90 lb hog

[dforbes]

ran into what I think is a deal on a 90 lb hog. $25.00, so I ordered 3 of them. Now 1 is going on the smoker whole and I thought I would skin the other 2 and quarter them. I have processed lots of deer over the years but have never done a hog. Anyone have a link or any tips you want to send my way, it would be greatly appreciated. I can't imagine it would be that much differant.

Thanks Dennis

 

[brohnson]

Its way different than a deer in how you get it ready but the basics may be similar. Are you killing them or what, are you butchering them or what. This would help us out to help you.

 

[pineywoods]

Thats a great price are they wild or domestic. Depending on how you want to do them they can be done exactly the same as a deer or you may chose to scrape them but that is a bit more involved

 

[dforbes]

I will be killing them. I figured I would skin and quarter 2 of them and put them in the freezer for another day. The third one will be going on the smoker whole.

 

[dforbes]

They are domestic. I think the guy is strapped for cash.

 

[brohnson]

Here's some links to some reading and video's.
http://www.google.com/search?source=...+butcher+a+pig

I do prefer to slice their throats than to shooting them and remember start your cutting from the belley first just like a deer and try to keep all the fat that you can on the pig.

 

[jlb]

I stopped scraping hogs many moons ago!!

Basically slaughter the hog, and gut.

I them hang them by the head, take a box cutter or carpet knife and go from neck to tail just deep enough to cut through the skin. This will leave most of the fat on the meat.

I make these cuts about 2-3 inches apart, then cut another ring at the top of the cuts around the base of the neck, then take pliers, grab the strips, and start pulling down.

You may need to do some trimming with a knife on the way down, but you will be surprised how easy the skin comes off!!

Once the skin is off, just pretend it is a deer, and cut up the way you like'em!!

 

[pineywoods]

The last few I've done I've skinned, gutted, took the head and neck off then split them down the spine with a saw. This allowed me to smoke a 1/2 or a whole and worked out pretty well.

 

[dforbes]

Thanks for all the info guys. I new I would get some answers here. I am going to try and pick them up friday or saturday. Looks like its going to be a fun weekend.

 

[brohnson]

Make sure to do a Q-View of everything!!

 

[Dutch]

Have fun-I used to do that for a living-I would much rather skin a hog over doing the boiling and scraping thing. But then a scrapped hog makes for a better presentation when doing "whole hog".

 

[walle]

Brohnson,
If this is your first hog slaughter, take some video!
We do ours like JLB, with a few exceptions,
Biggest one is, we skin the entire hog, then gut it.

Hanging by the head is key. To do this, we use a big hook and hang them by the bottom jaw - if the pig is facing you, it is an insert and down (hook starts from the inside of the mount and points to the outside).

We also stick them by hanging them by the hind foot. After that, if you have a weed burner, you can burn off the hair, using a straw broom to brush it off, then power wash, and you have a very clean hog to work with. More than likely they've been wallering in.... which will get all over you and your pulled pork.

Make a cut below the ears, all the way around the head, then start slicing it up like JLB describes. Get a strip started, grap it with some vice grips and pull.

Good luck to ya. Hardest part will be appointing your pig catcher!
Tracey

 

[smoke farmer]

I always skin mine and leave plenty of fat on them.I butterfly mine out and use to have a smoker made out of cement blocks.They always turn out great.I have since moved and going to try a whole hog on my large side box smoker in June can't wait.

A few pics of the old smoker.

 

[scpatterson]

Ive done 1 so far and it was 140#s and I had it butchered. Left skin on and head off. Butterflied and away we went

 

[dforbes]

Looks like I can't pick them up till a week from sunday. Thanks for all the replys. Can't wait to get one on the smoker. I even went out and bought a new camera to take some pictures. I dropped mine last fall taking pictures of some fatties and spare ribs I was smoking. Dutch, I am not looking for presentation, to me its all about flavor. Just looking for some good smoked meat.

 

[dforbes]

Well last week when I was supossed to pick them up we had 6" of snow. I finally picked them up yesterday. I got three of them one was 90 lb the other two were about 120 lb. $25 each. It took me a little over 4 hours to process all three. I quartered one, halved one, and cut one up and packaged in 5lb bags for suasage. All except for the tendeloins, I butterflyed them and marinated them and through them on the grill. I will be smoking one of them on Saturday for easter dinner. There will be lots of pictures. This will be my first whole hog smoke (2 halves) so if anyone has any tips, please send them my way.

Thanks Dennis

 

[bill in mn]

Go for it ,man that sounds like a blast.

just for trying

 

[Dutch]

No problems on the presentation thing there Dennis.

In my life I have worked as a meat cutter, personal chef, caterer, and a waiter-and for fun I used to compete in Dutch Oven Cook-offs; the common thread with all of these was the “presentation” factor. So it’s just second nature for me to do a great looking plate without really thinking about it.

Oh, and the ohhs and ahhs from the family and guest when stuff comes off the smoker is nice too.

 

[meandmytwodogs]

Looking forward to seeing this! I'm doing a 6lb prime rib and thought that was gonna be cool.

You win!

Dave

 

[pineywoods]

Glad to hear all has gone pretty smooth so far the smoking hopefully will too. I usually do hogs split in two as well I just thinks its much easier the one thing I will caution you about is be careful when you pull it off the smoker I had one fall apart on me and I dropped the whole thing

I have heard of people wrapping them in chicken wire for that very reason but I ended up finding a couple of huge platters that should take care of that problem in the future.