How to Butcher and Prepare a Pig

Have you ever wanted to have an amazing party or fiesta with a meal that would blow your guests away? Everybody does burgers or pizza, but how many fiestas or parties have you been to where a whole pig was roasted? This is a great thing to do if you are throwing a party or fiesta and need a lot of food to serve to your guests. It will be challenging, but you will have a great meal, and it will be the center piece of your party.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Rope
• Hand torch
• Knife
• Garden hoe

1. Catch the pig any way you can, without causing injury. You should call as many friends as you can, as catching and securing a pig takes more than one person. Tie a rope around the hind legs of the pig. Find a tree that is sturdy enough to hold the weight of the pig, and throw the free end of the rope over a large branch on the tree. You could use any other sturdy structure that is handy, as long as it can hold the necessary weight. Hoist the pig up off of the ground using the rope. You may need two or more other people to help you to do this, and also help hold the pig steady.

2. Place a tarp under the pig so that the blood of the pig doesn’t make a mess on the ground. Take out your knife, preferably a very big knife like a large chef’s knife, and stab the knife into the heart of the pig. Drain all of the blood out of the pig into a bucket for easy cleanup. This could take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes.

3. Untie the pig from the tree. Place the pig on a large strong table so you can remove the hair from of the pig. Use your handheld torch, and burn the hair for easy removal. This step will cause a bad odor, so wear a surgical mask or bandana to cover your nose and mouth. Take a garden hoe and use it to scrape off all of the leftover burnt hair that is still attached to the pig.

4. Use your knife to make an incision from the middle of the top of the chest down to the bottom of the belly of the pig. Remove all of the organs and other innards of the pig. If you make or eat menudo or chitlins, you should save the intestines for cleaning and cooking. Attach a rotisserie type of bar through the mouth of the pig and run it all the way down through the bottom of the pig between the legs.

5. Start your fire or giant barbecue pit, hoist the pig up, and place the rotisserie bar on the two rotisserie posts that are on either side of the fire. Allow the pig to roast and slowly turn the pig using the rotisserie bar, so that every side is cooked evenly. Slowly cook the pig for many hours (four or more) until done.

6. Take the intestines and run your thumb through them to get all of the waste out of them. Clean thoroughly with cold water. Cook the intestines as chitlins or in a menudo soup while the pig is roasting.

7. Place the cooked pig on a large platter or small table and serve any way you like. You can carve the pig off or allow people to just pick off what they want and serve themselves.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish