Part 2

The enactment of the National Pure Food Law, the National Meat Inspection Law and the various State Pure Food Laws has made a great change in the Butcher, Packing and Sausage Making Business. The use of Chemical Preservatives is now prohibited under these various food laws, making it necessary to preserve meats and manufacture sausage without the use of many agents which were in general use.

The firm of B. Heller & Co. anticipated the enactment of the various food laws, and already had completed investigations which enabled them to assist packers, butchers and sausage makers at once by giving them curing agents which were free from the Antiseptic Preservatives which these laws prohibited, and yet would produce cured meats, sausage, etc, of the highest quality without the use of the Antiseptic Agents. The underlying principles for handling meats and making sausage with the antiseptic agents and without them are very different, and it became absolutely necessary that the firm of B. Heller & Co. should furnish their friends and customers such information as would enable them to cure their meats and make their sausage so as not to incur losses from goods that would not keep, and to turn out goods of fine quality and appearance. This book is =the= result. In its pages are formulas and rules for the handling of all kinds of meat and the manufacture of all kinds of sausage which are the results of many years of experience as Packing House Experts and Chemists who have made a life-time study of the business in all its phases. If the directions and rules are followed, anyone can produce the finest of cured meats and sausage, whether they have had previous experience or not. Furthermore, the products made according to these directions will comply with the requirements of all the Food Laws at present in force in this country.

Hoping the following pages will be found instructive and helpful and thanking the Butcher Trade for their support and patronage in the past, we beg to remain,

Very respectfully, B. HELLER & CO.

PACKING-HOUSE EXPERTS

ANALYTICAL AND CONSULTING CHEMISTS

We have been Consulting Chemists for the Large Packers for many years. Our advice in the handling of meats has saved Packers many thousands of dollars. We offer our advice free of charge to our customers. We make a specialty of both Analytic and Synthetic Chemistry. Our large clientele will always find us prompt in our services as heretofore.

Analyses Given Careful Attention.

General Syntheses

a Specialty

B. HELLER & CO.

The Board of Food and Drug Inspection of the Agricultural Department, at Washington, has permitted the use of certain Curing Agents, by not objecting to their use; but, at the same time, has ruled out, for curing purposes, such chemicals as come under the heading of Antiseptic Preservatives. As a consequence, certain chemical preservatives are prohibited in meats and meat food products if they are to be sold in the Territories or are to be shipped from one State to another, or from any State or Territory into any other State or Territory.

For that reason, we have changed some of our former preparations and have also placed on the market several preparations that will take the place of some of our former products. These new products are Freeze-Em-Pickle, “A” Condimentine and “B” Condimentine. They contain nothing that has been ruled out by any of the rulings or regulations under any of the Food Laws in this country.

The Antiseptic Preservatives that have been ruled out are: Borax, Boracic Acid, Fluoride of Ammonia, Formaldehyde, Benzoic Acid, Sulphurous Acid, Sulphite of Soda, Salicylic Acid, Abrastol and Beta Naphthol.

The use of some of these Preservatives is considered by many high authorities of the world to be harmless. However, as the majority of the Food Commissioners of this country object to their use, and have recommended to the State Legislatures and the Congress of the United States that the use of these Preservatives be prohibited by law, and the State Legislatures and United States Congress have passed laws to this effect; these laws are now in effect and it is, therefore, the duty of every citizen of this country to obey these laws, strictly and to the letter.

In this book we are giving to the Butchers and Sausage Manufacturers the results of much study and experiment, so as to enable the Butchers and Sausage Makers and Packers to produce goods which will meet the requirements of the various food laws and yet avoid the danger of loss from turning out meat food products that might not keep the necessary length of time. Our methods are original, and will produce most excellent results.

It must be remembered that meat must be handled at the proper temperature and according to certain rules, which must be followed to the letter if the Butcher desires to turn out products of the best quality and of appetizing appearance. No detail mentioned in this book is too small to merit strict attention.

All the materials mentioned for use in these pages are in strict accordance with the various food laws. Nothing is recommended or suggested that would come in conflict with the application of the regulations under the existing food laws.

We invite the correspondence of our customers and whenever they are in any doubt it will afford us much satisfaction to hear from them and to give them full information concerning any feature of their business upon which they desire our advice.

Thousands of pounds of Hams, Shoulders and Sides are spoiled annually before the hog is killed. Overheated hogs, or hogs that are excited from overdriving, should never be killed until they are cooled off or have become perfectly quiet. When the temperature of a hog is above normal, the meat always becomes feverish. This is especially true of large fat hogs, and when the meat becomes feverish, it will never cure properly, but nine times out of ten will sour. The meat of feverish hogs can never be chilled as it should be, and unless the meat is properly chilled, it cannot be properly cured. Before hogs are killed, they ought to be driven into a cool place and if necessary, sprayed with cold water until they are thoroughly cooled off. This precaution is necessary only in hot weather; in winter, they simply need plenty of rest.

If it is necessary to hold the hogs for several days in the pen before they are killed, they should have an abundance of water and also a little feed. This prevents shrinkage and will also keep them from getting nervous from hunger.

Up to a comparatively few years ago, all Pork Packing was done in the winter. Packing Houses would fill their plants during the winter months, and in the spring would smoke out the meats. In this way, most of the meat had to be sold oversalted, the shrinkage and loss to the Packer was greater and meats, therefore, had to be sold at a much higher price, besides, they were of very inferior quality.

At the present time, due to improved methods, packing can be done all the year around, and meat can be sold as fast as it is finished. In this way, cured meat can be produced at a much lower price, the money invested in it can be turned over four, five or six times a year, and the meat will be much better, taste better and more of it can be eaten because of the fact that it is more wholesome and more easily digested.

HOISTING HOGS IN A LARGE PACKING HOUSE, WITH A HOG-HOISTING MACHINE.

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Great care should always be exercised when hogs are hoisted before sticking. When hogs are hoisted alive to be stuck, very often when a very heavy hog is jerked from the floor, the hip is dislocated or sprained, and blood will be thrown out around the injured joint, so the Ham will be spoiled. Great care should also be exercised in driving the live hogs, as hogs are the heaviest and weakest and easiest injured of all animals.

Special pens should be provided for them, so they are not crowded, and so they have plenty of room when they are driven to the killing pen. They should be handled very carefully, and piling up and crowding should be avoided as much as possible. Many hams are injured by overcrowding the hogs in the killing pens, for when hogs smell blood they become excited and nervous, and unless they have plenty of room, they will pile upon each other and bruise themselves so that there will be many skin-bruised hams, and the flesh will be full of bruises. Men driving hogs should never use a whip. The best thing to use in driving hogs is a stick about two feet long, to the end of which is fastened a piece of canvas three inches wide and two feet long. By striking the hogs with this canvas, it makes a noise which will do more towards driving them, without injury, than the whip which will injure and discolor the skin.

STICKING HOGS IN A MODERN PACKING HOUSE.

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Men sticking hogs should be sure to make a good, large opening in the neck, three or four inches long, in order to give the blood a good, free flow. It is very necessary to sever the veins and arteries in the neck, so as to get all of the blood out of the hog. The man who does the sticking must be careful not to stick the knife into the shoulder, for if the shoulder is stuck, the blood settles there, and the bloody part will have to be trimmed out after the hog is cut up. In large Packing Houses, there is a report made out every day, of the number of shoulder-stuck hogs, and the sticker must sign this report before it is sent to the office. This shows the sticker the kind of work he is doing and makes him more careful. In small houses, most butchers stick the hogs on the floor and let them bleed there. Those who can possibly do it should hoist the hog by the hind leg before it is stuck or immediately after it is stuck, as the case may be, so as to allow the hog to properly bleed. When the hog is properly hoisted by one hind leg, alive, and then stuck while hanging, it will kick considerably and the kicking and jerking of the hog will help in pumping out all of the blood, making a much better bled carcass than if the hog is first stunned with a hammer and stuck on the floor. The better the hog is bled, the better the meat will be for curing.

SCALDING HOGS.

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It is impossible to give the exact temperature one should use in scalding hogs, as this will vary under different circumstances. In winter the hair sticks much tighter than in summer and requires more scalding and more heat than in summer. Hogs raised in the South, in a warm climate, will scald much easier than those raised in a northern climate. A butcher will soon learn which temperature is best adapted to his own locality and the kind of hogs he is scalding.

In a Packing House where a long scalding tub is used, the temperature depends entirely upon how fast the hogs are being killed. If the hogs are killed slowly, so each hog can remain in the water longer, it is not necessary to have the water as hot as when they are handled fast and are taken out of the water in a shorter time. It is, however, universally acknowledged that the quicker a hog can be taken out of the scalding tub the better it is for the meat. The hog is a great conductor of heat, and when kept in the scalding water too long, it becomes considerably heated and bad results have many times been traced to the fact that the hog was scalded in water which was not hot enough, and was kept in this water too long in order to loosen the hair. Overheating the hog in the scalding water very often causes the meat of fat hogs to sour and Packers wonder why it is that the meat has spoiled. We therefore wish to caution Packers against this, and to advise the use of water as hot as practicable for scalding hogs.

To make the hair easy to remove and to remove dirt and impurities from the skin, we recommend Hog-Scald. This preparation makes scalding easy, it removes most of the dirt and filth, cleanses the hog and whitens the skin.

In many localities, where the water is hard, Hog-Scald will be found of great value, as it softens the water and makes it nice to work with; it cleanses the skin of the hogs and improves their appearance. It is a great labor saver and more than pays the cost by the labor it saves, as it assists in removing the hair and leaves the skin more yielding to the scraper.

The skin of all hogs is covered with more or less greasy filth, which contains millions of disease germs and these extend down into the pores of the skin. If this germ-laden filth is not removed, and if it gets into the brine when the meat is being cured, it injures both the meat and the brine in flavor, and also spoils the flavor of the lard if it gets into that. Hog-Scald removes most of this filth and cleanses the skin, and for these reasons alone, should be used by every Packer and Butcher. Hams and Bacon from hogs that have been scalded with Hog-Scald are, therefore, cleaner and will be much brighter after they are smoked than when the filth of the hog remains in the pores of the skin.

Those selling dressed hogs will find Hog-Scald very valuable, as hogs that have been scalded with it are cleaner and look whiter and much more appetizing.

The use of Hog-Scald is legal everywhere. It does not come under the regulations of the Food Laws, as it is simply a cleansing agent. Hog-Scald costs very little at the price we sell it, and everyone can afford to use it. Butchers who once try it will continue its use.

SCRAPING HOGS.

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As much of the hair as possible should be scraped from the hogs, instead of being shaved off with a sharp knife, as is often done. If the hog is not properly scalded and scraped and the hair remains in the skin, such hair is usually shaved off with a knife before the hog is gutted, and sometimes after the meat is chilled and cut up. After the meat is cured, the rind shrinks and all the stubs of hair that have been shaved off will stick out and the rind will be rough like a man’s face when he has not been shaved for a day or so. Hams and Bacon from hogs that have been shaved instead of properly scalded and scraped, will look much rougher and much more unsightly than if the hogs are properly scalded and scraped. Therefore, Packers should give close attention that the scalding and scraping is properly done. The scraping bench should be provided with a hose right above where the hogs are being scraped and this should be supplied with hot water, if possible, so the hogs can be rinsed off occasionally with hot water, while being scraped. The hot water can, however, be thrown over the hogs with a bucket.

After the hog has been gambrelled and hung up, either on a gambrel-stick or on rollers, it should be gutted. After it is gutted, it should be washed out thoroughly, with plenty of cold, fresh water. As every Packer understands how to gut a hog, it is not necessary to go into details.

CUTTING THE HIND SHANK BONE.

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We advise the cutting of the hind shank bone after the hog is dressed, so as to expose the marrow, as shown in cuts A and B. It is the best thing to do, as it helps to chill the marrow. The chunk of meat that is usually left on the hind foot, above and next to the knee, if cut loose around the knee, will be drawn to the ham, and when chilled, will remain on the ham instead of being on the hind foot, as shown in cut A. After the meat is cut, the bone can be sawed, in the same place where the hock would be cut from the ham later. See cut B. The hog will hang on the sinews the same as if the bone had not been sawed, except that the cut bone separates and exposes the marrow so it can be properly cooled. On heavy hogs this is quite a gain, as the chunk that would remain on the foot would be of little or no value there, but when left on the ham, sells for the regular ham prices.

FACING HAMS AND PULLING LEAF LARD IN A MODERN PACKING HOUSE.

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The first two figures in the above cut show two men Facing Hams. The first man faces the Ham at his right hand side and the second man faces the Ham on his left hand side, as the Hogs pass by.

The advantage of Facing Hams right after the hogs are dressed, is this. The knife can be drawn through the skin and through the fat close to the meat, and the fat will peel right off the fleshy part of the Ham. Between the fat and lean meat of the Ham, between the legs, there is a fibrous membrane which is very soft and pliable. When the knife is run through the skin and fat, it will run along the side of this membrane, making a clean face for the Ham. That part remaining on the Ham will shrink to the Ham and will form a smooth coating over the lean meat, which closes the pores and makes the Ham look smooth and nice when it is smoked. It also makes a much smoother cut along the skin. The skin when cut warm will dry nicely and look smooth when cured, whereas if it is trimmed after the meat is chilled, it looks rough and ragged. Facing Hams also allows the escape of the animal heat more readily. If Hams are not faced until after the Hogs have been chilled, this fat must be trimmed off and the Hams will not look nearly so smooth as they will if this tissue and fat is removed while the hog is warm.

The second two men in the opposite illustration are Pulling Leaf Lard. The Leaf Lard should always be pulled out of the hogs in summer, as it gives the hogs, as well as the Leaf Lard, a better chance to chill. During the winter months it can be pulled loose, but can be left hanging loosely in the hog, from the top. In this way it will cool nicely, and it will also allow the animal heat to get out of the hog. Most of the large packing houses pull out the Leaf Lard in the winter as well as summer, and hang it on hooks in the chill room to chill. Leaf Lard that is properly chilled, with the animal heat all taken out of it, makes much finer lard than when pulled out of the hog and put into the rendering tank with the animal heat in it.

SPLITTING HOGS IN A MODERN PACKING HOUSE.

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Splitting can be done in several different ways. Where the back of the hog is to be cut up for pork loins, the hog is simply split through the center of the backbone, so that one half of the backbone remains on each loin. Packers who wish to cut the sides into Short or Long Clears or Clear Bacon Backs run the knife down on both sides of the backbone, as close to the backbone as possible, cutting through the skin, fat and lean meat; then the hog should be split down on one side of the backbone. The backbone should remain on the one side until the hog is cut up and it can then easily be sawed off with a small saw. By cutting or scoring the back in this way for making boneless side meat, the sides will be smooth and there will not be much waste left on the bone as when the backbone is split and half of it left on each side and then is peeled out after the meat is chilled and is being cut up.

HOG CHILL ROOM IN A MODERN PACKING HOUSE.

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Many chill rooms are not properly built. There should be at least from 24 to 36 inches of space between the ceiling of the chilling room and the gambrel-stick, or more if possible, in order to enable the shanks to become thoroughly chilled. The animal heat which leaves the carcass naturally rises to the top of the cooler, and unless there is space between the ceiling and the top of the hog the heat will accumulate in the top of the cooler where the temperature will become quite warm; this will prevent the marrow in the shank and the joints from becoming properly chilled. It is this fact that accounts for so much marrow and shank sour in hams.

TEMPERATURE OF CHILL ROOM.

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All Packers who have a properly built cooler for chilling hogs and who are property equipped with an ice machine will find the following rules will give the best results. Those who are not properly equipped should try to follow these rules as closely as they can with their equipment.

A hog chill room should be down to from 28 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit when the hogs are run into it. As the cooler is filled, the temperature will be raised to as high as 45 or 46 degrees F., but enough refrigeration must be kept on so the temperature is brought down to 36 degrees by the end of 12 hours after the cooler is filled, and then the temperature must be gradually reduced down as low as 32 degrees by the time the carcasses have been in the cooler 48 hours. In other words, at the end of 48 hours the cooler must be down to 32 degrees.

All large hog coolers should be partitioned off between each section of timbers, into long alleys, so that each alley can be kept at its own temperature.

In the improper chilling of the carcasses lies the greatest danger of spoiling the meat. The greatest care must be given to the proper chilling, for if the carcasses are not properly chilled, it will be very difficult to cure the meat, and it will be liable to sour in the curing. Meat from improperly chilled carcasses, even with the greatest care afterwards, will not cure properly. Therefore, one of the first places to look for trouble when Hams are turning out sour is to look to the chilling of the meat, as it is nine chances out of ten that this is where the trouble started from. We have found by experience that by deviating only a few degrees from these set rules, the percentage of sour meat is surprisingly increased.

It has always been considered an absolute necessity to have an open air hanging room to allow the hogs to cool off in the open air before they are run into the cooler. It has always been considered that this saves considerable money in the refrigeration of the hogs. However, by the experiments made in some of the large Packing Houses, it has been demonstrated that this economy is very much over-estimated. There are certain conditions which must be closely adhered to for the safe handling and curing of pork products, and the most important of these is the proper temperature. In the outside atmosphere the proper temperature rarely prevails. Hogs that are left in the open air on the hanging floor over night are generally either insufficiently chilled or are over-chilled the next morning, depending upon the outside temperature of the air. We feel that it is of advantage, however, to run the hogs into an outside hanging room and to allow them to dry for one or two hours before putting them into the chilling room.