A vat, containing hot water, that was used during hog butchering. One of the early steps in hog butchering was to immerse the carcass for a few minutes in boiling water (the scalding vat) to loosen the hair. For more details, see
Hog scraper. On large, well-established farms, the vat might be placed over a fire so the water could be kept hot. In addition, since butchering was always done during cold weather, the vat might be located in a small building. On small farms, the water was commonly heated in a large kettle and then put in a barrel tilted so that a hog could be easily slid into it, but still hold enough hot water to allow the hog carcass to be scalded. Some indoor installations also had a pulley or windlass arraignment so that a hog could be easily lifted out of the vat.