Butcherng a pig.

[N80]

I've got wild pigs on my place. A lot of them. I killed a 250# boar a few years ago. He did not look feral (he looked Russian) and was probably released by someone as hunting stock. He was rank and I did not keep him (gave him away to a local fellow). But, a few weeks ago I killed a little 50# sow. She looked very feral and had round hams and shoulders. She was delicious! I made sausage. We grilled the back straps. All very light colored meat and very tender. Not gamey at all.

Anyway, I've been skinning and butchering game for years. But now I'm interested in barbecuing a whole pig and maybe even curing some hams with the skin on.

So how do you get the hair off? I've always heard that you use boiling water. But one old fellow told me it could not be boiling hot because that would "set" the hair and that it needed to be not quite boiling.

I need a step by step guide on how to remove the hair from about a hundred pound hog.

Any help appreciated.

 

[/pine]

I've got wild pigs on my place. A lot of them. I killed a 250# boar a few years ago. He did not look feral (he looked Russian) and was probably released by someone as hunting stock. He was rank and I did not keep him (gave him away to a local fellow). But, a few weeks ago I killed a little 50# sow. She looked very feral and had round hams and shoulders. She was delicious! I made sausage. We grilled the back straps. All very light colored meat and very tender. Not gamey at all.

Anyway, I've been skinning and butchering game for years. But now I'm interested in barbecuing a whole pig and maybe even curing some hams with the skin on.

So how do you get the hair off? I've always heard that you use boiling water. But one old fellow told me it could not be boiling hot because that would "set" the hair and that it needed to be not quite boiling.

I need a step by step guide on how to remove the hair from about a hundred pound hog.

Any help appreciated.

FWIW, I think the term "feral" refers to any type of (previously domesticated) animal that has reverted to living in the wild....

I was taught the process by an old neighbor (many years past) who was taught by his father who learned from his father...and they always scalded them in boiling water for about 5 minutes and then scraped the hair off...
But...these were all domestically raised animals (not wild)...

My old neighbor "salt cured" his pigs in a "meat house" by cutting the meat into meal sized pieces and laid on wire mesh racks and coated with rock salt....not exactly the most hygienic way to preserve meat but he lived a very long life....the longer the meat was stored the more "green stuff" had to scraped off before it was prepared....he would live all winter/s[pring off a couple of 300# (on the hoof) hogs...

 

[RobertBrown]

I don't think scalding is an option with hogs like you are describing.

I've tried it and it did not work as I'd hoped. The hide is thick and hair is deeply rooted.
What is important is the fat. Feral hogs have less fat. You can cut the boars and re-release, as shooting sows is poor management. Or just kill sows. Still. I don't thnk scalding a feral sow of that bloodline is worth the trouble, it's a lot of trouble.
If you want to scald a hog, buy a domestic bred hog and see how much fun it is. Then consider the process with a swine that has significantly more hair

 

[CBW1999]

We raise hogs here and processing isn't all that hard but- one little screw up will set you back.

For scalding a domestic hog, water shouldn't be much more than 160 to 165 f. A stated, hotter water will "set" the hair. I've heard some old timers talk about adding a little "tar" to the water although they weren't specific and I'm more inclined to think the said it to laugh at the problems I would have.

You apparently can add calcium hydroxide to the water and it makes it much easier to remove the hair. Also make sure you have LOTS of water heated BEFORE you start. I've tried using a 55 gallon steel barrel on top of a "turkey" burner. Ideally you want to dunk the whole hog in the water for a couple of minutes which can't be done with the turkey burner set up. I usually scoop water onto the hog and work small areas.

I'd like to set up something with a 12v pump and high temp hose to spray on the hog. Even go so far as to have some type of tub to catch the water , screen the hair out and flow back into the barrel. Not sure it is worth it based on the few we process.

There are things called "bell" scrapers that make quick work of removing hair once it is scalded. you can find old and new ones pretty cheap. I'd recommend a razor for the last stubborn bits of hair. You can use a small propane torch to burn it off but.......

I use the tendons on the feet to hang the hogs on a tripod I built. I was dressing a hog for a friends pig roast and we used the torch to get the last hairs. Funny thing about tendons- they have NO tolerance for being heated. I didn't burn them but- when we hooked the feet and slid it off the table.......it swung out, the tendons snapped and a 160 lb pig did a belly flop on the driveway.

At first we were mortified- then we busted out laughing at quite possibly the funniest thing we had ever seen happen.

 

[N80]

Thanks guys.

Slash pine, the boar I was referring to was not feral. He was clearly from wild stock. Long, thick black hair. Big tusks, etc:



The little sow was feral. In other words she looked like a little gray domestic pig.

Robert, you may be right. Even the little sow, which was nice and tender, still did not have a lot of fat. However, she was not any more hairy than a domestic pig. So maybe if I want to try this I should stick with a small one, 50 to 80 pounds. And we're not trying to manage....we're trying to exterminate them....it isn't going to happen but they are doing a lot of damage to my brother-in-laws hay fields and are rooting my place up pretty good to. Deer never get a chance to get into my sawtooth oak acorns. My B-I-L is at war with them. He shoots them like varmints. Sadly, he doesn't even pick them up. It the locals want them he gives them away, otherwise he leaves them where they drop.

CBW, thanks. As Robert mentioned, it sounds like a whole lot of trouble. I might try it on another very small one, but it sounds like it would be real tough for a big one.I wonder if a pressure washer would work?

 

[lockhaven]

scalding a hog is not at all difficult. Years back we got rosin that was rubbed into the hair and then we used a bucket and trough to do the actual scalding. This method assured that the water was not boiling which as been said will set the hair. rosin - definition of rosin by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. If you cannot get rosin in the powder form wood ash will work. With the hog in a trough work the rosin into the hair then pour the water over the hog and with the scraper Hog Scraper just work the hot water into the hair sometimes a burlap sack helps hold the hot water on the hog for 5 or ten minutes. Use the scraper to test the hair when it is ready it will scrape off very easily.
Any places that the hair is still there just mat some of the removed hair and apply more hot water. There will always be some single hairs left but they can be shaved off with a sharp knife. Next hang the hog up by its hind feet, you can make a slit on the back side of the ankle there are two leaders there that can be used to hang the hog by. I always take the head off first and saw through the brisket then cut around the a** and carefully open it up down to the brisket cut at this point everything should just roll on out you will need to split the throat to remove the wind pipe and gullet. Now you can either saw the hog in half down the center of the backbone or cut on each side of the back bone. Best thing now is to wait until the meat cools before butchering.
Butchering, saw off the feet first then saw off the lower part of the leg next cut the hind leg off at the pelvis bone and trim it up to look like a ham. If you sawed on either side of the back bone you can now remove the tender loin and cut it into boneless chops Now cut the bacon off the ribs and trim it to a nice square shape. The shoulder can be cured like a ham or cut into roasts or made into sausage.
Curing: there are as many ways to cure as there are people that butcher. The easy way is to get Mortins salt cure and follow the instructions. With any dry cure be sure to get it down around the bone not just on the outside I use a wooden spoon handle to poke a hole down along the bone and stuff the cure in it.
You can also brine cure the process can be looked up on the net.
Smoking again several methods we use hickory sassafras and apple hang the hams and bacon in a smoke house or you can make a tent. use green wood and have a smoldering fire and smoke until you get a nice golden color wait several days and do it again each time smoke them for 3 to 4 hours. The darker they get the more smoky the flavor.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Let me just add that skinning a hog is a perfectly acceptable way of avoiding scraping its hair off. If you're doing a small picnic pig that will be presented whole, that won't work though.

 

[smilinjak]

Suggestion for scalding small hogs. . . . Cut the tops out of two clean 55 gallon drums, cut the bottom out of one and weld them together lengthwise. The weld doesn't have to be water proof, just tight enough to make it leak slow. Make a sloping trench big enough to hold the drum. Fill with water to about 18 inches from the open end. Place about 20 ten pound river rock in a good hot fire and heat very hot. Shovel the rocks into the water until it is so hot you can't dip your fingers in it more than three times. Place the carcass in the water until a handfull of hair pulls off easily then remove from the water and scrape with a disc scraper or a dull knife. Smilinjak

 

[Redneck in training]

Killing a pig is a celebration in the Czech republic I am originally from. Here is a link to short movie: Zabijacka - The Slaughter on Vimeo

 

[Bird]

Let me just add that skinning a hog is a perfectly acceptable way of avoiding scraping its hair off. If you're doing a small picnic pig that will be presented whole, that won't work though.

I can only barely remember my grandfather and other men scalding hogs in a big metal trough with a wood fire under it, but my dad preferred not having that skin on the meat, so by the time I was big enough to have to help with the butchering, we skinned them. Of course they're harder to skin than most animals since you have to cut every inch of the way instead of just pulling the skin off.