# Scaulding hogs



## merican (Sep 6, 2009)

Does anyone in SE Georgia or NE Florida still scauld & scrape hogs? If so I would like to offer a free hand just for the experience. Unfortunatly I was too young to pay attention back when my dad & papa use to do it, and I would like to learn so it can be passed on to my son who is also in love with hunting.


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## dog1 (Sep 6, 2009)

*Scalding Hogs*

I've done it all my life, so I'll try to explain.  First of all, my grandparents and parents never killed hogs, tame or wild in the summertime, only in the cold months here in GA.

Regardless if it was tame hogs or wild, they never gutted a hog where it was killed, that's why they only killed hogs in the cold (winter months).  After killing the hog, they would stick him in the throat and bleed him out.  Back then all of the farmers around my part of GA. had what we called, syrup kettles.  They would build a fire all around the kettle, when you could drag a finger thru the water 2 times without getting scalded, it was ready to scald a hog.  We would take the whole hog and dip him in the water, take him out and you could actually scrape the hair off without a knife.  I might add, they always put turpentine in the water from turpintine cups or pine limbs and neeles (green).

I also should mention, they never gutted a hog until he was scalded and dhaired.  Because if it was a gutted hog the hot water would actually cook some of the meat.  To this day, I do not kill hogs in the summer months, only when it is cold, 40 degrees or lower. 

If the water is too hot, you will actually set the hair and the only way to get it off at that point is to shave it off with a sharp knife.


Hope this helps,
dog1


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## merican (Sep 6, 2009)

Thank you for the info. I also recall papa always waiting until winter months to slaughter hogs. We still have the syrup kettle out @ papas set up just the way he left it. He was a mason so his is actually bricked in under a shed with a chimney. It is about a six foot pot. I have also heard of people scaulding in 55 gal. drums buried in an angle have any of you guys ever used this method. I was hoping to find someone close that still scaulds to get some hands on experience even if I have to wait till winter. Thanks again for your replies.


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## gigem (Sep 8, 2009)

Look back . we do it all the time


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## Goatman70 (Sep 8, 2009)

We scauld tame hogs year round. Got a propane burner to heat the water in a drum, then dip it out and pour. Pouring over the whole hog or dipping one is good if you got plenty of help, but with two people its important not to get too far ahead of yourself or like they've said, the hair will set. Then we use a small torch to get some of the hair around the head and knuckles that just don't want to come off. Then we gut them. From my experience with half wild hogs, they are tougher to scrape.


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## Shine Runner (Sep 8, 2009)

alright.......I got a question....I remember helping a friends grandparents butcher a hog after a Thanksgiving dove shoot years back...I remember scalding it.......for the life of me I can't remember why it was done and was wondering why instead of just skinning it out


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## redlevel (Sep 8, 2009)

Shine Runner said:


> alright.......I got a question....I remember helping a friends grandparents butcher a hog after a Thanksgiving dove shoot years back...I remember scalding it.......for the life of me I can't remember why it was done and was wondering why instead of just skinning it out



You "scald and scrape" to remove the hair.  The meat just cooks sooooo much better with the skin on it.  We usually do like Goatman70 and pour the water on sections.  If you have a good hoist and several people, at least four, scraping you can dip the whole hog.  You better be sure you can hoist him out of the scalding water, though, or you will "set the hair" on him and then it is tough to get clean.

I guess I have heard old-timers complain about the coffee being so hot it "set the hair on my tongue" a hundred times over the years.


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## FishinMech (Sep 8, 2009)

I used to kill 25 hogs in the winter months and the easiest way to clean a hog is like a deer but do 4 inch strips. Killed about 500 hogs in my life time and this is the best way to do it and you dont have to use a god forsake scalding tank i cant stand that thing but we use to do it for sausage and all that yummy stuff.


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## merican (Sep 9, 2009)

Shine Runner said:


> alright.......I got a question....I remember helping a friends grandparents butcher a hog after a Thanksgiving dove shoot years back...I remember scalding it.......for the life of me I can't remember why it was done and was wondering why instead of just skinning it out



Lets not forget about thick cut rind on bacon   Thanks again for all the input.


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 9, 2009)

merican said:


> Thank you for the info. I also recall papa always waiting until winter months to slaughter hogs. We still have the syrup kettle out @ papas set up just the way he left it. He was a mason so his is actually bricked in under a shed with a chimney. It is about a six foot pot. I have also heard of people scaulding in 55 gal. drums buried in an angle have any of you guys ever used this method. I was hoping to find someone close that still scaulds to get some hands on experience even if I have to wait till winter. Thanks again for your replies.


 

An old cast iron bath tub is ideal.



> alright.......I got a question....I remember helping a friends grandparents butcher a hog after a Thanksgiving dove shoot years back...I remember scalding it.......for the life of me I can't remember why it was done and was wondering why instead of just skinning it out



You have to remember the environment in which most farm raised hogs lived.  A sloppy muddy pig pen full of pig droppings.  Beyond removing hair, scalding cleaned and sanitized the outside of the pig so that it could then be safely butchered.  Also, unlike cowhide, hog skin had little value for other uses.  Scraping the pig was as much to get off the caked on mud and poo as to get off the hair.

Even skinning a deer, it's difficult to do so without getting just a little hair on the meat.


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## tony2001577 (Sep 9, 2009)

WOW this thread has brought back some of my best childhood memories !!!! we use to kill 2 hogs a year and salt cure them!Thats why we did it when it was cold out side so the meat could salt cure out in the barn ! Man i can taste that fat back now !!!


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## Shine Runner (Sep 9, 2009)

cool.....thanks


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## psycosoninlaw1 (Sep 18, 2009)

They hold a hog killing seminar in Woodland every year, and I think it's in Jan. I don't have any contact info, but you could call the Chamber of Commerce or the County Extention office. It also may be listed in the events section of the Market Bulletin.


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## satman32935 (Sep 18, 2009)

we use a old cast iron bear claw tub. and i know it sounds bad but get the hog close and knock em in the head with a hammer. we have a winch set up with a tripod system and just hit a button.we hit the hog with the hammer to kill it right b4 we scald it so its nerves will allow it to trash around in the tub. then its not as bad to scrape. but like they said dont let the hair set or ya have to burn it off.


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## slawdawg69 (Sep 21, 2009)

*where did you  find the pic*

my God did you take that pic in your avatar and where did you see that sight ? that is a LOAD!


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## gerald (Sep 22, 2009)

Dig a 45 degree angled pit,the top being just above the bottom of the barrel. Start a good fire inpit,Agood one!), place empty drum on top of fire/coals, fill twothird with waterhose, keep fire fed on each side if barrel. It will boil! Depending on the size of the hog, two people can ease the hog down into the barrel. leave in until hair stars to come off easily remove hog and shave clean with sharp knife, If hog did not submerse totally , repeat prossess with oppisite end


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## Paymaster (Sep 22, 2009)

We used 55 gal drums cut in half length wise. Heated the water in them and laid the hogs on a full sheet of plywood tilted so that the water would run off. We pour the water over the hog with a gallon coffee or soup can. Scrapes were old worn out garden hoes with short wood handle.Pop would pour the water over a spot on the hog and then start pulling the hair to see if it was gonna come off. My favorite part of the whole deal was eat'n hot cracklins out of the lard pots!


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## Redbow (Sep 22, 2009)

My Grandpa always killed his Hogs in cold weather, the colder the better he always said ! Grandpa had a scalding vat that he would build a fire under to get the water hot enough to scald his Hogs . That old man knew somehow exactly when the Hog was ready to come out of the scalding water for scraping off the hair ! 

I remember eating the fresh pork loin, cracklins and sweet tater, fresh stuffed sausage and souse meat my Grandma used to make . We salted down the shoulders and Hams and hung them up in the barn for use until Hog killing time the next year !

Thank you all for the memories !


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## deerstand (Sep 23, 2009)

when i was young hog killing was a family event. when my grandfather decided it was cold enough for a hog killing, me my brother and cousins all got out of school. we all had a job to do. my brother and i tended the fire used for boiling water and rendering fat. man those were the days.

the only thing we didnt cook and eat was the "oink"


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## merican (Oct 6, 2009)

slawdawg69 said:


> my God did you take that pic in your avatar and where did you see that sight ? that is a LOAD!



No I found that one surfing the net to mess with a guy here @ work after bike week. It like a wreck, its wrong but you cant help but look. They say the helmet is to keep her from eating him.

Once again I appreciate all the input on scalding I think I have gotten plenty of good advice here, and the offer of a free hand in this area still stands for the experience. I always seem to learn better hands on. But I think I got enough to get started.


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## Barbwire1320 (Oct 14, 2009)

dog1 said:


> I've done it all my life, so I'll try to explain.  First of all, my grandparents and parents never killed hogs, tame or wild in the summertime, only in the cold months here in GA.
> 
> Regardless if it was tame hogs or wild, they never gutted a hog where it was killed, that's why they only killed hogs in the cold (winter months).  After killing the hog, they would stick him in the throat and bleed him out.  Back then all of the farmers around my part of GA. had what we called, syrup kettles.  They would build a fire all around the kettle, when you could drag a finger thru the water 2 times without getting scalded, it was ready to scald a hog.  We would take the whole hog and dip him in the water, take him out and you could actually scrape the hair off without a knife.  I might add, they always put turpentine in the water from turpintine cups or pine limbs and neeles (green).
> 
> ...



This guy knows how it is done. I was raised in Okeechobee and was taught the EXACT same way.


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## timgarside (Oct 15, 2009)

When using the pouring method explaind in some of the responses above I have put burlap over the hog 1st then pour the scalding water on being carefull not to "set the hair". I have even boiled my water in a turkey because it was the bigest thing we had at the time. I made a scraper out of an old machettie.


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