[Bumblebear]

Ours hadn't even been overwintered...they were weaners bought in the summer 

[kja]

it only takes a cold snap they soon put a good coat on,ours are showing thick coats already so they must be expecting a cold winter

[Greenerlife]

I had my Berkshires come back a bit hairier than previous saddlebacks and GOS.  the Hairs burn off when you roast them anyway - still fine for crackling!  And if you really want to eat the ears, you can always shave them with an ordinary razor!  I have had to do that before making brawn - ears are hairy buggers!

[SallyintNorth]

My aging and failing memory is rattling around telling me there's something about using boiling water to soften bristles which is essential on hairy pigs....  Karen will know, I think, but is busy at the Winter Fair today.

I think I remember a conversation about an older, larger pig and an abbatoir that couldn't boil / scrape the hair on a pig that large so whoever it was had to find another abattoir for pigs over a certain weight....  Anyone else recall something along those lines?

[Bionic]

Sally, You aren't going mad, I remember it too but can't find the thread.
the other Sally 

[Bumblebear]

My aging and failing memory is rattling around telling me there's something about using boiling water to soften bristles which is essential on hairy pigs....  Karen will know, I think, but is busy at the Winter Fair today.

I think I remember a conversation about an older, larger pig and an abbatoir that couldn't boil / scrape the hair on a pig that large so whoever it was had to find another abattoir for pigs over a certain weight....  Anyone else recall something along those lines?

That would be an interesting thread to find <goes to look>.  Not really applicable to me though cos mine were deadweight 60kg and 54kg - small by your guys standards I reckon

[Ladygrey]

Oh dear!
Worried now as to what the kune piglets for hog roast will come back looking like 

[cleopatra]

My aging and failing memory is rattling around telling me there's something about using boiling water to soften bristles which is essential on hairy pigs....  Karen will know, I think, but is busy at the Winter Fair today.

I think I remember a conversation about an older, larger pig and an abbatoir that couldn't boil / scrape the hair on a pig that large so whoever it was had to find another abattoir for pigs over a certain weight....  Anyone else recall something along those lines?

the larger pigs cool the water too much so the scalding doesnt work too gud. smaller the better.
we get a few hair but not that much. never heard of shaving them though. personally i wouldnt get cross with our abattoir as we are small fry and they could easily turn us away, and the next abasttoir is 2 hrs away.

[Sylvia]

Oh dear!
Worried now as to what the kune piglets for hog roast will come back looking like 

I sent six away a couple of weeks ago and they came back as smooth as a baby's bum. And oh!!! the taste

[ZacB]

the larger pigs cool the water too much so the scalding doesnt work too gud. smaller the better.
we get a few hair but not that much. never heard of shaving them though. personally i wouldnt get cross with our abattoir as we are small fry and they could easily turn us away, and the next abasttoir is 2 hrs away.

The water must have cooled considerably when our two large blacks went in, the smaller of the two was 98kg dead weight - they did charge a little extra for the larger as it weighed in at 118kg. Can I just say at this point we did grow them on as bacon pigs 
They did come back pretty hairless though

[ballingall]

I would be disappointed with that much stubble. We sent away two large blacks x Mangalitza, and there is the very odd black hair, but nothing like your pics. They were 8 weeks old in November, we kept them for 4 months, they lived out all winter, and they were hairy! But no stubble like that.


Beth

[ballingall]

Oh- and it was Karen with the sow who had to go to Wishaw abattoir instead of Shotts as the scalding tank at Shotts wasn't big enough. Not that I have found the thread though.


Beth

[Daisys Mum]

Oh- and it was Karen with the sow who had to go to Wishaw abattoir instead of Shotts as the scalding tank at Shotts wasn't big enough. Not that I have found the thread though.


Beth

I can't remember which one it was either but one of them skins the pigs.

[SallyintNorth]

My aging and failing memory is rattling around telling me there's something about using boiling water to soften bristles which is essential on hairy pigs....  Karen will know, I think, but is busy at the Winter Fair today.

I think I remember a conversation about an older, larger pig and an abbatoir that couldn't boil / scrape the hair on a pig that large so whoever it was had to find another abattoir for pigs over a certain weight....  Anyone else recall something along those lines?

That would be an interesting thread to find <goes to look>.  Not really applicable to me though cos mine were deadweight 60kg and 54kg - small by your guys standards I reckon

Sorry, didn't explain myself well.  The relevance being that there is a process they have to do with hairy pigs and I think not all abattoirs do it?  So is worth checking with your abattoir how they dehair, and if it's not scalding, find one that does do hairy pigs properly.

[Tamsaddle]

The water temperature for scalding has to be between 55 and 60 degrees C, not more or less.  Too hot and it cooks the pig, too low and it doesn't work.   I think I was told de-hairing had to be done within seconds/minutes of slaughter, otherwise the hairs set in the skin.  The problem is often caused by black hairs growing at a very shallow angle in the skin, so a lot of the visible hair is just below the skin surface and cannot be scraped out as can a hair growing at right angles.   Either way, black hairs visible on the back fat cook out completely on roasting and end up colourless, and you should end up with crackling that looks exactly the same as back fat that was hairless to begin with.   Tamsadedle