Page 190 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Scalding: Many people do not remove the skin off the pig’s body for carcass
preparation. Instead, only the hair is scrapped off. Hair removal is done by first
scalding the carcass with hot water. Scalding may be done by immersing the carcass
in hot water barrel or by pouring hot water over the body. This operation will loosen
the hair, making it easy to scrap them off the skin. The water should be at about 60 C
°
because at too high temperature the skin could be cooked and the hair may become
difficult to scrap off. If water temperature is too low, the hair would not come off
completely.
Singeing: After hair removal by scalding, a blow touch may be used for singeing.
Singeing is a process of burning off some of the remaining hair which could not be
removed by scrapping. In this way, the surface of the carcass becomes smooth with
less microbial load on the body surface.
Skinning: Some customers desire to have their meat without skin. In such a case,
the skinning operation can be done in similar way as it is done for cattle. Pig skin
can be used for production of many by-products, for example, leather goods, food
additives, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Evisceration: Evisceration begins by loosening and tying off the rectum. With the
carcass hoisted, a single cut is made along the mid-line from the crotch all the way
to the neck. The pelvis is then split open to remove the urinary bladder and the
reproductive system. At all times, care must be taken not to puncture the visceral
organs. The visceral organs are allowed to fall out by their own weight. They should
then be removed by pulling them off the body cavities.

Washing and splitting of the carcass: After removal of the viscera, the carcass is
thoroughly washed and split into half. The split carcass should be chilled for at least
12 hours before it is butchered ready for customers. Packaging for sale could be after
canning, or wrapped in specific food containers that are stored at cool environment
to discourage microbial growth before being sold for consumption as table meat.

Activity 8.4
Perform the following tasks:
1. Visit a pig slaughter slab near your home and observe all the procedures in
slaughtering.
2. Record your observations in your portfolio and comment on them with regard
to what you have learnt.

Exercise 8.3
Answer the following questions:
1. What are the necessary procedures for slaughtering a pig?
2. What is the meaning of singeing, skinning and evisceration?
3. Give reasons for undertaking the named practices in question number 2 above.

Student’
Student’s Book Form Twos Book Form Three
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AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 179