pressure washing a hog

Ed that may work out pretty good but you may want to have a contingency just in case. I know in scraping a hog you want to heat your water 155 to 165 degrees to scald the hog in. Is there any way of lowering the temperature of the sprayer? 200 degrees may cook the skin and set the hair making it harder to remove.

 

I suspect you would blast off hide also. As mentioned, perhaps lower the water temperature and then use it only as a substitute for a scalding bath - with still scraping the hair. For one thing it should take off all of the dirt on the hog.

Ken S. in WC TN

 

An old time way to heat a large quanitity of water is to heat large rocks and then drop them in the water. It can make water boil. Of course, you have to have some method of taking the rocks out afterwards.

Ken S. in WC TN

 

Ken I think that would be a little too primitive for most of us! I know the native americans done that too cook their stew.

Ed, when I was a commander in the Royal Rangers (christian type boy scouts) we had a camping manuel with all kinds of things to build for camping. One project was a outdoor hot water tank. It consisted of a 55 gallon drum barrel, 3/4" coiled up copper tubing, and fittings. You uncoiled the copper tubing just long enough to attach it to the lower side of the drum barrel. Then a pipe came out of the top of the barrel and attached to the center of the copper coil (the other end of the coil). The barrel was filled up with water and a small fire was built over the copper coil. The cold water from the bottom of the barrel would flow through the coil, heat up and flow to the top of the barrel. The water would circulate by itself until all the water was heated up. On the opposite side of the barrel was a water spiket about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom to get hot water from.

We never did keep our little club long enough to build one of these but it sounds like it would work. My only question about the system was how hot can the coils get before it would melt.

Good luck and let us know if you build one. Tell us if it worked.

 

ED

With a pressure you will drive dirt and debris INTO the meat!! If you did not keep the flow paralel you would bore a hole into the meat with the extreme high pressure. If you concentrate your efort on the proper water tempature you will be rewarded with a very easy job If you make the water to hot you have a PROBLEM.If the water temp. is good you should be able to "wipe" the hair off with your hands. Always remember feet and head should be done first,then the sides ect. Remember that a couple extra minutes for the proper water temp. wil be the BEST time spent on butchering day

 

Yer a good woman Wanda!!!!

I was reading just as fast as I could to get down here and warn Ed about that high pressure washer. He would have blasted dirt all the way thru his bacons.

For my money, a 55 gallon oil drum with a thermometer handy is the best tool for hog handling. Get the water ready, lower the hog inside, haul him out, turn him over and drop in the other end. Then start scraping and use a pot to add hot water anywhere you think he needs it.

We had a steel stand that permitted us to put firewood under the barrell and heat the water. It was easy to build a roaring fire to get it started, then as it neared the right temp add just enough wood to get it there and keep it there. We had a tall A-frame with a block and tackle with a gambrel to raise and lower the hog. Today it would be easy to use the boom on a tractor, or a front end loader.

 

After helping to hot water bath clean four hogs after Thanksgiving, I rather like the concept of using a high pressure washer as bascially a steam cleaner. The wane can be held far enough away to soak/spray the carcass without blasting off the skin. It just might flush off a lot of the hair by itself, leaving spot cleaning for scraping. This would avoid the cumbersome dipping method.

Ken S. in WC TN

 

That's right, Ken. Even at the extreme high pressure, I could touch my fingertips into the stream and let it strike a glancing blow with no real injury. I think with the right distance and angle, alot of the hair would blast off, along with the scurf. Unfortunately, the pressure washer is 150 miles away.

Yesterday I got 12 feet of 3/8" ID copper tubing. I made coils and plumbed one end into the drain plug on the tank, the other hung over the top edge. I lit the turkey fryer and it started to sputter and jet hot water into the tank, along with some steam. I put a piece of hose on it to get the steam under the surface of the tank water. After an hour, it had raised the temp just a few degrees. The tube was too big and when it sent the heated water up the coils, the cool water rushing in behind cooled everything down.

Today i got 20' of 1/4" OD tubing and made 16 small coils. This thing got to steaming right away but very little water came out, just steam. I think it is getting too hot.

I have an 80 pound bronze gear blank from machinist days. I think I'll let it sit on the burner and soak up a few million BTUs then toss it in the tank. I need to get something figured out, butcher day is tomorrow.

 

Why not skin them Ed? It is a lot less work than scalding and scrapping. Skinning is really quite easy, if you are up to butchering yourself you can easily handle the skinning job.

Good Luck and let us know the outcome and the method that you used.

 

My wife likes the skin. End of story. And trust me, I can and have skinned most anything before. I know it is easier. But tell my wife she doesn't get the crunchy skin she likes, and there is trouble. She is the one who feeds and raises the hogs, so I guess it is her call.

And I like the skin on the bacon. My grandma used to make it like that and I always enjoyed it as a kid. Still do now.

 

Has anyone tried a hot tub wood heater like this www.cowboyhottubs.com ?
I bet this would work and probably pretty quick.