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Whole Hog Smoke Curing?
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School Of Hard Knock
Posted 11/14/2009 20:45 (#924230 - in reply to #924032)
Subject: Re: Whole Hog Smoke Curing?


just a tish NE of central ND
Jbatmick - 11/14/2009 14:26

When I was a kid back in the 50's, I remember Dad scalding several hogs each fall. Kill them with one shot from .22 in head,then put them in a vat of very hot water. Circular vat was maybe 6 feet across, maybe 30 inches deep in center, about 2 feet off ground. Wood fire heated water. If I remember correctly, that skinned the hair off.Then cut up and put meat in freezer. Did something with certain pieces of hog as soon as butchered over a smaller fire, but I do not remember what.
Had not thought of that in years, times have greatly changed.

You are speaking of butchering with the "hair off" It is calding. It is exactly as it sounds. We did it with a 50 gallon drum years back. Half fulll with boiling water, add 5 gallons of cool...... dump the hog in the scalding barrel for a minute or two, I forget how long though, pull up and see if the hair come off easily. Turn the hog a half turn and drop the back in and scald that too, checking often to see if the hair are loose. You pull it out before overscalding, or overscalding the skin will cause to tear when scraping. Yep you scrap the hair right off the hide with a butcher knife of hog scraper. By leaving the skin onand with the hair gone, you now have "Rind" on your bacons.The same goes for the pigs feet old timers cooked and canned.Rind is actually the hide with the hair scraped off. Hams and cured shoulder also are attractive looking in a smokehouse with the scraped / scalded hide all still on,especially if the hog has a smooth skin.Scalding and scraping makes for an atractive smooth looking hanging pork in the cooler.But now day, there is little need for much of the hide. Old timers used to use the scraped hide in head cheese and liversausage that they made with hog butchering.It gives those items texture and makes them firm.Now day, you cant get anybody to eat any of that kind of stuff anymore.
Im betting scalding and scraping the hog would work out well with what you are trying to do with whole hog smoking and curing.But you will have to cure it in a brine soak and also inject the brine into the large peices to get it to cure through before smoking it..
forgot to mention....... Hogs were scaleded and scraped before internals were removed.


Edited by School Of Hard Knock 11/14/2009 20:50
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