Lamb Slaughtering, Cutting, Preserving, and Cooking on the Farm

Part 1

LAMB Slaughtering, Cutting, Preserving, and Cooking on the Farm

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FARMERS’ BULLETIN NUMBER 2264 PREPARED BY AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

CONTENTS

Selection and care of animal before slaughter 3 Preparing for slaughter 4 Slaughter 6 Chilling the carcass 21 Cutting 22 Freezing and frozen storage 38 Meat cookery 38 Preserving lamb pelts 40

PRECAUTIONS

The Law

The Federal Meat Inspection Act requires that all meat which is to be sold or traded for human consumption must be slaughtered under inspection in an approved facility under the supervision of a State or USDA meat inspector. A person can slaughter his animals outside such a facility only for use by him, members of his household, his nonpaying guests and employees. He is not allowed to sell any portion of the carcass. For more details about these regulations, consult your county extension agent or write to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C. 20250.

This bulletin supersedes Farmers’ Bulletin 2152, “Slaughtering, Cutting, and Processing Lamb and Mutton on the Farm.”

Washington, D.C. Issued August 1977

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No. 001-000-03709-9

Lamb Slaughtering, Cutting, Preserving and Cooking on the Farm

By H. Russell Cross, Research Food Technologist, Curtis Green, Meat Marketing Specialist, William R. Jones, Extension Meat Specialist, Roger L. West, Associate Professor, Meat Science, and Anthony W. Kotula, Chief, Meat Science Research Laboratory, (Photographs by Donald K. Rough and Terry K. O’Driscoll)

Meat Science Research Laboratory, Northeastern Region, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD. 20705.

Standardization Branch, Livestock Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, Washington, D.C. 20250.

Cooperative Extension Service, Auburn University, Auburn, AL. 36830.

Department of Animal Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 32611.

Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Northeastern Region, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD. 20705.

SELECTION AND CARE OF ANIMAL BEFORE SLAUGHTER

Several factors should be considered before slaughtering a lamb for home consumption. The most important considerations are health, care of the animal prior to slaughter, kind of animal (lamb or mutton), and expected meat yield.

Health

One should take care that an unhealthy animal is not selected for slaughter. At the time of selection, look for signs of sickness such as fever, increased breathing rate and diarrhea. Animals suspected of being unhealthy should be treated by a veterinarian until the animal is returned to a healthy state.

Animal Care

To obtain high-quality meat, it is important to exercise proper care of the animal prior to slaughter. Pen the animal in a clean, dry place the day before slaughtering. Restrict the animal from feed 24 hours prior to slaughter, but provide access to water at all times. Withholding feed results in greater ease of evisceration (because the gastrointestinal tract is smaller) and minimizes the migration of ingested bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract into the blood stream. Access to water enhances complete bleeding, results in brighter colored lean in the carcass, and enhances pelt removal.

Animal Type and Meat Yield

Animal age will have a sufficient effect on the palatability of the cooked product. Carcasses from sheep are classed as lamb (12 to 14 months or less), yearling mutton (14 to 24 months), or mutton (over 2 years) on the basis of differences that occur in the development of their muscular and skeletal systems. Differences in palatability between the lamb and mutton meat are substantial. Meat from mutton carcasses has a very intense flavor which is undesirable to some individuals. Mutton is seldom marketed as retail cuts but rather as soup stock or in further processed meat items.

A meat-type lamb carcass, when cut and trimmed according to the methods described later, will yield over 70 percent of its carcass weight in major trimmed cuts. Expected yields of retail cuts from a yield grade 2 (trim) and a yield grade 4 (wasty) carcass are presented in table 1.

TABLE 1—Comparison of yield of retail cuts between USDA yield 2 and yield grade 4 lamb carcasses ------------------------------------------------------------------ Percentage of carcass weight

Closely trimmed --------------------------------- retail cuts Yield grade 2 Yield grade 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Leg, short cut.................... 22.2 19.4 Sirloin........................... 6.4 5.8 Short loin........................ 10.1 9.5 Rack.............................. 7.9 7.5 Shoulder.......................... 23.8 21.6 Neck.............................. 2.1 1.9 Breast............................ 9.8 9.8 Foreshank......................... 3.4 3.2 Flank (boneless stew)............. 2.3 2.3 Kidney............................ 0.5 0.5 Fat............................... 8.2 15.4 Bone.............................. 3.3 3.1 --------------------------------- Total......................... 100.0 100.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Adapted from Smith, King, and Carpenter, 1975.

Part 2

PREPARING FOR SLAUGHTER

Prior to the day of slaughter, select the slaughter site, accumulate all equipment, prepare for waste disposal, and, if necessary, make arrangements with a local processor or meat market for chilling and cutting the carcass. If you plan to have the carcass chilled and cut up, arrangements should be made concerning the time and day on which the carcass can be accepted, the charges and specific instructions for chilling, cutting, wrapping, and freezing the carcass.

Site Selection

Selection of the slaughter site is extremely important. A site with clean running water is best. If a tree is to be used, a healthy limb, 6 to 8 inches in diameter, which is 8 to 10 feet from the ground is needed. This will ensure that the limb will not break from the weight of the carcass and the carcass can be fully extended from the ground for pelting and viscera removal. If slaughter is to be done in a barn, be sure that a strong beam 8 to 10 feet from the floor is available. The floor should be clean, and preferably, concrete.

After selection of the slaughter site, clean up the area to ensure that leaves and dirt are not blown on the carcass during slaughter. If the site has a wooden or concrete floor, wash the floor and all equipment with plenty of soap and water. Be sure to rinse thoroughly because sanitizers discolor the meat and may cause off flavors. If slaughtering is to be done outdoors, use straw to cover the area where the carcass will be pelted and eviscerated.

The weather on the day of slaughter should also be considered. During hot weather, slaughter is best performed during the early morning or late evening hours. Since an inexperienced person will take 1 to 2 hours to complete the slaughter operation, care should be taken to preclude long exposure to high temperatures. During cold weather of less than 35° F, slaughter can be done at any time, since spoilage bacteria do not grow as rapidly in a cold environment. Slaughter during high winds will result in dirt and other contaminants being blown onto the carcass.

Waste Disposal

All waste products should be disposed of in a sanitary manner. If the work is to be done in the open, one should select a site with good drainage so that blood and water can drain away from the carcass. Blood and water must not be allowed to pollute nearby streams or other water supplies.

Disposal of viscera is often a problem. Arrangements should be made to have a local processor or rendering plant pick it up. If this is not possible, it should be buried so that dogs and other animals cannot dig it up.

Slaughter Equipment

Elaborate and expensive equipment is not necessary, but certain items are essential (fig. 1). The following slaughter equipment is recommended:

1. .22-caliber rifle or pistol with long or long rifle cartridges. 2. Sharp boning knife and steel. 3. Block and tackle or strong rope. 4. Oil or water stone. 5. Ample clean water for washing hands, carcass, and by products. 6. Tree with strong limb, beam, or tripod 8 to 10 feet high. 7. Buckets (two or three). 8. Ice or cold water. 9. Straw for placing under animal during pelting and evisceration. 10. Clean cloths or plastic for protection of meat during transport. 11. Clean string.

Be sure that all equipment which will come in contact with meat is thoroughly cleaned. Most people get blood and other material on their outer garments during slaughter, which should not be transferred to the carcass after it is washed. If weather permits, wear short sleeve shirts and wash arms and hands frequently to prevent contamination.

Additional equipment needed for cutting the carcass is discussed in the section on carcass cutting.

SLAUGHTER

Stunning

The animal should be properly secured to a tree or strong post and killed as quickly and humanely as possible. Stun the animal with a well directed bullet (.22 caliber rifle or pistol) in the forehead, midway between and slightly above the eyes (fig. 2). Make the first shot count since a careless shot can cause the animal much pain or injure helpers. As with the use of any firearms, normal precautions should be taken when stunning the animal.

Bleeding

Bleeding should be done as quickly as possible after the animal is down, using a straight boning knife and holding the animal in position with the knee on or behind the shoulder. Grasp the lower jaw with the left hand, pull the head back and insert the knife just back of the jaw where the angle is made (fig. 3). With the cutting edge to the outside, insert the knife as close to the neck bone as possible. Cut clear through and then outward, severing the windpipe, gullet and blood vessels (fig. 4).

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