Kilgary Mountain Kilgary Mountain My grandfather, known as Uncle Charley, was a kind man in many ways and I loved him dearly. I am named after him and in some ways much like him. He was a wonderful man, loved by all who knew him. However, his manner was gruff. It was easier for Fred Doyle, my father, to take charge and complete a task while he was away. Dad was in charge of hog killing when he was young and still at home before he married. Grandfather would go horseback riding, somewhere doing something, and was usually gone for the day. This was a good time, as Granddad would be out from underfoot. You can see my dad had the experience and expertise for a hog killing in his day.
Hog killing was an exciting time for everyone and the dogs as well. The dogs were tossed some miscellaneous trimmings of sorts. Everyone was so well fed with fresh liver and heart that, on many occasions, folks would become ill from overeating the fresh pork. When a person is not accustomed to this diet of rich and fatty foods,
often times the change in diet was overpowering to a person’s system.
The hogs would be called if necessary. Usually they were expecting to be fed and would come for food, look up at you, and a bead would be drawn upon the hog right between the eyes. A shot by the 22 rifle loaded with shorts would be fired. The hog would instantly drop to the ground. My uncle Burl Smith was a large man, he was often times the one who would grab the hog by a front leg and turn it on its back. He would stick the hog with a large freshly sharpened butcher knife, in the throat, cutting the jugular vein (artery) and the hog would be bled. Many people know nothing of bleeding an animal as required in the Bible, which also states that the life is in the blood and that Man is forbidden to consume the blood.
Depending upon the location of the kill, the hog would be dragged or sledded to a nearby location previously staged for the occasion. Below is a list of the general equipment necessary for butchering hogs.
A hog killing usually came in the late fall as winter approached, perhaps at the time of the first cold spell. Cool weather was important as the meat might spoil if the weather was warm.
Dad usually had a horizontal pole, capable of holding 2 or 3 hogs, attached between the smoke house and a tree or some similar arrangement. A tripole (tripod) or tree limb, with a block and tackle, can also be used. It was mostly a one-hog killing and processing procedure, whether one or perhaps three were butchered the same day. Only one was butchered most seasons, but three might be done in early winter after the weather turned cold.
Some type of bed, such as clean wood planks, was arranged on which the hog would be lowered when the time came to cut it up. Perhaps they would be placed upon a wooden sled to make less bending of the back. The sled was placed near the tripole or hoisting area.
A 55-gallon open-top steel barrel, recessed a foot or so into the ground for stabilization, at an angle of approximately 45° was used for the scalding process.
A cast-iron kettle was placed nearby, filled with water and heated over a wood fire for scalding the hog. Everyone always talks about a good scald, and indeed this makes the work a lot easier as compared to a poor scald when the hair does not release easily.
A spreader pole, made from a freshly cut sapling some 2 ½ feet in length and sharpened on both ends, was prepared earlier and laid nearby. This short pole would be used later to hoist the hog in the air. Various freshly-sharpened butcher knives were laid out for the work to come. Two or three buckets were set nearby for various uses, such as filling the barrel with hot water and for throwing hot water on the hog for a quick wash up just before it is cut up. Galvanized wash tubs were made available, the larger the better, to be used at the time of disemboweling.
Water was brought to a boil, dipped out with 3-gallon galvanized buckets, and poured into the barrel. More water was heated and poured into the barrel until it was half full with very hot water. The temperature was tested, it had to be hot to loosen the hair but not so hot as to set the hair.
With the hog on location, the butchering process starts by making a cut on each side of each rear leg. The spreader pole, with the sharpened ends, is inserted into the leg in front of the tendons and between the leg bones. The pole is used for handling the hog during the scalding process and also for hoisting the hog into the air prior to disemboweling.
Butchering is now underway. By holding the spreader pole, the hog is lowered head first into the very hot water and is rotated and pulled up and down in the water.
Two men work quickly, as the hog is rotated and pulled up and down in the barrel, to insure all areas of the hog are exposed to the hot water. Then the hog is pulled almost out of the barrel and rested on the rim to check if the hair pulls out easily just by grabbing and pulling on the hair with a forefinger and thumb. This is the test prior to scraping the hog. If this seems to be a good scald the front end of the pig is ready for scraping. If the hair does not easily turn loose the hog is again put into the water for a few more dips
The process is reversed to do the rear half of the hog. The meat hook (#16 of the artifact list) is inserted into the mouth of the hog, hooking into the upper jaw, and the scalding of the rear of the hog begins. The meat hook is the only practical tool that you can use for handling the 200 pounds or more of weight. A second person can hold onto a front leg, but it is slippery and wet. The person using the hook is the main person handling the hog during the scalding of the rear portion of the hog.
The carcass is then placed on a flat wood surface for the scraping process. Using a large butcher knife, one takes the handle in one hand and the end of the blade in the other hand with the sharp edge down against the skin. You pull back toward your body while applying pressure, and the hair should turn loose with the scraping action of the knife, provided attention was given to the scalding process. The whole hog is thoroughly scraped of all hair.
The hog is suspended in mid air, pulled up by a hoist using the spreader pole, which holds the hog upside down with the head a foot or so off the ground. The hoist was usually a block and tackle (a rope with compound pulleys) the privates are tied off with a piece of string and the disemboweling is begun by using a butcher knife and carefully opening up the belly of the hog from the rear to the front of the hog. The wash tubs are used to catch the entrails.
The hog is washed down, with a dash of hot water thrown on to the exterior, and is then lowered onto the clean bed of lumber. A woodsman’s ax is used to chop through the ribs next to the backbone. We stripped out the tenderloin, as opposed to making pork chops. It is mostly just a lot of butcher knife work as the hams and shoulders are cut apart. The bacon slabs are cut loose.
After all the work of cutting up the hog, parts are taken to the smoke house where salt is immediately and generously rubbed into the pork, also a thin layer of salt would be dusted on the fresh meat, except for that which would be eaten shortly thereafter. There was only salt and salt peter for preserving. Curing and smoking began in the days following. Smoking was a further way of preserving the meat. Usually the hams, shoulders and bacon were smoked for days. Hickory was the preferred wood of choice. There was no refrigeration or freezing in that day and this was the method of preservation. Hickory smoking gave the meat a delicious flavor. Less desirable cuts of meat were often worked up into various home recipes such as headcheese.
This was the winter meat supply for our family in the Ozarks. Many details are not included. However, it is representative of the scene of a hog killing in the Ozarks. One year when a large acorn crop occurred, the hogs took cholera. We were able to vaccinate and save some but not all of them. As with all farming, the end results are not always fruitful. The pig picture is from the Franklin farm, almost within shouting distance across the hollow north of us. The photo was taken in 1947.
Charles Doyle 3/24/2003