Killing and Dressing Beef
The following tools are necessary for killing and dressing cattle: an ax, an 8-inch sticking knife, a skinning knife, a steel for sharpening the knives, a 28-inch meat saw, gambrel, and a block and tackle for hoisting up the carcass.
The first step in killing and dressing beef is to secure the animal so that it cannot possibly break loose. A strong halter, or new half-inch rope, tied around the neck and with one end tied to a ring in the floor, or to a tree, works very well. If the animal has a ring or a bar through the nose, as most cattle have in China, it should be further secured by tying with a strong rope attached to the ring or bar. The animal should be tied very short so that it cannot move its head to any extent.
Stunning is done in two ways. One method is to strike a heavy blow with a stunning ax, weighing about three pounds, made especially for the purpose, with an extension head about an inch in diameter which readily crashes through the bone covering the brain, and into the brain itself. The blow should be struck in the center of the forehead. An ordinary ax with a long handle, can be used, although the kind described above is best, in that it is sure to stun the animal, and thus is most humane. The other method which is commonly used in southern China, is to strike just back of the poll, and dislocate the atlas joint. This is just as effective as a blew on the forehead, if the blow is struck with enough force. Water buffalos have a very hard skull and for this reason are sometimes shot. The end of the gun should be held close to the head and carefully aimed at a point in the center of the forehead, where lines would cross if drawn from the base of the right horn to the left eye, and from the base of the left horn to the right eye.
The animal should be bled immediately after stunning or shooting. To do this properly requires practice. With the stunnedanimal lying stretched out on the floor, stand at its throat with the back toward its body. Place one foot against the jaw, and with the other hold back the front legs of the animal. Reaching down between the feet, lay open the skin from the breast toward the chin for a distance of about ten inches, using the ordinary skinning knife. Insert the knife with the back against the breastbone and the tip directed toward the spinal column at the top of the shoulders, cutting just under the windpipe, and about five or six inches deep. The vein and the artery cross at this point, and if they are severed, the blood will flow out very rapidly. When the vein has been cut below the windpipe, run a knife in on top of the windpipe and sever the blood vessels on that side also. If stuck too deep, the pleura will be punctured and the blood will flow into the chest cavity, causing a bloody carcass, which is not desirable.
The animal will bleed out if the blood vessels on one side only are cut, but it will bleed more quickly if those on both sides are severed. A little practice is required to do it properly, but when once learned it is not easily forgotten.
Bleeding can be accomplished, but not so rapidly, if the throat of the animal is simply cut, just back of the jaws.
Begin skinning the carcass as it lies on its side, by splitting the skin down the face from the poll to the nose. Skin the face back over the eyes on both sides and down over the cheeks. Cut around the base of the horns, leaving the ears on the hide. Split the skin from the chin down the throat to meet the incision made in bleeding. Skin jaws, sides of neck, and a little distance back of poll. Remove the head by cutting from just back of jaws to the depression back of the poll. The atlas joint will be found at this point, and may be easily unjointed by cutting the ligaments which hold it in place.
The carcass should then be rolled on its back and held there by a small stick about three feet long, with a sharp spike at the ends. One end should be stuck in the floor, and the other end braced against the brisket.
Split the skin over the back of the fore legs from between the dew claws to a point three or four inches above the knee. Skin around the knee and the shin, unjointing the knee at the lowest articulation, and skin clear down to the hoof. The brisket and forearms should not be skinned until the carcass is hung up. Cut across the cord over the hind shin to release the foot. Split the skin from the dew claws to the hocks, and up the rear part of the thigh to a point four or six inches back of the cod or udder. Skin the hock and the shin, removing the leg at the lowest joint of the hock. In splitting the skin over the hock, the knife should be turned down flat with the edge pointing outward to avoid gashing the flesh. While the carcass is stretched flat, it is well to skin down over the rear of the lower thigh, but no attempt should be made to skin the outside of the thigh until the hind quarters are raised. After the legs are skinned, split the skin over the midline from the breast to the rectum.
Begin at the flanks and skin along the midline until the side is nicely started. Then, with a sharp knife held nearly flat against the surface, and the hide stretched tightly, remove the skin down over the sides with steady, downward strokes of the knife. It is important that the skin be stretched tight with no wrinkles in it. Care should be taken to leave the covering of muscle over the abdomen on the carcass. Its presence on the hide is not entirely objectionable, but the carcass looks better and keeps better with it on. In “siding” a beef, it is customary to go down nearly to the backbone, leaving the skin attached at the thighs and at the shoulders. Skin over the buttock and as far down the rump as possible. Care should be taken at all times to avoid cutting into the flesh, or tearing the membranes covering it. If the meat is to be kept fresh for any length of time, mould will form in such cut places and will be hard to clean off. A coarse cloth and a pail of hot water should be handy while skinning, and all blood spots should be wiped from the surface. The cloth should be wrung nearly dry for this purpose, and the less water used the better.
Open the carcass at the belly with a knife and pull the small intestines out to one side. Open the brisket and pelvis with a saw or sharp ax. Raise the windpipe and the gullet and cut loose the pleura and diaphragm along the lower part of the cavity. The carcass is now ready to raise. Make an opening with a knife between the large tendon and the bone just above the hocks. Insert the endsof a single tree in the openings thus made. Hook one end of a block and tackle in the ring in the center of the single tree and hoist until the hind quarters clear the ground several inches. A gambrel, similar to the one used in hanging up a hog carcass, though larger and stronger, may be used instead of a single tree.
While the carcass is in this position, loosen the rectum and small intestines and allow them to drop down over the paunch. The fat lining the pelvis and the kidney fat should not be disturbed or mutilated. The intestines are attached to the liver, from which they may be separated with a knife. The paunch is attached to the back at the left side. It should be pressed down with sufficient force to tear it loose. Let it roll out on to the ground or floor, and cut off or draw out the gullet. Raise the carcass a little higher and take out the liver, first removing the gall bladder. Remove the diaphragm, lungs, and heart, and finish skinning over the shoulders, arms and neck. Wipe off all blood and dirt with a cloth. Split the carcass into halves with a saw, a cleaver, or a sharp ax. Wash out the inside of the chest cavity with warm water, and wipe it dry. Trim off all bloody veins or any scraggy pieces of the neck, and leave the beef to cool before cutting it into quarters.
The skins of cattle represent considerable value if properly treated. To save them in the north where cold weather prevails during the butchering season is not difficult, as they can be rolled up and kept frozen until disposed of. However, in the warm seasons, they should be spread out flat, hair side down, the legs, flanks, etc. stretched, and all parts rubbed thoroughly with salt. Particular pains should be taken to treat the entire surface of the skin. If more than one skin is to be salted, they should be salted one at a time and should be spread one on top of the other, with the hair sides together, and the skin sides together. Where only one hide is handled, the legs and head should be folded in and the hide rolled up. Enough salt should be used to cure the hide thoroughly if it is to be kept for any length of time. Ten to twelve pounds of salt will be sufficient for an ordinary hide.