Part 13

A good sticking knife, hog hook, scrapers, a barrel or a trough for scalding, and a convenient place for working are the important necessities. Set the barrel at the proper slant with the open end against a table or platform of the proper height, with the bottom securely fastened; a strong tackle built for the purpose is desirable, but not necessary. Hogs should not be excited or heated, and in catching and throwing them bruising must be avoided. However, it is not necessary to stun hogs before sticking them. At slaughter houses they are usually hung up by one hind leg. If there is no hoisting appliances, lay the hog on its back and hold it there until stuck. Two men can handle a hog if they will but work with intelligence. By reaching under the animal, one at the fore leg and the other at the hind leg, they can turn a heavy hog on its back easily. One man, standing astride the body, with his feet close against the side and holding its front feet, can control it while the other does the sticking.

The knife should be eight inches long, straight bladed and narrow, and stuck into the hog’s throat just in front of the breast bone, the point directed toward the root of the tail and held in line with the back bone. This is necessary to prevent cutting between the ribs and the shoulders, which would cause the blood to settle there with waste in trimming of the shoulder. When the knife has been stuck in six or eight inches, according to the size of the hog, turn the knife quickly to one side and withdraw it. The arteries that are to be cut run close together just inside of the breast bone and both are cut when the knife is turned, providing the edges are sharp at the point.

The water for scalding when heated in the house should be boiling when removed from the stove. If put into a cold barrel it will be about the right temperature when the hog is ready for scalding. During the scalding process the water should be about 185 to 195 degrees, if the scalding tub holds only enough water to scald one hog. Water at 150 degrees will scald a hog, but, of course, more time is required. In large packing houses where a large tub is used and steam is continually blowing into the water, the water is kept at 150 degrees. Too hot water is likely to cause more trouble than too cold, and for this reason it is always best to have a thermometer at hand. Of course, the temperature may be reduced by putting in a little cold water. A hog should not be scalded before it is dead or the blood in the small blood vessels near the surface of the skin will cook and give a reddish tinge to the carcass.

To make the hair easy to remove and to cleanse the skin of the hog and free it from all the greasy filth which forms a scurf on the skin of all hogs, our Hog-Scald should always be used. Hogs scalded with the aid of Hog-Scald do not require so much heat to loosen the hair, it requires much less labor to clean them, and the dressed hogs will look much nicer and the rinds will cure and smoke nicer than when it is not used. No Farmer or Butcher will dress his hogs without Hog-Scald after giving it a trial. For description and price list on Hog-Scald, see page 278.

While being scalded the carcass should be kept moving constantly to avoid cooking the skin. While scalding, the hog should occasionally be drawn out of the water for air, when the hair may be tried. When both hair and scurf slip easily from the skin, scalding is completed. Remove the carcass from the water and begin scraping. The head and feet should be cleaned first, as they do not clean easily when cold. Use a “candlestick” scraper on the head. Use the hands and a knife if you haven’t this tool. The feet and legs are easily cleaned by grasping them firmly with the hands and twisting them around and back; pull the little bristles of the body by hand and remove the scurf and fine hair with the scraper, long corn knife or other tool. Wash the entire carcass with hot water and shave it with a sharp knife. Insert a stick under the gambrel cords and hang up the hog.

Wash down with hot water, shave patches and rinse with cold water. Occasionally the hog is too large to scald in a barrel. Cover it thickly with blankets or sacks containing a little bran, pour hot water over it and the hair will be readily loosened.

GUTTING HOGS.

Split the hog between the hind legs, separating the bones with a knife. Run the knife down over the belly line, guiding it with the right hand and shielding the point with the lingers of the left hand and thus avoid the danger of cutting the intestines. Split the breast-bone with a knife or an ax and cut down through the sticking place to the chin. Cut around the rectum and pull down until the kidneys are reached, using a knife whenever necessary to sever the cords attached to the back. Do not disturb the kidneys or the fat covering them, excepting in warm weather, when the leaf may be removed to allow quicker and more thorough cooling. Remove the paunch and the intestines. The gall bladder lies in plain sight on the liver, and it lies attached to the diaphragm and hypatic vein. It should be stripped off after starting the upper end with a knife. Avoid spilling the contents on the meat. Insert the fingers under the liver and strip it out. Cut across the artery, running down the backbone, and cut around the diaphragm, removing them with the pluck, that is, heart, lungs, liver and gullet. Open the jaw and insert a small block to allow free drainage. Wash out all blood with cold water, and dry with a coarse cloth. In hot weather the backbone should be split to facilitate cooling. The fat should be removed from the intestines before they get cold. It is strong in flavor and should not be mixed with the leaf lard in rendering.

CLEANING CASINGS.

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Those who undertake to clean casings have great trouble in getting them white and many resort to lime and other methods for both bleaching them and freeing them of fat. Notwithstanding all such efforts, the casings remain dark and unattractive. The reason for much of this difficulty lies in the fact that the casings are not properly washed and cleaned in the first operation. Casings should be washed thoroughly in three different changes of water. The fat should then be scraped off from the outside. Water must also be run through the casings and they should be turned inside out so that they may become thoroughly washed and cleaned. After casings have been perfectly washed and scraped in this manner, they should be dry-salted by packing them in a liberal quantity of salt. Casings thus cured will remain sweet and white.

HANDLING HIDES.

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The proper handling of the hides of slaughtered animals, so as to obtain the best possible prices for them and avoiding excessive shrinkage before they are marketed, is a very important matter and should have the Butcher’s careful attention.

In the first place, it should be borne in mind that it is an easy matter to badly damage the hide of an animal before killing by prodding it with a pole. This of course should always be avoided.

The killing floor should be kept as clean as possible. If there is blood on the floor and this gets on the hair and remains there, when the hides are stacked up this blood comes in contact with the fleshy side of the hide next to it and will make a spot which gives the hide a very bad appearance. By keeping the hides entirely free from blood, they make a better appearance and bring a better price.

The greatest care should be given to the removal of the hide, so they are not scored, as this greatly reduces the value of the hides to the tanner. A good, careful skinner is worth several dollars a week more to the Butcher who kills many animals than a skinner who is careless in his work. (The hide should be so nicely removed from the animal that when it comes to the tanner it should look like it had been planed from the animal, it should be so free from cuts or scores.)

PROPER STORAGE OF HIDES.

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This is a point of very great importance. If many hides are kept on hand for any length of time before shipment, the difference in shrinkage between hides which are properly kept and those which are not so stored is very great. The careful storing and handling of hides will always repay the time and trouble necessary, not only in the weight of the hides, but in the condition in which they are marketed.

Hides should be kept in as cool a room as possible and all windows and doors should be kept closed, so as to have no circulation of air.

SALT TO USE IN SALTING HIDES.

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The best salt to use for this purpose is Crushed Rock Salt. Large lumps of salt are objectionable, on account of leaving indentations in the hides where they are pressed together, which injures their appearance in the eyes of the buyer.

One part of Fine Salt to three parts of Crushed Rock Salt makes a fine mixture for salting hides, as the fine salt quickly dissolves and makes a moisture on the hide, which the hide absorbs.

When re-using old salt for salting hides, always add about one-third of new salt to it, as this gives much better results. About one-third of the salt used is consumed in salting hides, so by adding one-third additional of fresh salt each time, the supply of salt is kept the same. Always keep the salt as clean as possible. If there is much dirt or manure in it these will discolor the hides and they will not make as good a showing to the buyer.

QUANTITY OF SALT TO USE ON HIDES.

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In large Packing Houses about 35 lbs. of salt is used for each hide. The Packers find that by using this quantity they get better results than if a smaller quantity is used. Very few Butchers in the country use as much salt as this on their hides, but they would find it greatly to their advantage to use about 100 lbs. of salt to every three hides, and if the proper quantity of salt is used, as described in the foregoing, it can be used over and over again with a loss of about one-third for each time used. It is much better for the Butcher to invest more money in salt and give the hides a proper amount, as he will thus save on the excessive shrinkage of the hides, which would amount to more than the cost of the salt.

HOW TO STACK HIDES WHEN SALTING.

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One of the most important features in salting hides is the way they are stacked when salted. The hides must be so piled that they are perfectly level and the salt must be distributed over every part of the hide. The flesh side should be up, and the salt should be rubbed over them evenly. The hides can be piled about two feet high. The legs of the hide should be kept straight and flat, so the salt gets into all crevices. The edges of the stack of hides should be kept a trifle higher all around than the center of the stack, so the natural moisture that comes out of the hide and the dry salt will remain on them. If the hides are salted on a slanting floor, or if the hides are piled up carelessly so the hides lie slanting, the brine composed of moisture of the green hide and the salt will run off and then the percentage of loss from shrinkage will be large.

HOW LONG TO CURE HIDES.

Hides should lie in the pack and salt for 25 to 30 days, so as to be fully cured and ready for shipment.

TRIMMING OF GREEN HIDES.

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Before the hides are salted the switches should be cut off of the tail and all loose ends of the hide should be cut off. The butt of the ears should also be split; if the hides go into the pack without attention to this point, it makes the pack very uneven on account of the thickness of the ear, and the salt does not have a chance to properly penetrate the ears, and they are liable to spoil. Loose pieces of meat that are carelessly left on the hides and all excessive fat should be trimmed off. Hides must not be salted until five hours or longer after the animal is killed, and they must not be piled closely, as this would prevent the animal heat from escaping. If hides are salted with the animal heat in them, very often the hair will slip, which will make No. 2 hides.

SALTING SWITCHES.

Switches should be spread out on the floor so they will thoroughly cool off. After they are thoroughly cool, they can be piled into a heap and salt applied so they are entirely covered. The more salt put over them the better, as they spoil very easily.

TANNING SKINS.

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Butchers can easily tan the skins of Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Calves with Tanaline, and they can often pick up fine skins of wild animals, which can also be easily tanned. By tanning the fancy skins that the Butcher frequently can get, he can sell them for three or four times as much as he would realize when sold to the Hide Buyer.

DIRECTIONS FOR TANNING SKINS.

First:--After weighing the skins, soak them in plain cold water; fresh or salted skins for 24 hours, and air dried skins for at least 48 hours. Then scrape off all the fat with a dull instrument, such as a putty knife or sharp piece of hard wood. Then wash thoroughly, with cold water, both sides of the skin.

Second:--Use, for every 30 pounds of skins, a 2-pound package of Tanaline and 4 pounds of salt. Dissolve 2 pounds of Tanaline and 4 pounds of salt in 5 to 6 gallons of cold water, and when thoroughly dissolved, place the skins into it. Have sufficient water so that all the skins are entirely covered. Tan small, thin skins in this solution for 24 hours. Goat, sheep, calf and dog skins should be allowed to tan from two to three days, according to their thickness. Cattle or horse skins, or skins of a similar nature, require one week in this solution to properly tan them. During the tanning process remove the skins and replace them in the same solution twice a day, so that the solution gets over all parts of the skins uniformly. After tanning, drain off all the solution that can easily be drained off, and spread the skins out with the flesh side up, away from the sun.

Third:--Make a heavy flour paste; thin enough to spread easily. Now cover the entire flesh side of the skin with a thin layer (about one-eighth inch) of this paste. Let the skins and flour paste dry for two to four days, according to the weather. The paste will absorb the moisture out of the skins and soften them.

Fourth:--When the skins become dry, work them so that the paste is shaken off. If the skins have been allowed to dry too long, they will be too hard to work, and they should be softened by sprinkling some dampened sawdust over the skins and leaving it on them over night. The skins should next be softened and worked by pulling them over the edge of a table or box, until soft and pliable.

POLISHING HORNS.

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If the horns are rough, first take a file and file through the rough horn, down to the solid horn, and file the horn into proper shape, smoothing the tip and shaping the large end to suit the fancy. After they have been filed, take sand paper and rub the horn with the sand paper until it is nice and smooth, then finish the rubbing with very fine sand paper, so as to take out all the scratches. After it has been sand papered, take a piece of glass and scrape it until very smooth. Polish by rubbing with powdered rotten stone and machine oil. The polishing must be done with the palm of the hand, and the horn should be rubbed until beautifully polished.

WHY DRIED BEEF DOES NOT THOROUGHLY DRY.

_Query.--R. B. writes: “We are having trouble with our Dried Beef. It doesn’t seem to dry out. We have it hanging in the cooler.”_

Ans.--Your beef doesn’t dry out because you keep it in the cooler. In order to dry beef, it is necessary to hang it in a dry room. You can hang it right out in the market for that matter and there it will dry rapidly, in fact, it will dry too quickly so that it will become hard. Dried Beef will dry some in the smoke house, but not sufficiently. We send you a copy of our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” which will give you full particulars in reference to this entire subject.

BULL-MEAT PREFERABLE FOR SAUSAGE.

_Query.--Z. & R. write: There is a prevailing notion among local butchers that bull meat possesses qualities which make it superior to first-class steer or cow meat for making bologna and wieners. Is this not an erroneous idea? How can bologna and wieners be prevented from turning dark and shrinking within a few days after making if exposed to the air?_

=Ans=:--The opinion of your local butcher is correct as far as it concerns bull meat as the best meat for bologna and wienerwurst. The reason for this is that bull meat contains a great deal of gelatine in various forms and far more than even the meat of either steer or cow. If you take the bull meat and chop it up, you will find that it is sticky and binds together, while if you take meat from an aged cow and chop it up it will not bind together, is mushy and soft to the touch, and when cooked frequently crumbles and falls apart.

In answering your next question, we can say that the probable cause in most cases why sausage dries up, shrivels up, shrinks or turns dark within a short time after being made is because it was not properly handled. It is also possible that these effects of which you complain were due to causes produced by the way you salted your meat or what you salted it with. If you will follow our instructions on Bologna making given in our book “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” you should have no further trouble. The book is sent free.

HOW TO MAKE A PAPER BAROMETER

_Question.--J. K. writes: Can you tell me how a Barometer can be made with paper that tells what the weather is going to be?_

Answer.--Paper barometers are made by impregnating white blotting paper in the following liquid, and then hanging up to dry:

Cobalt Chloride 1 oz. Sodium Chloride ½ oz. Acacia ¼ oz. Calcium Chloride 75 gr. Water 3 fl. oz.

The amount of moisture in the atmosphere is indicated by the following colors:

Rose Red Rain Pale Red Very Moist Bluish Red Moist Lavender Blue Nearly Dry Blue Very Dry

SOUR SAUSAGE

_Question.--B. & W. write: We have been using your Bull-Meat-Brand-Flour through all of last winter, and found it satisfactory in every way. We have been using also your Freeze-Em Pickle. Since hot weather began our sausage has soured. We have lost over 100 lbs. of sausage through its souring. Can you tell us what is the probable cause of our sausage becoming sour?_

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Answer.--We will say that the cause of your sausage souring may be due to several things. Either your grinder has become dull, causing the meat you run through it to heat in the grinding, or it may be due to the fact that the meat was not cold enough to prevent it from heating while being ground.

Another cause for trouble of this kind is in the mixing machine. In mixing meat too much, a considerable quantity of air is forced into the meat, which will often cause it to sour during the warm seasons of the year. During hot weather it is advisable to grind a small quantity of ice with the meat to keep it cold.

We also advise the use of our “A” Condimentine preparation. This is a very useful product for keeping in condition all fresh sausage. It is entirely harmless, containing no substances injurious to health. Complies with all pure food laws.

We are quite positive that you are souring your meat in the grinding, or in the mixing. Please let us know if you have a mixing machine, or whether you mix your meat by hand. If you have no mixing machine you are souring your meat while grinding it. You should mix ice with your meat before grinding it. Grind the meat and the ice together, and use “A” Condimentine. Your troubles will then disappear.

SPICED BEEF

_Question.--W. C. K. writes: I was very much interested in your magazine “Success With Meat,” and wish you would send me a formula for the making and curing of Spiced Rounds of Fresh Beef. In our city we have a great demand for spiced beef and I want the very best formula obtainable, which I know you can furnish me. I have used Freeze-Em-Pickle for a good many years and always get splendid results from its use._

Answer.--We are very glad that you like “Success With Meat,” and are pleased to learn you have obtained such uniformly good results with Freeze-Em-Pickle.

To make rolled spiced beef take 100 lbs. of boneless beef plates and cure them in brine made as follows:

5 gallons of cold water. 5 lbs. of common salt. 1 lb. Freeze-Em-Pickle. 2 lbs. of granulated cane sugar. 6 to 8 ounces Zanzibar Brand Corned Beef Seasoning.

Cure the plates in this brine 10 to 20 days in a cooler. The temperature should not be higher than 42 to 44 degrees Fahr., but a temperature of 38 to 40 degrees is better for curing purposes.

The Zanzibar Brand Corned Beef Seasoning gives a delightful flavor to the brine. After the meat has been fully cured in accordance with the above formula sprinkle some Corned Beef Seasoning on the meat; then roll the meat and tie it tight with a heavy string. Some people also like a garlic flavor and if desired a small quantity of Vacuum Brand Garlic may be added to the brine or sprinkled over the meat before it is rolled. Where you want to cure rumps or rounds of beef that weigh from 12 to 25 lbs. each, we advise that you pump them just the same as a ham would be pumped with a pumping brine made as follows:

½ lb. of Freeze-Em-Pickle. 1 lb. of pure granulated sugar. 2 lbs. of salt. 1 gallon of water.

By following the above suggestions carefully you should have no trouble in turning out delicious corned beef.

SOUR HAMS--HOW TO PREVENT.

_Query.--F. B. writes: “Have you any chemical compounds that will help us to take care of some sour hams? We have some hams that are just a little sour and thought perhaps you would help us in the matter.”_

Ans.--We do not prepare anything which would help you in the least. The trouble arises from imperfect curing and the only time that we could have been of help to you would have been when you commenced to put the hams in the pickle; we could have then given you full instructions for pickling the hams in such a way that they could not have soured. In nearly all cases the souring is around the bone. In your case it is best to cut out the bone and trim away the sour meat. After being thus carefully trimmed, they can be rolled, tied and sold for boned hams. You can always avoid the danger of sour hams by exercising extreme care in properly chilling the meat before curing. Most all souring arises from the fact that the meat is not chilled through to the bone. If all the animal heat is thoroughly removed before curing, the hams will come out of the pickle cured all the way through.

If you will follow closely the directions contained in our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” you will never have trouble with your hams. We take great pleasure in sending you a copy of this book free of charge.

FREEZE-EM-PICKLE LEGAL EVERYWHERE.

_Query.--S. G. Co.: You will please send us a 500-lb. barrel of Freeze-Em Pickle, if you can guarantee it to comply with the Pure Food Laws._