Pork Rinds

[EPic1856]

I'm interested in making some pork rinds the next time I get a hog. What is the best way of preserving the skin? Usually the skin gets thrown away, but I want to keep it. Should the skin be left on the hog until processing? Just trying to figure out the best way.

This would be done after the hog has been gutted. The bristles need to be removed. The two I know is to put some boiling water over the skin and then use a knife to scrape the bristles or use a flame and burn the bristles away.

 

[tony270]

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  [*]Before we dispatch the hog we dig a hole and place a 55 gallon barrel in the ground at a 45 degree angle. We leave the barrel sticking out enough so we can build a fire under it.
  
  [*]Then we start the fire to boil the water.
  
  [*]After the hog has been dispatched we’ll bleed it out, then we put the hog in the barrel head first and grab a hold of the two feet that are sticking out and spin it around and around so that half the hog gets scowled.
  
  [*]Then we pull the hog out and put it in tail first and do the same. We do this as quickly as possible.
  
  [*]Then we pull the hog out and start scrapping the bristles/hairs off with a knife, we use 3 or 4 people to do this, one person will ladle boiling water on the stubborn spots and tend the barrel by keeping it full and boiling. We repeat this process until the hog is clean.
  
  [*] Then we skin and butcher the hog.
  
  [*]The skin at this point will still have fat and meat bits attached. We cut the skin into bite size strips and bits.
  
  [*]Then we render down the bite size strips bits a little at a time. When they float and are golden brown we take them out, strain, and then salt.
  
  [*]We use a twenty gallon pot to render down the bite size strips and bits and a propane burner for heat. That is how we make cracklings. One extra step is needed from this point to make pork rinds.
  
  [*] When we want pork rinds we’ll remove the excess fat and meat bits, but that requires a lot of labor so we make cracklings.
  
  [*]We make sure not to overheat the pot.
  
  [*]When we are finished we let the lard cool enough so we can safety strain it through cheese cloth or a white cotton sheet and into containers.
  
  

 

[Caninelaw]

That sounds like enough work to make buying a bag of pork rinds a bargain.

 

[Stonepointer]

I am glad someone brought this up and wanted to know about this myself; I have been meaning to, but was not sure how to go about asking about it.

Could a torch be used? Or would this be too dangerous considering the amount of fat in the pig skin?

Anyway here is a video of in-the-kitchen pork rinds once you have managed dealing with the initial pig skin hair issue.

[video=youtube;wH5wQ78dSLY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH5wQ78dSLY[/video]

Just had a store bought bag last Friday. The smell when you first open the bag is horrific but once you get past that, it tastes fantastic. I usually can't open a bag without eating the entire contents with or without pepper sauce, that is why I do not eat them too often. It is probably not that good for you health-wise.

 

[tony270]

Using a torch to singe the hairs off might leave a bad taste on a pig's skin. We use that method on birds and opossums. After singeing and rubbing the hair off the opossum we will wash the skin in a diluted dish soap and water solution, then reine clean, the skin comes out clean and white after that.

 

[EPic1856]

Tony great info. I doubt I'll have the resources to do the whole hog like you stated. What do you think about skinning the hog, then cutting the skin into strips, then placing it in boiling water. Remove it from the water and scrap the bristles?

 

[tony270]

Tony great info. I doubt I'll have the resources to do the whole hog like you stated. What do you think about skinning the hog, then cutting the skin into strips, then placing it in boiling water. Remove it from the water and scrap the bristles?

That would work, but only scowled the outside of the skin (the side with the bristles/hair), avoid scolding the fat and meat side of the skin, because water and hot oil don’t mix, and you could lose fat oil too. Then scrape the skin with a knife and rinse clean, then repeat, pat dry, and then cut into strips and bits. A wild hog may not have enough fat on the skin to cook pork rinds or cracklings. You may need to start off with some store bought lard.
I would also like to add that when we make hog-head cheese we cut out what we call the death-ear, that's the ear cannel. I’m not sure if that can kill someone, but when we butcher a pig the elders will make sure that is done.

 

[palladin]

That would work, but only scowled the outside of the skin (the side with the bristles/hair), avoid scolding the fat and meat side of the skin, because water and hot oil don’t mix, and you could lose fat oil too. Then scrape the skin with a knife and rinse clean, then repeat, pat dry, and then cut into strips and bits. A wild hog may not have enough fat on the skin to cook pork rinds or cracklings. You may need to start off with some store bought lard.
I would also like to add that when we make hog-head cheese we cut out what we call the death-ear, that's the ear cannel. I’m not sure if that can kill someone, but when we butcher a pig the elders will make sure that is done.

tony270, I'm just curious....Why is removing the ear canal necessary? Is there an associated health
issue? some religious convention? or does it just add bad flavor?

 

[tony270]

I’m from California but my roots are in Louisiana. I learned that from Uncle Allen and others elders in Mississippi and Louisiana. When I first heard the words cut out the death-ear I asked that question to more than a few people. They all basically ignored me and changed the subject. None of them ever said the death-ear would kill a person. I did get some to say it that was nasty or dirty. Sometimes the reason we do things get lost when they’re passed down, but we still do them. The real reason I think is taste, but it may be for health reasons being that it's called death-ear.

tony270, I'm just curious....Why is removing the ear canal necessary? Is there an associated health
issue? some religious convention? or does it just add bad flavor?

 

[tony270]

Delete

 

[palladin]

I’m from California but my roots are in Louisiana. I learned that from Uncle Allen and others elders in Mississippi and Louisiana. When I first heard the words cut out the death-ear I asked that question to more than a few people. They all basically ignored me and changed the subject. None of them ever said the death-ear would kill a person. I did get some to say it that was nasty or dirty. Sometimes the reason we do things get lost when they’re passed down, but we still do them. The real reason I think is taste, but it may be for health reasons being that it's called death-ear.

yeah, I thought it might be something like a standard practice lost in antiquity. Thanks for the explanation!

...gotta go look in my Foxfire books for death-ear! :smile-yellow: