The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Bumblebear on November 27, 2012, 11:03:48 pm
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We've just had our two butchered (more about that in another post) and one of the pigs especially came back with too much stubble on it to eat :( all that wasted crackling! The edges of a couple of ears are as hairy as they went in which means I can't use them either. I'm pretty peeved to say the least. Am I being unreasonable to expect them to come back "clean". They were Berkshires. ???
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An example....
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I doubt you'd notice that in proper crackling, to be honest. But no, I don't have anything like that much hair left on my pigs - Saddleback x. Did you tell the abbatoir they were hairy pigs when you booked them in?
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i have had coloured pigs back with visable hairs left i never looks nice the head area is always the worst.
this is the main reason coloured pigs are not favoured by butchers / buyers in markets and slaughterhouses are not so keen on killing them.
as sally said they would hardly notice on a white breed.
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Our Berkshires come back as clean as a whistle, even the heads. I would be peeved >:( . Can you speak to them and ask why?
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Would be interested to hear what Berkshire boy says about this - is it the breed ???
We have butchered two large blacks recently and you wouldn't have guessed they were black pigs.
Thanks nelson - you answered my query while typing :)
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We have had a similar problem recently, I asked the question at the abattoir and was told that this time of year the hair is thicker due to the winter coat and the paddles can`t cope with the removal completely. Which abattoir did you use? We have never had this problem before.
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We used Howards in Norfolk. He was saying they shaved them but would have cleaned them up better if we had a kill and cut ??? I said to them that basically I'm not 100% happy eating crackling with stubble in it so joe public wouldn't be and a butcher definitely wouldn't be able to sell it like that (we have been asked to supply a local butcher with 2 next time :excited: ). Also, I couldn't understand why some areas were as smooth as a whistle.
However would they cope with mangas or kunes?
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I have had a pig back with a little stubble but nothing like your pictures. The majority of the pigs I have slaughtered are this time of year and they come back clean. I don't understand what difference having a kill and cut should make, mine are just kill and go off to a butcher and they are fine.
Someone did tell me once that you can get a bit of stubble if there are swirls in the coat but that should only affect a very few pigs and I think that was the reason for mine.
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I had 2 OSB's done. I haven't noticed any hair but then I never asked for the head back.
Sally
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The pictures I have posted the stubble is on the skin/crackling. Most of the joints are at least 75% stubbly. Time to look for another abbatoir me thinks.
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BB we have used howards in the past and never had any problems like yours :thinking: we have had the odd hair left as was the case when we used gagens & hellets. black hairs show worst of all.
did you talk to james he is usually very helpful they really do have a good reputation for service.
having said that we are trying another new slaughter house in the new year (we just love their sausages)
we use howards for the cattle because they will hang longer than most around here.
we will have a selection of british lops in march if you want to try a white rare breed :innocent:
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We only have ever had a tiny amount of stubble left on the skin and have put through a fair amount of coloured pigs. I would find what you have been given, unacceptable. I would contact the slaughterhouse and complain. you pay them to do a job and they haven't done it properly. We've put pigs in at all times of the year, never had a skin being thicker type of comment from our chaps.
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We only have ever had a tiny amount of stubble left on the skin and have put through a fair amount of coloured pigs. I would find what you have been given, unacceptable. I would contact the slaughterhouse and complain. you pay them to do a job and they haven't done it properly. We've put pigs in at all times of the year, never had a skin being thicker type of comment from our chaps.
i think markcott was refering to thicker hair on the pigs due to the time of year rather than thick skin.
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thats correct it was thicker hair, funny though we never had a problem from the last 2 sets of pigs that were overwintered, hope this was just a one off as we are very happy with the service we get from the abattoir normally. :fc:
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Ours hadn't even been overwintered...they were weaners bought in the summer >:(
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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
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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!
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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?
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Sally, You aren't going mad, I remember it too but can't find the thread.
the other Sally ;D
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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 ;)
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Oh dear!
Worried now as to what the kune piglets for hog roast will come back looking like :thinking:
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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.
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Oh dear!
Worried now as to what the kune piglets for hog roast will come back looking like :thinking:
I sent six away a couple of weeks ago and they came back as smooth as a baby's bum. And oh!!! the taste :yum: :yum:
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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 ;D
They did come back pretty hairless though
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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Oh dear!
Worried now as to what the kune piglets for hog roast will come back looking like :thinking:
I sent six away a couple of weeks ago and they came back as smooth as a baby's bum. And oh!!! the taste :yum: :yum:
Great :) hopefully my abattoir does the same job!
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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?
I'm sure they must scald them because they told me I could collect them when they had cooled down, which would have been after 24 hours.... :\ But will def look for another abbatoir anyway. Especially now I've complained!
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.
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I'm sure they must scald them because they told me I could collect them when they had cooled down, which would have been after 24 hours....
Nah, the cooling down relates to rapid chilling the meat. All slaughtered animals are rapid chilled at the abattoir, takes about 24 hours for a porker.
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I'd be disappointed if mine came back with that much hair on. You might be able to tolerate it, if you were just rearing pigs for yourself, but if selling to others, you have to think about presentation.
I was given a Berkshire joint by a friend and it was so hairy I couldn't bear to cook it with the skin on! Hope you can find a better abattoir. Pretty hard to find in this area, so I'm lucky there's a really good one just 10 minutes away.
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I don't think there is any need to knock the Berkshire it is bad practice at the abattoir not the fault of the breed.
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I don't think there is any need to knock the Berkshire it is bad practice at the abattoir not the fault of the breed.
:thumbsup: your right BB coloured hairs on joints also come in different breeds we have had ginger hairs from the tamworths & OSB's black hairs from the saddlebacks, hampshire & GOS to name but a few whilst this seems a little excessive you will always get the odd hair but it soon cooks out.
i for one have used this particular slaughter house for many pigs and never had any back that hairy not even the KK's (they were black & ginger)
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I wasn't knocking Berkshires - just saying that even I (as a pig breeder) found it off-putting! The abattoir that produced the joint was one I had tried in the past and had been disappointed with, from the point of butchery.
Just to reiterate - I wasn't blaming the breed! >:(