Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
It takes less time to skin a pig than to go through the scalding and scraping procedure. It also
takes less equipment. You will still need to be able to hoist the pig up to work on it, however.
After you have stunned and bled the pig, you can place the pig on a sheet of plywood, some
concrete, or in some straw. Wash the blood and any dirt or debris from the carcass. Turn the
pig over onto its back, and hold it in position with blocks, such as cinder blocks, on each side.
You can begin the skinning process by cutting the skin around the pig's rear legs, just below
the dewclaws. Make a cut through the hide and down the back of the leg. Continue to cut over
the hocks and up to the midline at the center of the hams. Carefully skin around each side of
the leg. Remove the skin to a point below the hock.
At this point, you can open the skin down the animal's midline. Cut from the point where the
pig was stuck, around each side of the genitals, and move on to the anus. Make this cut by in-
serting the point of the knife under the skin with the blade held upward. This process is called
cutting from inside out. It protects the meat from becoming contaminated from materials on
the hide. Avoid cutting too deeply as this could puncture the intestines and contaminate the
meat.
Next, remove the hide from the inside of the hams. You will need to be careful because it is
easy to cut through the fat layers and into the lean meat. You must continue to be careful not
to contaminate the meat. Continue to skin along the animal's sides toward the breast area.
Grip the loosened hide in the opposite hand and pull it up and out away from the animal. By
doing this, you will produce tension in the hide, which will remove any wrinkling. It will al-
low the knife to slide smoothly and easily. Hold the knife firmly, and place it against the hide,
turning the blade slightly outward. Skin as far down the sides of the animal as possible, but do
not skin around the front legs. The skin around the front legs will be removed separately.
Return to the rear part of the carcass, and remove the hide that is left on the rear of the hams.
Do not skin the outer portions of the hams at this point. Wait until you have raised the carcass
to a better working height. You can remove the pig's rear feet by sawing through the bone.
Cut about 2 inches above the hock. Insert the spreader or gambrel under the large tendons on
the rear legs, and attach the legs to the spreader securely.
You can hoist the carcass to a convenient working height to remove the skin from the outside
of the hams. This is usually about waist high. Start skinning around the outer parts of the
hams, but leave as much fat as possible on the carcass. Next, remove the hide from around the
anus and cut through the tail at the joint closest to the body. The tail is edible, and some
