Hog Killing Time - by Jimmy Fleming

There was a time when pretty much everyone in the south new what hog killing time was and participated in the process one way or another. An old timey hog killing was a major family event that took place in late fall or winter on every farm in the southern United States. The entire family and most times several families would come together to kill several hogs which would provide meat to last most of the year. The hog killing would begin by killing the hogs and then scalding the carcasses in hot water so that the hair could be scraped off. The next step was to hang the hog so any remaining hair could be singed and the hog could be gutted. Most of the organs were utilized in some form or fashion such as the heart, lungs, liver, and intestines (used for sausage casings or cooked as chitterlings). They would then start butchering the carcasses by removing the prime cuts such as the shoulders, hams, ribs, loins, and chops. In the days before refrigeration some of these cuts would be cured for later use and only a small part of them eaten fresh. Some of the lesser cuts and pieces would be ground to make sausage, cured and smoked for later, or boiled down for lard and cracklings. As a teenager and young man I had the opportunity to help at several hog killings. What a great experience … the smell of lard being rendered and the taste of fresh hot cracklings. Also there would usually be a huge meal prepared using some of the fresh pork along with sweet potatoes, collards, and corn bread. I remember my grand mother corning hogs heads, cooking pig tails, making souse, and using lard to make biscuits. The hog was a very important animal on the farm and supplied many useful products. As the old folks used to say “They used everything off the hog except the squeal!”