Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the process. You should have more boiling water ready to add if necessary. You can also add
cooler water if the water is too hot. If you begin with a water temperature between 155 and
160 degrees, the water should be at a scalding temperature when you are ready to place the
pig in the vat. If it is cold weather, the cooler outside temperature will cool the water in the
vat faster.
Once the pig is in the vat, you will need to keep it moving and pull it from the barrel several
times in order to keep it from overscalding. If the pig begins to overscald, it will cause the
skin to contract around the base of the hairs, known as “setting the hair.” This effectively
cooks the skin of the pig. If the skin becomes overscalded, it will make the hair difficult to re-
move.
When the water reaches the correct water temperature of 140 degrees, place the pig in the vat
head first. Turn the pig in the vat, rotating it, and pull it in and out of the water occasionally.
Check the pig's skin often for signs that the hair is easy to remove. The hair should start com-
ing off first over the back and sides and then in the flank areas. After you can remove the hair
easily from the flanks, remove the pig from the vat and place the pig rear first into the vat. Be
sure to check the water temperature and raise the temperature back up to 140 degrees. The
temperature will no doubt have cooled during the several minutes the pig has spent in the vat.
Once the rear of the pig is in the scalding water in the vat, you can start pulling the toenails
and dewclaws from the pig's front feet. You can insert a hook into the top of the nail and pull
in order to remove the nail. Start scraping as much of the hair off the head as possible, paying
special attention to the hair around the ears and snout. You can use a knife or a bell scraper for
this job, which is a scraper made for removing hair. Some bell scrapers have a hook on the
end for removing the toenails.
Continue to turn the pig in the barrel so that it does not overscald. Lift the pig out of the barrel
and test the looseness of the hair. Once all of the hair is loose and easy to remove, you can re-
move the pig from the barrel.
Ideally, you will have a sturdy table to place the pig on so you can continue to remove the
hair. Alternatively, you may place the pig on a piece of plywood on the ground to continue
working. Remove the nails and dewclaws from the pig's back feet, and remove the hair from
the pig's tail. Work to remove the hair on the pig's legs by gripping and twisting the hair.
Work on the difficult areas such as the head, feet, and jowl first while the pig's skin is still hot
from the vat. Then you can move to the easier areas such as the pig's back and sides. You can
