that they contain the flavoring principle of the particular Spice, you
will readily understand that buying adulterated Spices is just throwing
so much money away. For instance, in the case of White Pepper, there
is an Oil of Pepper and certain resins. Presuming that you do pay the
legitimate wholesale price for the sausage seasoning which contains
only the best Singapore White Pepper and do have to pay a few cents a
pound more than for one which is diluted down with 50% bread crumbs,
the pure and unadulterated Spice is by far the cheapest in the end. You
are also assured of always obtaining a uniform flavor in the finished
sausage meat.
There is probably no other material in use by the butcher that is as
liable to adulteration as Spice. To the average user the adulteration
is very difficult to detect, because the aroma of the Spice is there
and the adulterant is so cunningly ground and mixed in with the Pure
Spice that, to the naked eye, it looks like the genuine article.
But once the chemist or the microscopist secures a sample of these
adulterated goods one glance through the microscope and a simple test
for starch, which comes from the added cereal present, is sufficient.
These adulterations not only occur in the largest used Spice like
Pepper, but many of the other higher priced Spices like Cinnamon,
Nutmeg, Cloves, Mace, Allspice, Ginger, etc., are equally the subject
of adulteration at the hands of unscrupulous manufacturers and jobbers
whose only object is to undersell the legitimate importer and grinder
of real 100% Spice.
A CHEAP TEMPORARY SMOKE HOUSE.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
This illustration will give some idea of how a temporary smoke house
can be rigged up with very little trouble, which will answer the
purpose nicely.
[Illustration]
Very often it becomes necessary for a butcher to re-smoke some bologna
that has been shipped to him from a packer, and it is sometimes
necessary to re-smoke Hams and Bacon. Also, a butcher will often want
to cure a small quantity of meat and would like to smoke it.
When butchers who are not equipped with a smoke house have to do this,
they may be at a loss to know what to do.
Take a clean sugar barrel and knock out the bottom; then set the barrel
on top of a box about four feet long, one or two feet high and as wide
as the barrel. If a box of this shape cannot be obtained, a large dry
goods box will answer. Bore auger holes through the box under the
barrel, to let the smoke through. Get a large piece of tin, galvanized
iron or sheet iron, about one foot wide and 2 feet long and bend it
into the shape of a pan, or take an old roasting pan. Dig a hole in the
ground at the front end of the box, so fire can be put onto this piece
of tin, sheet iron or pan and then placed under the box with the fire
on it. After the fire is placed under the box, place a board over the
hole. All crevices must be banked with dirt around the box, to keep the
smoke in.
The meats to be smoked should be hung on sticks with long strings on
them, so as to let them down to about the middle of the barrel. Cover
the barrel up with a gunny sack, so as to let a draft pass through and
still retain the smoke in the barrel.
This makes a first class temporary smoke house with very little trouble
and expense.
HOW TO KEEP HAMS, SHOULDERS, BACON, DRIED BEEF, AND ALL KINDS OF
PICKLED MEATS IN BRINE FOR A YEAR OR LONGER.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
All kinds of pickled meat after it is fully cured, if stored in a
cooler in which the temperature is kept down to 28 degrees can be kept
in this cooler for a year, or even longer, and when removed will come
out similar to fresh cured meat. During the time when Hams and other
meats are low in price, they can be stored in a freezer, and kept there
until such a time as they are in greatest demand and will sell at the
highest price. This enables the packer to reap a larger profit. At a
temperature of 28 degrees, the meat will not freeze after it is cured,
and the brine of course does not freeze, as salt water will not freeze,
at that temperature. When meat is taken out of such cold storage to
be smoked, it should first be soaked for three to five hours in fresh
water, then washed in boiling hot water and smoked the same as regular
fresh cured meat.
WASHING CURED MEAT BEFORE SMOKING.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
[Illustration: WASHING MEATS BEFORE SMOKING]
Hams, Shoulders, Bacon and all cured meats whether dry salted or cured
in brine, should be washed in hot water and scrubbed with a brush
before being put into the smoke house. This is very important, as the
meat thus scrubbed will come out of the smoke looking much better. The
water should be as hot as the men can work with. The hotter the water,
the better the meat will look after being smoked.
BRINE ABSORBS FOREIGN ODORS
(_Copyrighted by B. Heller & Co.; Reprint Forbidden._)
Warm carcasses of meat should never be put into a cooler where meat is
being cured in open vats, as the cold pickle will absorb the impure
animal heat, and odors which these carcasses give off. Never allow
sour pickle of any kind to remain in the curing room, as cold brine or
water will absorb all foreign odors. To demonstrate this, take a glass
of cold water, set it on a table next to a glass of tainted brine, and
cover both with a bucket or pan; allow them to remain over night, and
the next morning the cold water will have the same odor as the tainted
brine. This will easily prove how meat can be tainted when curing in
open tierces or vats, if anything sour or spoiled is in the cooler;
therefore, curing rooms must be kept as clean as possible.
HOW LONG BRINE SHOULD BE USED
(_Copyrighted by B. Heller & Co.; Reprint Forbidden._)
The length of time that brine should be used depends entirely upon the
quantity of brine that you have in the barrel and the amount of meat
that you put in each week. When the meat is packed solid it takes about
5 gallons of brine to each 100 pounds of meat. On the other hand if
you put 25 gallons of brine in a tierce in which you place but a few
pieces of corned beef from time to time as the meat accumulates your
brine would be sufficient to cure 500 pounds of meat; if the barrel was
nice and clean, the meat in good condition when put in the brine, and
generally speaking conditions are favorable it will cure a great deal
more than 500 pounds.
The brine may be used until it begins to get thick and show foam on the
top; then of course it is advisable to make a new brine, at the same
time washing the tierce out thoroughly.
DRY SALT MEATS.
=Short Ribs= (Regular) are made from the sides of the hog, between the
Ham and Shoulder, having the loin and ribs in, and backbone removed.
=Extra Short Ribs= are made from the sides of the hog, between the Ham
and Shoulder, with loin taken out, but belly ribs left in.
=Short Ribs= (Hard) are made from the sides of the hog, between the Ham
and Shoulder, having the loin, ribs and backbone in.
=Short Clears= are made from the sides of the hog, between the Ham and
Shoulder, having the loin in, and ribs and backbone removed.
=Extra Short Clears= are made from the sides of the hog, between the
Ham and Shoulder with loin and all bones taken out.
=Long Clears= are made from sides, Ham being cut off, but Shoulders
left in, back bone and ribs removed, shoulder blade and leg bone taken
out, and leg cut off close to the breast.
=Extra Long Clears= are made from sides, Ham being cut off, back bone,
loin and ribs removed. Shoulder blade and leg bone taken out and leg
cut off close to the breast.
=Short Clear Backs= are made from the backs of hogs with the loin left
in, but ribs and backbone removed; also known as =Lean Backs= and =Loin
Backs=.
=Short Fat Backs= are made from the fat backs of prime hogs, being free
from lean and bone, and properly squared on all edges.
=Dry Salt Bellies= are made from medium size hogs, cut square and well
trimmed on all edges, with ribs left in.
=Dry Salt Clear Bellies= are made from medium size hogs, cut square and
well trimmed on all edges, with ribs taken out.
HOW TO CURE DRY SALT SIDE MEATS.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
=First=--Thoroughly chill the hogs so they are firm and solid. This
will require letting them hang in the cooler after they are killed
about 48 hours. Should the sides not be perfectly solid and thoroughly
chilled, when cut up, spread them on the floor of a dry cooler for 24
hours, which ought to be long enough in a fair cooler to thoroughly
chill them.
=Second=:--Make a tub of brine, using 15 lbs. of salt and 1 lb. of
=Freeze-Em-Pickle= to each 5 gallons of brine.
=Third=:--Take a pickle pump, and pump some of the above brine into the
sides along the backbone, being careful to get it all through the thick
part.
=Fourth=:--Dip the sides into the tub of brine, and then lay them on a
table or trough and rub thoroughly with dry salt. They must be dipped
in brine, so that the =Freeze-Em-Pickle= will get all over the meat,
and so the salt will adhere to the meat.
=Fifth=:--Clean the floor in the cooler or curing room with =Ozo
Washing Powder=; sprinkle the floor lightly with salt; and then pile
the sides one on top of the other with the meat side always up. Between
each side spread a layer of salt, and see that all parts of the meat
are covered with the salt. The more salt put on it the better.
=Sixth=:--Five days after salting the sides, shake off the salt, and
pump them again in the same manner as when first salting; dip into the
vat of brine, and dry salt again; then stack up the same as in the
first instance, putting salt between each layer, and repeating this
overhauling every ten days until the sides are cured.
HOW LONG TO CURE DRY SALT SIDES.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
Light sides will fully cure in from 30 to 35 days, and should be
resalted three times, which with the first salting received by them,
will give them four saltings during the curing period. These saltings
are given on the first day, the fifth day, the fifteenth day, and the
twenty-fifth day.
HOW LONG TO CURE HEAVY DRY SALT SIDES.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
Heavy sides will be fully cured in from 50 to 60 days, according to
size, and should be resalted five times during the curing, as follows:
The first day, the fifth day, and then every ten days. After 45 days,
the meat need not be rehandled, and can then remain in the cooler piled
up, as long as one wishes to keep it. It should not be taken out of the
cooler, however, until it has been in salt 50 to 60 days, according to
the season of the year.
TEMPERATURE OF COOLER FOR DRY SALTING.
Full information as to the temperature of the cooler for dry salting
will be found on page 46 under the head “Temperature.”
DRY SALT CURING BY BUTCHERS WHO HAVE NO ICE MACHINE.
Small butchers, who have no ice machines, and simply use an ice box
for a cooler, must use the greatest care to see that the meat is well
chilled before salting, and they must also use plenty of salt. For the
special benefit of small butchers, we will say that we fully realize
the conditions which surround them, and we are well aware that they
cannot get the temperature in an ice box as low as with an ice machine;
but nevertheless, they can always cure meat with the =Freeze-Em-Pickle=
process, and get better results.
DESCRIPTION OF BARRELED PORK.
=Mess Pork= is made from the sides of well-fattened hogs, split through
the backbone, and cut in strips about six inches wide.
=Mess Pork Short Cut= is made from the backs of prime hogs, split
through the backbone, backbone left in, and bellies taken off; cut into
pieces six inches square.
=Clear Back Pork= is made from the fat part of the backs of prime hogs,
being free from lean and bone, even in thickness, and cut into pieces
about six inches square.
=Family Pork Lean= is made from the top of shoulders, when cut into
California Hams. It has one-half of the blade bone in, and is about
two-thirds fat, and one-third lean.
=Clear Bean or Butt Pork= is made from the fat cheek or jowl, cut
square.
=Clear Brisket Pork= is made from the Briskets of prime medium weight
hogs, ribs removed and pieces cut about five inches wide.
=Rib Brisket Pork= is made from the Briskets of prime medium hogs, ribs
left in, and cut into pieces about five inches wide.
=Loin Pork= is made from the end of the back next to the Ham, with both
lean and fat, and has a portion of the tail bone in.
=Pig Pork=: Light selected boneless Bellies cut into five inch pieces,
trimmed square.
=Belly Pork=: Selected heavy weight Bellies, cut into five inch pieces,
with ribs left in.
=Extra Short Clear Pork= is made from the sides of hogs, with the loin
and backbone removed, and the Belly ribs left in, cut into strips five
inches wide, squared at each end.
=Lean End Pork= is made from selected medium weight Rib Bellies, cut
into strips five inches wide.
DIRECTIONS FOR CURING BARRELED PORK.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
Never pack more than 190 lbs. of pork in an ordinary pork barrel.
=First=:--If it can possibly be obtained, it is always best to use
coarse rock salt, or coarse evaporated salt, which is made especially
for this purpose; but if coarse salt cannot be obtained, any salt will
answer the purpose. In packing it is necessary to use 35 lbs. of salt
for each barrel, over and above the salt used in the brine.
=Second=:--Take a perfectly clean pork barrel, and throw three handfuls
of salt on the bottom of the barrel.
=Third=:--Put in a layer of pork; throw three handfuls of salt over
this layer.
=Fourth=:--Keep packing layer after layer, until the 190 lbs. of pork
are packed in the barrel, and while packing put three handfuls of salt
over each layer of the pork.
=Fifth=:--The following are the proper proportions for brine for 190
lbs. of pork: Put 10 gallons of cold water in a keg or tub; dissolve in
this water 2 lbs. of =Freeze-Em-Pickle= and 30 lbs. of salt. Stir this
well until it is all dissolved, and then pour the brine over the pork
which has been packed as above directed.
=Sixth=:--If the barrels are to be headed up, head up first, and then
put in the brine through the bung hole.
TEMPERATURE FOR BARRELED PORK.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
It is necessary that the greatest care should be exercised not to let
the pork freeze while curing. Brine for barreled pork will not freeze
at the freezing point of water, but the meat in the brine will freeze,
and will not cure if the temperature is lower than the freezing point
for any length of time. See instructions as to Temperature to be found
on page 46.
BARRELED PORK NEED NOT BE OVERHAULED.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
Barreled Pork when packed in accordance with these directions with
=Freeze-Em-Pickle= and Salt, and then stored in a cooler, will not
spoil, but will cure with a delicious flavor. It is not necessary that
barreled pork should be overhauled; overhauling is required only for
dry-salt and sweet-pickled meats. After the pork is fully cured, which
will vary according to the size of the pieces, from 40 to 60 days, the
pork can be shipped anywhere, into any hot climate and will remain in
perfect condition without spoiling.
Extreme care must be exercised to thoroughly chill the pork before
it is packed; if animal heat is left in the pork, it will not cure
properly, any more than will hams when they are put into brine, with
the animal heat left in them. Good results when curing barreled pork,
cannot be expected if the meat is not in proper condition when packed.
DRIPPINGS FROM REFRIGERATING PIPES.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
[Illustration: DRIPPINGS FROM PIPES]
Never allow the drippings from refrigerating pipes along the ceiling,
or from ice chambers, to drip into open vats containing meats while
curing, as they will reduce the strength of the brine and make no end
of trouble.
Keep the cooler as dry and as clean as it possibly can be kept. A damp,
dirty cooler breeds millions of germs. These germs affect the brine and
the curing of the meat.
[Illustration: SWEET PICKLED SPARE RIBS]
RECIPE FOR CURING SPARE RIBS.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
For each 100 pounds of spare ribs make the brine as follows: 5 pounds
of common salt, 1 pound of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, 2 pounds of best
granulated sugar and 5 gallons of cold water.
Cure in this brine from 10 to 12 days. The temperature of the cooler in
which the spare ribs are cured can be anywhere from 36 to 43 degrees,
but it should not vary from this range of temperature. It is best to
leave the spare ribs in the cure from 10 to 12 days, though they will
be cured sufficiently in 7 to 8 days.
If the above method is carefully carried out, the result will be a
fine, mild, sweet cure and not too salty.
Before placing the spare ribs in the brine they should be handled in
the same manner as hams and shoulders. In other words, they should be
rubbed in half of the above quantity of salt, =Freeze-Em-Pickle= and
sugar, and the mixed =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, sugar and salt that is left
after rubbing should be used for making the brine.
[Illustration: BEEF TONGUES]
HOW TO CURE BEEF TONGUES.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
=First=:--Cut the tongues out of the heads as soon as possible, and
with warm water scrub off all the slime and dirt, with a stiff brush;
hang up in a cooler on a hook at the gullet, to make the tongues thick
instead of long and thin.
=Second=:--Let them hang for at least 24 hours in a cooler.
=Third=:--When the tongues are thoroughly chilled and firm, cut off the
surplus fat and square the tongues at the gullet by trimming off all
ragged pieces.
=Fourth=:--Put them into a strong common salt brine to beach them, and
leave them in this brine from 10 to 20 hours.
=Fifth=:--Take them out of this brine and rub the slime off the tongues
and out of the gullet, and also rub the gullet with dry salt.
=Sixth=:--If only a few tongues are to be cured make a barrel of
pickle, as follows, and simply throw the tongues into it: For every
5 gallons of water, add 1 lb. of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, 2 lbs. of Pure
Granulated Sugar, and 7 lbs. of Common Salt.
=Seventh=:--Where large packers wish to pack tongues in tierces, the
tongues should be handled as follows: Weigh out 285 lbs.; then mix
together in a box or tub the following:
3 lbs. of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=.
6 lbs. of Best Granulated Sugar.
21 lbs. of Salt.
=Eighth=:--Rub each tongue with some of this mixture and pack as
loosely as possible in the tierce, using about one-half of the mixture
of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, Sugar and Salt for rubbing, and the other half
for making the brine. It will require between 14 to 15 gallons of brine
to fill the tierces, some tierces vary in size, therefore dissolve the
balance of the mixture of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, Sugar and Salt in about
14 gallons of water, and pour over the tongues, should the tierce hold
more simply add enough cold water to cover all the meat as the right
amount of salt has already been added.
=Ninth=:--If the tierces are to be headed up, the heads should be
put in, and the brine should be poured into the tierce through the
bung hole. The overhauling of tongues is just as important, as is the
overhauling of hams and shoulders. They should be overhauled in the
same manner, and the same number of times. By reference to directions
for curing hams and shoulders, which will be found on previous pages,
all the necessary instructions can be followed. To give the tongues a
proper flavor, they ought to cure from 50 to 60 days.
GARLIC FLAVORED BEEF TONGUES.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
Many like Garlic Flavored Tongues, and this desire can be fully
satisfied by adding about two tablespoonfuls of Vacuum Brand Garlic
Compound to each tierce of tongues; add it to the brine before it is
poured over the tongues. This will give them a delicious flavor which
will be relished even by people who do not like fresh Garlic.
[Illustration: HOG TONGUES]
HOW TO CURE HOG TONGUES.
Hog Tongues should be handled and cured in exactly the same manner as
beef tongues. The brine should be made of the same strength and in the
same manner, and when so made, it will cure the hog tongues in about 30
days. The directions for curing Beef Tongues can be used for curing Hog
Tongues in every particular.
CURING BEEF CHEEKS FOR CANNING.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
=First=:--The cheeks should be cut out of the head immediately after
the beef is killed, all the fat should be trimmed off, and then the
cheeks should be twice cut, lengthwise, through the outside muscles.
=Second=:--They should be then thrown into ice water to which has been
added some salt, and they should be allowed to remain there for an hour
or two. This will draw out all the slime and blood.
=Third=:--The cheeks should then be put on a coarse wire screen, or
perforated galvanized iron pan placed in a cooler and spread out as
thinly as possible, so as to give them a chance to thoroughly chill. A
thorough chilling in a cold cooler will require 24 hours.
=Fourth=:--The cheeks should then be salted, and packed into tierces;
285 lbs. should be put into each tierce.
=Fifth=:--Handle the cheeks as follows: For each 285 lbs., mix in a box
or tub, 3 lbs. of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, 6 lbs. of Granulated Sugar and 15
lbs. of Common Salt.
=Sixth=:--Then put 285 lbs. of cheeks on a table and take half of the
mixture of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, Granulated Sugar and Salt and mix it
with the cheeks thoroughly; then shovel into tierces.
=Seventh=:--If the tierces are to be headed up, put the heads in and
take the balance of the mixture of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, Sugar and Salt
and dissolve it in 15 gallons of cold water, which pour into the
tierces through the bung hole. Insert the bung, and roll the tierces.
This will mix and dissolve the =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, Sugar and Salt.
Overhaul in closed up tierces simply by rolling them from one end of
the cooler to the other. They ought to be rolled at least 100 feet.
=Eighth=:--If the tierces are to remain open, take 15 gallons of water
in which dissolve the remaining mixture of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, Sugar
and Salt, and pour this brine over the cheeks; put boards over the
top to keep the meat from floating or from coming out of the top of
the barrel. At the end of five days after salting, the cheeks must be
overhauled and rehandled by transferring them to another tierce with a
large fork made for such purpose; this should be repeated every five
days, viz., on the fifth day, on the tenth day and on the fifteenth
day. After each overhauling, the same brine is always used to pour over
the meat. If the cheeks are to be kept for any length of time, they
should have another overhauling 25 to 30 days from the day they were
packed. Cheek meat slime considerably, making it difficult to cure.
When the cheeks are overhauled, if the pickle is thick and ropy, new
brine of the same strength as the original brine will have to be made
and poured over them, instead of the old brine. The cheek meat must be
thoroughly washed in cold water before being put into fresh brine.
[Illustration: LIVERS]
CURING HOG LIVERS.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)
Cut off plucks and chill livers thoroughly; then pump them in three or
four places with a long slender open nozzle, about 3/16 to ¼ inch in
diameter, using a pumping pickle made as follows.
1 lb. of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=.
12 lbs. of Common Salt.
5 gal. of Water.
Stick the nozzle of the brine pump into the different veins on the
lower side of the livers and pump them until they swell up from the
pressure of the brine; then lay them out on a rack for 24 hours in a
cooler and allow the blood to ooze out of them.
On the next day after the livers have been pumped, pack them in a 60
deg. common salt brine; nothing else need be added. Those not having a
Hydrometer for testing brine can make the brine by dissolving 15 lbs.
of salt in 85 lbs. of water, this makes a 60 degree brine. In this
way, the livers can be kept for a long time. When pickling livers, it
is absolutely necessary that all animal heat should be extracted from
them, and that they should be properly chilled and cooled, otherwise,
they will not keep.
CURING BEEF LIVERS.
(_Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden._)