i plan on shooting some piglets this coming week and want to cook them whole. i was wondering what is the best way to remove the hair?

when i was a kid,my dad and uncles butchered a hog and cooked whole on a spit. i remember they dipped theirs in hot water,then scraped the hair off. i have heard that this can be tricky. if the water temp is not right,it can set the hair and make it harder to come off. but i am not a pro,or know the proper water temp,thats just what i remember. i do remember the hog turned out excellent,and the skin was very good. golden brown and crispy.

Why not just skin it?

It was a family affair when I was growing up. You have to get the right scald on them. It's called, "a good scald."

We would pour boiling water on them and then use a knife to scrape the hair off. You do this so you can make cracklin. If you skin it you can't make cracklin.

The desired temp is 150-155 degrees.. It's called a slow scald..

the skin holds the fat in, which is where the best flavor is.

Thanks for you suggestions everyone else

The skin also holds the heart poison!!!!

I never heard of scraping a wild hog. Anybody ever tried scraping a javelina?

whats that???

Take a pair of heavy duty hair clippers like you would use to trim the hair on a show pig or steer and take as much hair off as you can.

then get a small blow torch like the kind you can get at harbor freight or lows in the plumbing section and wave it over the hair and it will burn/melt and you can brush it off with a stiff brush.

With domestic pork that is true. However, in wild hogs, depending on the size, alot of the gamey taste is from the fat. Fat is essential to keep the meat from drying out, but too much fat, IMO, hurts the flavor of a wild hog. Plus, normal soaking methods to draw out blood and gaminess would not work with the skin on.

Back to topic...I've only done this after a domestic hog had been skinned out, but dipped the hide in HOT water...NOT BOILING, then lay flat and scrape. The hair comes right off. So, I suppose if you had a way to get the hot water on a whole hog, the same concept would apply.

Big difference in a domestic hogs hair and a wild hogs hair.IMO you are wasteing your time,no difference in taste and skining and wrapping with foil and adding the right maranades and rub gets a better taste.

x2

I'm not a fan of the clipper/blowtorch method- only time I tried some that was prepared that way it tasted like burnt hair...

Then it wasnt done right KC

I dont like to leave the skin on wild hogs anyway because of the tics that are usually on them

yes, douse them with lighter fluid and light em up to get rid of the tics.. then skin them.