28 Appalachian HOG-Killin Tricks Grandpa Never Wrote Down

🔗 Grandma never wrote hers down, so my wife Opal finally did. All 118 plus much more. Get em before they're gone: https://cecilrowe.com Cecil lays out the old mountain way with a hog — 28 hog-killin' and curing tricks his daddy and his papaw knew by heart and never once wrote on paper. From the frosty-morning scald to a seven-year ham hanging in the smokehouse, it's how the old-timers turned one hog into a whole winter's eating with nothing, not even the squeal, going to waste. And there's one thing he holds back to the very end: the aged country ham he put by at the very start, hung seven years with no icebox and no power. He never told a soul the whole of it — until now. In this one, Cecil covers: • The kill and the scald — the scalding trough, why they scalded instead of skinned, the chains and the scrapers, and kill day done right • Breaking down the hog — how much meat a hog really makes, the whole-hog cut map, fatback and leaf fat, and jowl bacon • Sausage and lard — making the sausage, the fifty-year press and the homemade stomper, rendering the lard, and the cracklins that come off it • The salt cure — the salt box that comes alive, salt cure versus sugar cure, reading the cure by color, and the secret that was always the proportions • Smoking and aging — the hot loft, the breathable wrap, cold smoke not hot, the smokehouse that's an ingredient, red pepper on the bare bone, and why a real ham is dark red • And the finish — everything but the squeal, and the seven-year ham, revealed These are the real secrets the old mountain folks knew — and now they're finally written down. Is there anybody left up your holler that still hangs a ham or renders their own lard? Tell us down in the comments where you're watching from. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Ham He Put By 1:48 The Scalding Trough 2:35 Why They Scalded Instead of Skinned 3:26 The Chain and the Scrapers 4:10 Kill Day, Done Right 5:03 How Much Meat a Hog Really Makes 5:53 The Whole-Hog Cut Map 6:43 Fatback and Leaf Fat 7:45 Jowl Bacon 8:32 Ready in the Casings 9:21 Making the Sausage 10:11 The Fifty-Year Press and the Homemade Stomper 11:03 Rendering the Lard 11:58 Cracklins 12:48 Pond Hoss 13:47 The Salt Box That Comes Alive 14:41 Salt Cure or Sugar Cure 15:38 Reading the Cure by Color 16:25 The Secret Was the Proportions 17:22 The Hot Loft 18:14 The Breathable Wrap 19:11 String It So the Rats Can't Reach 19:59 Cold Smoke, Not Hot 21:00 The Honest Modern Twist 21:51 Why Real Ham Is Dark Red 22:42 The Smokehouse That's an Ingredient 23:39 Red Pepper on the Bare Bone 24:33 The Seven-Year Ham, Revealed 25:36 Everything But the Squeal