to make a little note in the Ordering note that says hey even though You think we're in zone six uh we're

Really not so please send this way Earlier than you want to send it so my Bulbs didn't get here until you know They started trickling in but they Didn't all get here until just last week And now there's snow on the ground and We have 10 degree forecasts weather and The ground's about to freeze so I have All these bulbs sitting in their boxes Nicely chilled in the garage But they should be tucked into the Ground and I'm honestly not really sure What to do about it besides to just pray We have some nice weather coming where I Can go tuck them in really fast even if It means putting them on the surface of The ground and covering with them with Compost I think we can do that I think We can kind of do just a sheet sheet Mulched Garden here where we like we Show in the video like we did near Cottage Garden and we take down the Grass it's on the edge of the driveway Right yeah and um you know do a row lay Down some of the paper and put the bulbs Right down and cover a good layer of Compost and then we may need a good Layer of shavings with chips I think the Challenge there is that that's going to End up being mounded in a spot that's Not really mounded didn't match but that May be what we need to do and I think They'll be okay if we just give them a Good give it a go like that I don't know

If you guys have any great advice for me I know some of you guys are really Knowledgeable about these things please Let me know can they sit in the garage Can I tuck them in first thing in the Spring haven't we done that I feel like We had some once that had the winter Through we got them late like there's Always a challenge here with the bulb Companies like you were saying and I Feel like we got some that we had ended Up having to win her through in the box If you I don't think they did all right We do but anyways if you have great Advice for me please put it in the Comments because I'd love to hear it so All right so to make sure we get through To everything today it's enough about You and me let's move on to one of our Subscribers here question of the day a From Mama mode on introduction to Dehydrating preservation 101 I remember Grandma canned in opening up Some things there was wax on top of the Food why was that what foods needed that Why am I not seeing that any more Ah that is an old-fashioned method of Food preservation generally reserved Only for high acid foods and that would Go right along with the open kettle Method of canning which is no longer Recommended which is why you're not Seeing it anymore but historically you Would take something like a high acid

Fruit preserve like a jam or a jelly you Would get that boiling in your pot and Then you would very quickly get it into A sterilized jar and then in order to Keep oxygen from hitting it or air from Getting into it along with mold spores Or Yeast or things like that that can Grow in that kind of acidic environment You would top it with a melted paraffin Wax wow and that would just seal it in So a lot of people talk about their Grandmas or great grandmas doing these Beautiful jams and jellies in like wine Goblets instead of in jars because they Could decorate with them but they would Just seal the top with the parents it Really is it really is a fun way but Nowadays they say not to do that because They want you to process a sit in the Jar you know as far as open kettle Method goes when it comes to high acid Foods like safely high acid foods Vinegar pickles Um You know jams jellies things like that The reasoning behind not doing it Anymore is because you get too many seal Failures and then you can end up with Mold or Yeast on the top it's important To remember that when we're dealing with These high acid foods bacteria cannot Survive in that environment so we're not Talking about botulism that's not a Concern as long as you're well away from

That 4.6 on the pH if you do not know What I'm talking about I have a really Good free canning series that teaches All of the science behind it we'll put The link below Um And so there's no bacteria concern there What you do have a concern with is molds And yeast and so you know you can get it To go fermenty and you know if you read Anna Green Gables there's a part where Marilla says certain preserves have to Be used up because she thinks they're Starting to work that means they're Starting to go fermented which means They're going to go alcoholic because The amount of sugar Um so I would say that it's a relatively safe Method if you're using high acid foods It's just one that's kind of frowned on Now because of the amount of failures You can get you know I think you're Smart enough to decide whether the Amount of failures is too high for your Liking or not Um but the government says eh just scrap The whole thing and process it with a Fresh lid instead so you're smart enough To look after your own best interest Regardless of what they say just be Smart about it yeah Cool okay well that was fascinating a Little bit of History yeah

Um main topic diving right in butchering Animals on your homestead but this is a Hard thing for some people to swallow Especially if they're raising their own Animals because they've kind of gotten To know them a little bit And there becomes a little bit of an Emotional attachment so I know for a lot Of people the first thing they're Dealing with getting over is this could I even do this could I even walk out and Go shoot something and then butcher it And process it and then proceed to eat It it's a good point and you know I Immediately think of a couple things There and two one if you are raising Animals that is having a proper Perspective of the animals we can enjoy Our animals we can love them treat them Well take good care of them but still Realize that they have a purpose and if We emotionally go past that realization That's where it gets hard for people Right and I think that's hard to divide That line of you know caring for them Enjoying having them around watching Them petting them sometimes and yet Still realizing that you know this Animal has a purpose it is here to serve Us and ultimately to feed us it does Take death to continue life on and the Plant World the animal world the human World the human spiritual world all of That so so we one have to wrestle with

That and be careful how attached we get Or getting attached in the right way I Would say you know our kids we all get Attached to our animals we love our Animals and even some of the ones that We Butcher and we're fond of them and we Pet them and talk to them some of them The smaller ones but we still realize That you know they're they're headed Somewhere and when you have that we've Watched our kids grow up with this and They handle it very very well yeah so if You're not familiar with that that's Important to to divide that emotionally The other thing and we were talking About this off camera that you can do is Buy an animal raised by a local farmer To start and butcher that you won't have That emotional attachment and that's That's great if you just want to you Know learn and not you know and not deal With having raised your animal and Matt Wrestle but just maybe processing Something that you haven't raised you're Not attached to it that's also a good Option if you don't have the ability to Raise your own animals but you would Like to get good quality meat in the Freezer and save a little bit of money So instead of buying from The Butcher And then hot from the farmer and then Having it butchered you could buy it From the farmer and butcher it right Even some Farmers might help you with

That on their property I mean you just Kind of have to look around so that Would be a step towards like a more Nameless like unknown animal that you Maybe don't have a relationship with Right exactly yeah and it's a good way To find out you know can you do you feel Like you can do this I mean I know you Can do it but different people you know Getting in this lifestyle that can be a Challenge that's a good way to start you Haven't invested the time in the animal Yet and that's a good way to just go Explore that subject and get some meat In the freezer I know for me that Um you know in different parts of our History when I have dealt with this in Different ways especially I think as a Mom and as a woman here I'm I'm spending a lot of energy like Bringing things to life and nurturing Things and keeping them alive there's This little bit of like dissonance to me To then go kill something but Um When you step back and you look at that Bigger picture and you kind of you kind Of touched on this that one All life requires death to continue you Know whether we're talking about the Sheep out in the field and it's required Death of something it's eating out there The plants are dying you know you can go A long ways with this

Um some some death of some sort was Required but the other thing is is this Animal is going to die It's going to die one way or another if It was out in the wild it would probably Die a miserable death for one most wild Animals do they either end up starving To death at the end of their life Because of a health issue or they're Chased down by a prey that really Couldn't care less if it's dead all the Way before they start eating it you know Um whereas we know that our animals have Had a great life while they've been with Us and we make sure the death is Extremely Humane and extremely quick and When I look at that maybe this is a Little like dark for some people but When I think about my own life and which Of those two options would I choose if I Had to die I don't want to like die a long drawn Out or scary painful death like you know Fast like that sounds kind of good to me That would be an option I think we would All choose if we were faced with that Decision and so when I put it in those Terms I think great life quick easy Death like and then nourishing the next Thing which would be our nourishing life Right more life to me it all kind of Falls into place and becomes you know in Context a much easier thing to handle Well I think it's a connection that

People need to make because I see a Disconnect and I see people that will Talk to about our life or they'll hear Oh you're butchering animals oh I can Never do that but they have no problem Going to the grocery store and buying a Piece of meat well here's the disconnect Most of that me from the grocery store Was raised in horrible conditions it did Not have a good life it's generally in Confinement type situations living in Unhealthy environments the chicken the Pigs the beef feedlots Um you know and so when you look at you Take what you're saying pain and if you Connect that and follow through you Realize that actually what you're Providing here we're providing a better Experience for the animal we're Providing a better ecological situation And we're providing better food for Ourselves or those that we're Interacting with and so I think that's Just that shift that people have to get A hold of and I try to talk to people About that that you know they go oh your Butcher I can never butcher my own food But well wait a minute you know you Could actually if you just saw the value In it and realize that actually you're Providing a much more valuable process For the life that that is ultimately Dying anyways to feed us so that that I Think that mentality can help to just

Understand that and I want to touch on Something that's probably controversial We'll get we'll get letters about this Okay and and that is can I call it the Disney syndrome this like Human storyline plots being placed into An animal world In movies and where we grow up with this Right we have our children watch this And it's kind of this Bambi Mentality syndrome the band Bambi Syndrome of where we really equate human You know characteristics to these Animals and yes we all have our our dogs Like and our dogs are you know pretty Much Personalities in our family we have These animals that really stand out to Us but even with that even with all Their quirks and their personality Traits they're not really living human Lives with the plot line that they show And so we we attribute all of this depth Of emotion and of concern and worry and Fear and things like that onto these Animals that they really just don't Experience well and I think that's where Balance is so is important because there There are these pendulums where okay we See Humanity mistreating animals we have These you know ways of raising animals That are very unhealthy very bad for Them it's not Humane and and so then we Tend to swing all the way over and get This kind of over glorified perspective

About about these animals and this Bambi Syndrome to just keep that wrapped up Short and there is actually a place in Metal and I think it's very biblical God Tells us to care about our animals but Obviously we're still they have they're Working for us they're feeding us and so There's a balance in there where we Don't have to be mistreating them but we Don't have to be getting way over here a Little woo-woo Um you know about it and there's good Balance so anyways I think we do need to Move on a little bit from the emotional Aspect of this to the kind of how do you Get started because I think there are a Few key things besides the technicals And again we're not really this isn't Really a how to butcher right it's kind Of how to get started so either you're Going to buy an animal and you're going To bring it home and you're going to Butcher it or you're going to buy an Animal and get some help from somebody If you've never done it before a lot of Farmers will help if you have the Opportunity to offer up your help for Free to somebody else who is butchering You know put that out there and say hey I'm happy to come work for a full day Just for the experience of learning that Is a great way to get started well That's a great way way to figure out do You really want to raise animals and

Process them yourself so that's a great Journey to go on you can also get that Experience through hunting if you know Anybody that's hunted you can go out and Hunt an animal shoot it bring it home And process it that way Or you raise your own and I think one of The key things to understand about Butchering at home is that it is not Going to come out like the butcher shop And that is okay so here's another kind Of emotional shift but it's very very Practical so however you're coming to This from if you're thinking about Butchering you just need to know off the Bat that is it some work and that the Home shop what you the tools you're Going to have at home unless you're Going to set up a butcher shop are Different and so you're going to get Different cuts and you're going to go About it a little bit differently and I Think you need to be okay with that Knowing that it's going to work Differently and you're going to have a Little bit of a different outcome this Was a little on most paralyzing for me At the beginning because you know you Get used to going to the grocery store And you will you're going to go get a Little like flank steak and a little of This and a you know a pork cutlet like Whatever it is you're gonna get but they All have these kind of nice names and

You know exactly what they're going to Look like and they're always going to Look the same every time you go to the Grocery store when you're faced with an Entire animal You know your ability to replicate that Becomes Um well it's a challenging thing for one But it's also maybe not necessary and it Creates a lot of extra stress so one of The best things that I know I've learned In the butchering process is to let go Of all of that and say it doesn't matter What it's called if it's a usable piece Of meat that I can use in the kitchen It's edible and it's great and it's a Wonderful thing now as you get more Refined you'll start learning oh we like This cut and we want to do this this way And if I slice this up this way it's Going to work better but you don't need To worry about starting there you just Need to get meat wrapped in your freezer So you gotta excuse me you've got to be Easy on yourself in light of that and I Was just having this conversation with Rachel with our daughter this morning Because I helped her skin and got it and Get it ready and it's hung overnight Outside in the in the barn and it's cold And good in there and but everybody's Busy this morning and her brothers were Busy and so she did and while she's been Around it a lot she's this is her first

Deer right she's not actually sat out There and been through the whole process Or directed it or directed it and she's Like what do I do the guys are busy and You're working and so I just had to take Her through it and what really helped Her was when I told her you know I gave Her some pieces here's uh you know you Take the shoulder off the neck and do a Few of these things I said but don't Worry about it coming out perfectly Don't stress out that you're gonna mess Something up you just you got to just do It and learn a little bit and so I think It's so important for you guys when you Approach this to you know you can do Your research you're gonna watch some Videos we don't have a lot of those Maybe we'll do some in the future but Brandon cheers a great guy to go check Out and there's some other good YouTube Channels on there you learn a little bit And you go do it and and don't be too Stressed on the butchering part you want To learn the kill part if you're going To kill yourself that is very very Important uh both for you know treat any Animal well that it's quick and it's Fast and so you do want to learn to do That properly and bleed the animal out So I'm kind of going backwards here a Little bit because I'm thinking of these Things but okay those are a couple Things to think about but when you get

To cutting the animal up into how it's Going to come into the kitchen of course You want all the things you want but You're learning don't stress about it You just do the best you can and you'll Learn as you go how to do that and Everything can boil down to ground meat Brown Burger ground lamb is great ground Pork is great and so you know you're not Going to waste anything if anything even Doing it yourself at home if you're if You cut all the meat off the bones and Take a little bit of time to be Meticulous you're going to get more out Of that animal than you will from The Butcher Shop absolutely so I think yeah I think that's that's like the biggest Thing to trip over is like you know like I want my steaks and I love my steaks We still send the beef a lot yeah Because I can't cut up a beef the way I Would like it I don't mind it with a Lamb with some of the other animals but I still want those beef steaks so we'll Send that out just because I don't have A cooler to chill it and the tools to Make good steaks so and that brings me To one topic that I really wanted to Cover today let's say somebody says all Right I'm ready I want to raise and Butcher my own meat but where do I start Yeah what type of animal would you Recommend starting with if you want to Do the whole process you don't want to

Go buy the animal from somebody else you Want to go ahead and raise it and get to It or maybe you already have animals and You've been raising them but you've been Sending them out to the butcher what Would you start with so I'm going to go Very basic you're a total newbie and Just starting chickens are the best Place to start okay because meat Chickens it's only an eight week eight To twelve week commitment and they're Small they're easy to handle and they're Going to be Fear Factor they're easy to Kill cleanly quickly and they're a Little bit different processing process But they're easy so that's like the very Beginning starting point if we're Talking like a larger animal you know a Ruminant or something like that Um it's going to be a pig or a sheep and That really depends on the land you have If you have a smaller space you know pay Eggs work pretty good you just any Animals you need to have a couple of Them so you should have at least two if You're raising them but pigs are great They don't take a lot of space And you certainly want good clean Conditions and everything But they're pretty easy to work with the Challenge with pigs depending on how You're going to go about it is dealing With the skin Pigs Don't skin the same Something like a sheep or a goat or a

Cow and so then you have to make that Decision of whether to do the scalding Method which is what we prefer or to Just still skin them out even though It's a little bit of a different process But it is a good start if you've got a Little more space and a little bit of Pasture at least of you know a larger Area and you can have a couple of sheep Sheep are great place to start for Raising they're easy to raise they're Generally fairly easy to contain and They're easy to handle as far as the Size of them you know you don't have to Go get the larger breeds even you can do A little bit smaller breed and you can Buy feeders we started out in the early Years we raise beef because we had a Large lease but we did feeders for sheep And pigs for many many many years we Brought in Young S Yeah And you can bring them in in the spring Late winter spring and feed them through To the fall and then process them so the Sheep are a great one because that Carries through to a lot of the farm Animals besides a pig and they're Manageable they're manageable in size You know they're they're great to learn On so that's that's where I would start Okay great good good rabbits might be Right in there somewhere too if you need

Something smaller but easy to process Rabbits are another one the processing On those is actually pretty simple and Straightforward because they're easy to Skin they're easy to skin and they the Body you know shape and the process is Actually very similar to something Larger more similar than say a chicken Or a turkey or something in that you're Going to take a lot of the same motions And the same steps just because of the Cavity and the way you're dealing with Everything even though you're not going To cut them up quite the same but good Place to get familiar with it and Another concern that a lot of people Have I know is the equipment required Yeah and this is something that's really Worth talking about because it's like so Many other things on the homestead you Can butcher something with like a pot of Boiling water and a good knife like in Some freezer yeah that's a good surface To work on and some freezer paper and You can get meat into your freezer with That as you get more advanced adding Tools is going to make things more Efficient uh prettier at the end nicer You know more comfortable to get through An entire butchering day all at once Because it's going to make it go faster But I know plenty of people who do Pretty much all their butchering with You know a knife a good knife what they

Have in their kitchen and maybe a meat Grinder that attaches to their KitchenAid and they make that if you're Doing a low amount yeah if you're doing Much you'll burn that out but well That's just it so you need a good Surface a table and and you can even Skin and eviscerate to gut the animal on A table sideways you see a lot of us Hanging it but if you you know you can Start just on the table with obviously a Smaller animal like a sheep or something Like that and a good knife and a couple Bins couple clean like we use bus bins You know food grade bus bins don't buy a Bus bin we're talking about you know Those things that they use in Restaurants with the bussers yup okay Okay just to clarify what a bus bin is Because that's all food grade and it's Really easy to clean all the way and I Think I think the key thing is is the Right knife to start with if you're only Going to start with one knife you need a Knife that is got a rounded a little More of a rounded blade and still has a Point and if you look at some of the Hunting knives out there most of them Are going to be that way there are sharp Smaller pointy knives but those are for Specific tools so if you need one I Would look at a hunting type knife or an Old butcher shop type knife not your Average kitchen knife that usually comes

Down to a point it doesn't have much Curve in the blade and you need that Curve when it comes to skinning a lot of Things and so that's a good all go Around just one or two of those is great Preferably a high not a stainless steel But a kind of an older more the carbon Steel high carbon that rusts a little Bit easier those knives Um Can it rests a little easier well That's like a negative well it does but Those and you'll see those and they'll Look junky but they're actually easier To work with than stainless steel Stainless steel is very very hard some Of the the modern Alloys they're finding A good mix between stainless and the old Carbon high carbon knives is how I know To refer to them but those older knives Sharpen much easier they dull a little Easier but they're much easier to keep Sharp so with that you need a sharpening System as well a stone or a steel at a Bare minimum but there's lots of good Inexpensive sharpening things so really With that and you do need a saw if You're going to do something like a Sheep generally I mean you don't have to I take that back you don't have to do That you can cut everything off cut all The meat off the bones and not even have It done that with venison lots and lots Of times but you're going to want a meat Saw and those don't have to be expensive

And they don't have to be powered they Can be you know fairly inexpensive Edition yeah just to me saw and yeah and I think one of the kids was using the Sawzall with a fine blade dude that Works fine too there you go um I think One other one because I know we're Running out of time on kind of just this Quick purview but that is wrapping and And learning to wrap and you know a lot Of people want to use vacuum sealers We've had nothing but trouble with Vacuum sealers for most cuts of meat Maybe ground where you can get it all Shaped just right but really good old Either double paper butcher paper or Cellophane plastic which is probably a Great way to start because you can Remove all the air and wrap it real Tight with cellophane and then some Butcher paper on the outer but you want Those two layers that's really really Important yeah and get it as as air free As possible try to stay away from going To like Ziploc bags that's the tendency When you're new because it's like I'll Just stuff it in a bag it doesn't keep You get way too much airflow around that Yeah then you get freezer burn you don't Want to waste your meat the other side Is just to kind of start to wrap this up Is you need a good freezer and it's Either an upright or a chest freezer but It needs to be a Sub-Zero freezer so

That it will last six months to a year It's you're you're when you're doing That level of meat you need it to last For a while and your regular freezer is Not made to keep meat that long at those Temperatures So whether we're talking about inflation And economics or we're talking about Self-sufficiency or just learning Old-fashioned skills Or even just eating really really high Quality food without you know breaking The bank to do it butchering your own Can be a really important step in Achieving all of those things making all Of that work on the homestead so we Really encourage you guys to get out There I know it's challenging but it's a Skill we should all be Reviving and Having again on the homestead so get Over it talk yourself through it go help A friend and jump right in and get to at Least knowing the skill of how to Butcher your own animals on the Homestead yep that's good yeah all right You guys well great hanging with you we Will see you next time sounds good Goodbye