cleaning hogs

[highpockets]

Every so often we decided to cook a hog.  Someone told me that one could knock the bristles of a hog with a good pressure washer.   Mine puts out about 2,000 p.s.i. at 6 g.p.m.  Right now I don't have the boiler working so have no heat. 

[Dana]

My father-in-law uses a 30 lb. propane tank with a  flame thrower type torch. The torch singes the hair off as well as blisters the outer skin. He then scrapes it off like you would if it had been scalded.

[beenthere]

I can't imagine that a pressure washer would knock off the bristles, but would sure be interested in what you find out.    Maybe steam would do it, vs dipping in scalding water. Check it out with a butcher who cleans em up that way. The blow torch sounds stinky, and may not end up in the "good smells" thread. ;D

[DanG]

I sorta doubt if any part of the hog cleaning process is gonna make to the "Good Smells" thread, anyway. :D :D

When I was in Haiti(in '80) I watched them butchering some hogs.  They used dry palm fronds as torches to burn the hair off.  It only took about a minute per hog.

[Dan_Shade]

We'd dig a ditch then put a big barrel/trough thing in it and build a fire in the ditch to get the water hot enough to scald....

the old timers didn't have a boiler!

[stonebroke]

Burning the hair off is an accepted method now. Very few slaughterhouses even have a scalder anymore. It is a lot less work burning rather than scraping. It just stinks. And be carefull because some people cannot tolerate the smell.

Stonebroke

[treebucker]

I've scalded them and I've skinned them. Skinning is easier. We had a tank that was cut in half. It was big enough to hold a whole hog. We've done up to 20 in a day. I hated it. We allways did it on cold days. The water would first scald you then freeze you in that cold wind. That's why I prefer skinning. Don't do as many as we used to. Scalding yields those pretty hams, cracklins and (for pig roast) the skin helps hold in the juices. Since no one eats the skin at a pig roast I suppose burning the hair off would be acceptable.

[WDH]

We butchered hogs.  Like Dan_Shade said, we dug a trench for a 50 gallon barrel slanted at about 45 degrees and build a fire around the barrel to heat water in the barrel.  Just to but not quite to the boiling point.  Then my grandmother would throw in a bunch of pine needles into the about-to-be-boiling water.  She said that the pine needles would cause the hair to "slip", making it easy to scrape off.  The hog was rolled in the scalding water, and all the hair was scraped off.  We never skinned the hog because the skin and the fat on it was prized for cracklins.  Ever had cracklin' corn bread or real "pork skins"?  My grandmother said that the pine needles were to key to getting the hair off...............You could not let the water in the barrel boil because that would "set" the hair so that if would be difficult to remove.  We used evereything but the squeal............and the hair.

[treebucker]

Then my grandmother would throw in a bunch of pine needles into the about-to-be-boiling water.  She said that the pine needles would cause the hair to "slip", making it easy to scrape off. 

We used powdered lime to make it slip off. Back then, we had to go a mile before we found a pine tree...all hardwoods.

Sorry highpockets, I've never heard of using a pressure washer. I have my doubts. Were they talking about dipping the hog in hot water then pressure washing it off? That might work.

[WDH]

After we butchered, everyone knew what eatin-high-on-the-hog meant.

[Dan_Shade]

we tossed some ashes into the water.

my mom used the "used everything except the squeel" line too

I've heard that "high on the hog", means that the better cuts come off of the back, and the lesser cuts are down closer to the ground, well, except the hams....  so high on the hog meant you could afford the good bacon and cuts, rather than have to eat souse!

yumm, i want some cracklins.  I only helped butcher a handful of times, when I was a kid, i was too small to help, then it was too much trouble for the family, when I was in college, I organized the family to do it again for a few years, mainly so I could see how it was done.  My grandfather pretty much ran the show, and he knew what he was doing, those old timers don't get the credit they deserve.

[WDH]

The best treat was the fried tenderloins for breakfast the next morning.  Hams went to the smokehouse and the lard was stored in 5-gallon metal conainers.

[brdmkr]

I don't know this to be fact, but a reputable fellow told me that he hung them up and cut strips from one end to the other about 3 - 4 inches wide.  He then just peels the strips off.  I've not seen it done, but he says he can skin a hog that way in just a few minutes.  He also told me that he used a special knife that had a small hook in it the would get just beneath the skin, but not go too deep.  It seems like the knife was used in construction, but I just can't remember what the normal use for the knife is. 

Anyone hear of anything like this?

[JimBuis]

Brdmkr, I'm guessing the reputable fellow may have been describing using a utility knife blade something like this:


There are several other blades of similar design, but different size and shape hooks.

Jim

[Don_Papenburg]

Yep, hook blades , We used them for roofing .  Cut shingles and felts.  I used to carry a small round file to sharpen the blade rater than spend the time flipping it .  The bottom of the hook keeps it under the shingle to make a long cut easy. It should work the same on Porky"s hide.

[SAW MILLER]

 I tried the strip method of skinning and didn't care for it.You get the dirt from the skin and the hair all over the hog.I butchered two four weeks ago by myself.Do it evey winter .I love that fresh side and good lean sausage ;D ;D

  I have scalded them but its a two man job.

[brdmkr]

Jim, that would fit the description of the knife.  He may have also said it was used for roofing.  Sorry to hear you had a abd eperience Saw Miller.  I was hoping that the stipping method would be the way to go.

[limbrat]

I dont know about skinnin no hog we all ways singe them. The part i dont like is washing them nasty things, scrub brush dish washing liquid and lots of water. Before you gut or singe it, its sooo nasty.

[highpockets]

We scalded several before. This one we handled with the winch truck. The old man set the hiar on it some we burned off most of the hair

https://forestryforum.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=625

[highpockets]

img]https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13145/hog4alt.JPG [/img]

[highpockets]

When I   Click to copy photo insertion code to clipboard and do a paste I always seem to come up with the previous mess you see here.   

[treebucker]

The part i dont like is washing them nasty things, scrub brush dish washing liquid and lots of water. Before you gut or singe it, its sooo nasty.

When we scalded them we would wash them before putting them in the dip tank. They were washed a second time when we were done scraping the hair off them. We did not use soap but the hot water scalding would remove the stubborn stuff. The final washing took care of the rest.

I helped a couple guys skin one a few years ago. They were experienced at butchering hogs and I had butchered hogs with them many times in years gone by. It had been a while since any of us had done it. After it was shot they started skinning it. The hog was filthy. I tried to stop them and suggested taking it to a nearby hydrant and washing it down. That idea was rejected. What a mess that was. Yes, they did wash it down after it was skinned then tried to trim off the dirt but it's funny how people get in a hurry and unreasonable.

Some time later someone else ask me to help them prep 8 hogs. He came by about an hour before dark. I told him it was too late in the day to tackle that many hogs at once but he said we could work under a utility light. I also called into question the weather forecast as while it was cold enough at the moment, they were calling for daytime highs in the 50s over the next few days. But I grudgingly agreed to help and we went to a nearby farm and started the process. He was experienced at killing hogs but he was going to make the same mistake of not washing them. I told him what a mess he was about to make and he agreed to wash them. There was poor prep all the way around on this job and it didn't suprise me that the water hose was too short so he ended up washing them over an already muddy grassy area that soon worked itself into a mud hole. We ended up working in the dark under a light that wasn't bright enough for my poor eyes. The wind was howling and it was cold. There was no shelter. It was getting late and we gave up after 4 hogs. I have no idea why he waited so late in the day to begin.  I didn't help him kill the next four. I found out later he left them hanging for 5 days in that weather. Daytime highs got into the 50s.  Is it greed that causes this breakdown in common sense?

[beenthere]

highpockets
always preview your post, and you will see what it looks like first. Then be sure the image brackets are before ( like [  ] ) and after (like[/ ] ) the pasted url.

Previewing saves a lot of false posts, the way I see it. 
By adding the beginning bracket [ to your url line, this is what came up.

[Dana]

Highposkets looks like there will be ham for Easter. ;D

[Robert R]

Feeders are cheap.  Get em at 40 pounds.  Butcher them at 100--at that size, they aren't any harder than a deer.  If you need more meat than that, do 2 or 3.  I'd rather do 3 100 pounders than one 250 pounder.  If I let them get bigger than 100, I find the money well spent to take them to the professionals.  I skin them.  I don't cure nothing.  I find fresh ham and just plain side meat very tasty.  If I take one in, I have it cured.  I also don't do the lard at home but there isn't much fat on a 100 pounder anyway.  I get the lard done off the bigger ones, though. 

I once bought a 400 sow at an auction for nearly nothing.  Never took her off the trailer.  The next day, she went to the butcher and was turned into whole hog sausage I sold at a farmer's market.  I more than tripled my money off that deal with about 3 hours of actual time invested.  One of the few farmer's market things that really panned out for me.  That and fryers.  People get plum silly over farm fresh chicken.