Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
use the bell scraper for these easy areas. Try tilting the scraper up toward the forward edge
and pulling it forward, using as much pressure as possible.
You will need to work quickly because the pig's skin will set as it cools down, making it
harder to remove the hair. If you find areas of hair and scurf that are hard to scrape, cover
them with a piece of burlap, and pour hot water over the material to loosen them. You can
make scraping the legs and head easier by moving them if they begin to set. This will keep the
skin stretched and loosened.
After you have removed most of the hair, you will need to pour hot water over the pig so you
can continue to scrape. Place the bell scraper against the pig's skin, and move it in a rotary
motion. This will help remove the scurf and the remaining hair. If there are still patches of
hair that are not removed by the bell scraper, you can use a knife. If you prefer, you can use a
knife for the entire skinning process. You can use whichever tool you are more comfortable
using.
At this point, you are ready to hang and suspend the carcass. You can start working on the car-
cass by cutting off the soles of the feet. Cut between and around the toes. You should use your
knife to expose the pig's gambrel tendons. You can do this by cutting through the skin that lies
on the back of the rear legs from the dewclaws to the hocks. Carefully cut along each side of
the tendons. Be careful not to cut the actual tendons, otherwise, you will have no way to sus-
pend the pig. Insert the spreader or gambrel (the instrument called the gambrel) under the ten-
dons in each leg in order to expose them. Fasten the legs to the spreader bar, and suspend the
carcass from it. The legs will need to be spread at least 14 inches apart. When your pig is sus-
pended, make sure neither its head nor its forelegs are touching the ground to avoid contamin-
ating the carcass with bacteria.
You can use a blowtorch or a small propane torch to singe off any remaining hair and scurf
from the pig. Singeing will remove most of the remaining hair, and it will darken other small
hairs so they can be seen. You will need to be careful that you do not burn the skin when us-
ing one of these torches. Burning the skin not only can make the skin unsightly, but it can also
affect the flavor of the meat. You do not want to partially cook the pork at this point in your
processing. You can shave off any remaining hair and wash the carcass completely.
Skinning
