tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post2904707145440645489..comments2023-12-15T02:04:08.213-08:00Comments on meat: The Russian way of scraping a pigBruce Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995706761794063165noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-43760390186285144832016-06-04T19:33:12.145-07:002016-06-04T19:33:12.145-07:00A good way is to scald the pig whole. We do this i...A good way is to scald the pig whole. We do this in an old bath tub, (a heavy cast iron/steel tub), out in the paddock. Fill it just over half full with clean water and light a fire with wood placed on the ground all around the tub. When it boils, dunk the pig for a few minutes and check if the bristles will scrape off easily, if not dunk again until they do. Then remove and continue scraping. Wash down and dry on completion. You should have a nice clean pink/white pig at the end, with skin good enough for perfect crackling.<br />This assumes that you start with a white pig. If the pig is black or black/brown/white blotched etc, don't expect such good results. Commercially pigs here are worth a lot less if they have coloured or blotched skin. Consumers expect pork to be white/pink and the coloured ones are skinned and processed into small goods.<br />Wild pigs which are rarely nice and pink and have very dirty skin are always hard to process into nice good looking meat. Most of us no longer bother to do this, and simply skin them without any scraping. If you want crackling when roasting, simply buy nice clean pig skin and fat from your butcher and lay that on top od your wild pork roast.<br />Burning off the bristles will work but the skin is generally not fit to eat afterwards and always has a burnt taste. With wild pigs it is traditional to light a big fire and using two people throw the pig into the ashes.flames until the bristles burn off. This results in a bristle-less pig with ashes and dirt well burnt into the skin. Tastes awful and is usually discarded after roasting. Some use a gas torch burner, (paint burner), and burn and scrape much like your Russians bur this doesn't remove the dirt very well and it always taints the shin with a foul burnt taste. Do a web search for "pig scrapers" or "hog scrapers" to see some easily made scraping tools. The "bell" scraper is the most modern version I think. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12892462319992445840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-79104929188769563532015-11-25T17:06:41.633-08:002015-11-25T17:06:41.633-08:00Most of the time when people take the trouble to s...Most of the time when people take the trouble to scrape a hog they do so because they want to eat the skin, or to use the parts of the animal with the skin attached. Think proscuitto, or instance, which requires skin-on hams. <br /><br />These guys would cut a little bit off the ears and chew it as they worked. The skin is delicious; In the southern part of the us, pork rinds, or cracklings, are prized and devoured. <br /><br />Bruce Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10995706761794063165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-82618111290976739092015-11-25T10:35:42.610-08:002015-11-25T10:35:42.610-08:00Did they eat the skin after they cooked the hog?
D...Did they eat the skin after they cooked the hog?<br />Did they roast the hog or roast it whole?<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07478189985233146051noreply@blogger.com