Today, more and more people understand that not only in the city you can live happily and earn good money. Entrepreneurial youth are increasingly looking at the village. The farm allows not only to receive a stable income, but also to provide your family with quality safe products. This is especially true in the context of the economic crisis, when import substitution opens up such broad prospects.
But everything needs to be learned. For example, for someone who grew up in the village and is used to helping parents, adopting their skills, experience and secrets of skill, the question of how to kill a ram does not seem scary and incomprehensible. A young farmer with no experience has something to smash his head at. Do not give in to uncertainty! If you are faced with such a task for the first time, study the materiel, prepare the necessary tool and go for it. Maybe the first time will not be too simple, but do not give up. Experience is a business.
Main conditions
Before cutting a ram, prepare a knife. It must be very sharp. Experienced sheep breeders recommend using a curved blade designed to work with the skin. But an ordinary knife with a wide blade will do. The main thing is to sharpen it carefully.
In Central Asia and the Middle East, where the tradition of sheep breeding came from , it is believed that causing unjustified torment to an animal is unforgivable. Only the inept owner does this. The movements must be confident, deep enough, accurate. The ram should die instantly. By the way, the old shepherds are sure: the meat of an animal that died without suffering is much healthier and tastier.
Another important point in the preparation is the preparation of all the necessary tools and equipment. You will need a pelvis for the insides of the animal, a few ropes, a long, durable tube. A hose with the ability to turn the water on and off is very useful, but if it is not there, put a bucket of water near the workplace. Stock up with rags - it’s convenient to wipe your hands with it.
Important point
Some experienced cattle slaughterers recommend tying up a ram leg. But if you have enough strength to hold the animal or have an assistant, you can do without a rope. Go to the ram, trying not to scare him. During slaughter, a ram can lie on its side or stand. Gently and confidently tilt his head back with his left hand, and cut his throat with his right, trying to make the knife go to the desired depth, that is, almost reach the vertebrae. You do not need to cut off your head right away - blood must drain. If you plan to use it, empty it into a container.
Knowing how to cut a sheep correctly, you can confidently get down to business. The procedure takes only a few minutes. Perhaps the most difficult thing seemed to be behind you? Not at all, there is still a lot of work ahead. So, let's do the cutting.
How to remove skin
It’s not enough to know how to cut a sheep, you also need to understand what to do next. First off, remove the skin. Make an incision on the back of the ram about two centimeters. Insert a tube into it, insert under the skin. Blow into the tube, air will be distributed between the skin and muscles. Help the process by distributing it with your hands. Starting from the puncture site, make an incision by moving the knife in the direction of the groin. Repeat the procedure with the other leg. Connect the incisions, begin to remove the skin with your hands. Please note: it will not be possible to free the ankles from the skin, it will remain on them. By the way, the head can be separated. If you get a knife between the vertebrae, it will be easy.
Hang the ram by its hind legs, pull the skin down. If it will not be easily removed from the back, cut the connecting films with a knife.
Carcass cutting
Start an incision from the navel to the throat. Let the entrails just fall into the basin. Take out the intestine and tie it, pull out the esophagus. Trachea, lungs and heart will be pulled out together. Only the kidneys will remain inside.
There are various tips and tricks on how to cut and cut a ram. In cutting, a lot depends on the size of the animal. The young lamb is divided into several parts, so rather small. An adult animal is larger, therefore, there may be more parts. For example, part of the back of a young lamb is cut off entirely and is usually called a saddle. If the same part was taken from the back of a large animal, it is possible to separate the loin and tenderloin (fillet without bones) from it. An approximate cutting scheme is presented in the following illustration.
1 - neck; 2 - loin; 3 - a saddle; 4 - thigh; 5 - scapula; 6 - brisket; 7 - flank.
Using lamb in cooking
Knowing how to cut a ram, you can get great products that are used for festive and everyday cuisine, for future use. Lamb is suitable for cooking kebab, kebab, shurpa, pilaf and many other dishes. Every eastern nation has many culinary traditions associated with lamb. Many of them sacredly honor the ritual of making barbecue immediately after slaughtering a ram. Perhaps you should join this tradition too?
Lamb has an expressive taste. It is combined with a wide variety of spices and seasonings, but even the sharpest and most spicy of them do not stifle this taste. Lamb can be marinated in lemon, pomegranate and orange juice, yogurt, wine, fruit vinegar, adding garlic, rosemary, thyme, thyme, any greens. You can experiment with any spices, getting a new taste every time.
Ritual slaughter of a ram
For the inhabitants of Asia, a ram is not just an agricultural animal, the meat of which can be eaten, but the skin used for the production of clothing. This animal is very revered in Islam and is even the central figure of the great festival of Kurban Bayram. Literally, this name translates as "holiday of the victim." And they learn how to cut a sheep on Kurban-Bayram correctly in childhood.
In the Muslim tradition, slaughtering a lamb is a person’s conversion to God, thanks for everything that is in life. The history of the holiday goes back many centuries, but the memory of the first such slaughter is still alive. The legend says that it was made by the prophet Ibrahim, whom Allah ordered to sacrifice his son. The prophet and his son did not resist, but God made the knife blunt. The boy survived, and his father slaughtered a ram. Today, various animals are used as rituals: goats, cows, and even camels. But the ram was the very first sacrificial animal, a symbol of love and devotion.
Recommendations on how to cut a ram on Eid al-Adha apply to both age and animal health. For slaughter, lamb older than a year is suitable, not having the following diseases: blindness, lameness, scabies. The animal should not suffer from malnutrition or any other disease that leads to weight loss or deterioration of meat quality.
The culmination of the holiday is, of course, a lamb treat. It is customary to divide all meat into three parts. One of them is given to friends, the other is divided among the poor, and the third is left to itself. It is impossible to sell the meat of the ritual lamb, otherwise it will not bring happiness. But generosity will certainly be rewarded by Allah himself.