To make the hair easy to remove and to cleanse the skin of the hog and free it from all the greasy filth which forms a scurf on the skin of all hogs, our Hog-Scald should always be used. Hogs scalded with the aid of Hog-Scald do not require so much heat to loosen the hair, it requires much less labor to clean them, and the dressed hogs will look much nicer and the rinds will cure and smoke nicer than when it is not used. No Farmer or Butcher will dress his hogs without Hog-Scald after giving it a trial. For description and price list on Hog-Scald, see [page 278].
Fig. 20.—A convenient way of hanging up a hog.
While being scalded the carcass should be kept moving constantly to avoid cooking the skin. While scalding, the hog should occasionally be drawn out of the water for air, when the hair may be tried. When both hair and scurf slip easily from the skin, scalding is completed. Remove the carcass from the water and begin scraping. The head and feet should be cleaned first, as they do not clean easily when cold. Use a “candlestick” scraper on the head. Use the hands and a knife if you haven’t this tool. The feet and legs are easily cleaned by grasping them firmly with the hands and twisting them around and back; pull the little bristles of the body by hand and remove the scurf and fine hair with the scraper, long corn knife or other tool. Wash the entire carcass with hot water and shave it with a sharp knife. Insert a stick under the gambrel cords and hang up the hog.
Wash down with hot water, shave patches and rinse with cold water. Occasionally the hog is too large to scald in a barrel. Cover it thickly with blankets or sacks containing a little bran, pour hot water over it and the hair will be readily loosened.
GUTTING HOGS.
Gutting the Hog
Split the hog between the hind legs, separating the bones with a knife. Run the knife down over the belly line, guiding it with the right hand and shielding the point with the lingers of the left hand and thus avoid the danger of cutting the intestines. Split the breast-bone with a knife or an ax and cut down through the sticking place to the chin. Cut around the rectum and pull down until the kidneys are reached, using a knife whenever necessary to sever the cords attached to the back. Do not disturb the kidneys or the fat covering them, excepting in warm weather, when the leaf may be removed to allow quicker and more thorough cooling. Remove the paunch and the intestines. The gall bladder lies in plain sight on the liver, and it lies attached to the diaphragm and hypatic vein. It should be stripped off after starting the upper end with a knife. Avoid spilling the contents on the meat. Insert the fingers under the liver and strip it out. Cut across the artery, running down the backbone, and cut around the diaphragm, removing them with the pluck, that is, heart, lungs, liver and gullet. Open the jaw and insert a small block to allow free drainage. Wash out all blood with cold water, and dry with a coarse cloth. In hot weather the backbone should be split to facilitate cooling. The fat should be removed from the intestines before they get cold. It is strong in flavor and should not be mixed with the leaf lard in rendering.