Has anyone here ever butchered a pig?

[Heather in the Kootenays]

My friend and I are great at chickens but somehow got ourselves in the position of having to kill a pig and deliver it to the butcher next weekend. (I still say it was her idea :) )

 

We think we have most of the problems under control but we're wondering about the skin. I understand we can't skin it unless it's chilled but could we burn the hair off without harming the meat.

 

Any other advice? Except for don't do it - it's too late for that.

[Beebalm]

When I was a kid, we slaughtered pigs about once a year. It involved a huge cast iron pot of boiling water that the pig was dipped in to remove the hair. I still remember the smell. Have you got equipment to hang it and everything? Wish I had encouraging words but all I can think of is...RUN! (LOL) Good luck!

[WTMindy]

Um.......no! :eek::eek:

[laughing lioness]

My oldest dd saw one slaughtered in Romania by Hungarian Baptists. Every one gets drunk and wields large, sharp knives. The women spend the day mashing pig guts with seasoning and turning it into sausage etc.

Said it was the best pork she's ever tasted.

[Colleen]

How does one get oneself in the position of having to kill a pig and deliver it to the butcher?:tongue_smilie:

 

Hans' family raised pigs in addition to their dairy so he'd have the low-down, were he here. (He's off kayaking.) I just have a sketchy idea about hanging it, bleeding it, boiling it to remove the hair...Beyond that, all I can say is, "Better ye than me!".

[Mamagistra]

Dee-aitch and a friend do one occasionally. A small butane blowtorch works great to singe the hair off, so I'm told. :tongue_smilie:

[paula j]

I remember dbil doing one a few years back and hanging it in a tree. Sorry but that was more than I wanted to know and I went home.:tongue_smilie:

[Remudamom]

Hmm, you have to kill it and then take it to the butcher?? Our local butcher won't accept bovine things or pigs dead, they have to be brought in alive. Of course they take dead deer.

 

If you do it, I want pictures on a blog with detailed explanations.

[Krista in LA]

But I don't remember the hair part. I just remember hanging them by their hind legs and cutting down their belly. We processed it all ourselves including making the sausage and stuffing it in the natural casings and even rendered lard. It was a cool experience - I felt like a pioneer girl helping out. I don't think I could stand to participate in it as an adult though.:ack2:

[Heather in the Kootenays]

First of all, the government changes the rules - no longer allowing butchers to kill animals - only cut up dead ones. We won't even talk about how ridiculous that it. :confused:

 

Next, one buys said pigs assuming that we'd figure out the details before the big day. Well, we've figured out most of them but not quite all them. We don't have a huge pot and came up with the torch idea but were hoping to get it confirmed.

 

We might have to resort to drinking to excess and waving large knives. I'll let you know how it goes. :tongue_smilie:

[Renee in NC]

Our guy who kills for us used a large pot of hot water and poured it ON the pig rather than trying to dump it. Then he scraped the hair off with the back edge of the knife (blunt part.)

[Heather in the Kootenays]

Good idea. We have an old bathtub that would be perfect for this.