it is perfectly proper that pickled pork should be very salty. If it
is desired to store the pork for a long time, it should be left in
the strong brine and in order to freshen it so that it will not be so
salty, the pork should be washed in fresh water. It is best to handle
one barrel at a time as it is to be sold or used in the market. The
water in which the pork is soaked should be as cold as possible; in
fact, it would do no harm to put a little ice in it. By allowing the
pickled pork to soak in the fresh water, a great deal of the salt will
be drawn from the meat. The meat should be soaked twenty-four hours
altogether, and during the daytime the water should be changed every
six hours. After the meat has been soaked, it can be placed in a mild
brine, which should not be over 40 degrees strength, but if the meat
can be disposed of in a few days, it is not necessary to keep it in the
brine at all. It will be sufficient to place it on a shelf in the ice
box; at the end of three or four days, it might be necessary to wash it
off with fresh water.
IMITATION BULL-MEAT-BRAND SAUSAGE BINDER.
_QUERY.--G. H. F. writes: We recently ordered from a jobber 50 lbs.
of Freeze-Em Pickle and 100 lbs. of Bull-Meat Sausage Binder. The
Freeze-Em Pickle was not shipped but we received a barrel of what is
claimed to be Bull-Meat Sausage Binder. We notice that the Bull-Meat
Sausage Binder is not put up in the regular way. It is in a plain
keg without any of your labels upon it. We are suspicious about its
genuineness. Do you ever ship Bull-Meat Sausage Binder in this way? As
yet we have not opened the package to test it._
Ans.--You can rest assured that you have not received our goods and
you should return them at once. We never pack goods of ours of any
description except in our well known packages with labels on the
outside and circulars inside. We never sell Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage
Binder in any other manner than in red drums, which are familiar to you
and the trade generally. These drums vary only in size, otherwise they
are identical in every particular. They have our large label on the
head and our long label on the side, just as you see them illustrated
in the cuts which you will find in our circulars and advertisements.
You have received some substituted article which the shipper has sought
to impose upon you with the hope that you would not question its
genuineness. We leave to your own ideas of fairness as to just how such
a firm should be regarded. Our goods are the first and genuine of their
kind and have won great prestige among butchers all over the United
States. Unscrupulous parties in trade seek to reap some advantage
from our great reputation by substituting worthless preparations upon
which they make a big profit. You should always be careful in ordering
your goods to specify the article wanted and insist that the name of
B. Heller & Co. shall be upon the package and that you will accept no
other. Upon receiving the goods, you should always inspect the labels
and see that they are ours. Do not be misled by similar names or
packages resembling ours.
COMPLYING WITH FOOD LAWS IN CURING MEATS.
_Query.--F. K. writes: “We should like to have you inform us what we
can use in our state for curing meat and at the same time keep within
the restrictions of the law. They have prosecuted butchers all over the
state of Pennsylvania for using preservatives of some kinds, and it
leaves everyone in the meat business at a loss to know what to do. We
can’t keep meat or cure it without using preservatives of some kind.
What would you advise us to do?”_
Ans.--We manufacture a preparation known as _Freeze-Em-Pickle_, which
can be used for curing purposes and fully keep within the requirements
of all food laws, both state and National, as well as laws of foreign
countries. This article can be used in all kinds of sausage, fresh or
dried. We guarantee that the use of this article will not in any manner
conflict with the pure food laws of your state, and you are perfectly
safe in using it. Its uses are so various that it would be impossible
for us to give full directions for using it within the limits of these
columns, but we take pleasure in sending you a booklet which will give
you all necessary instructions and much other valuable information.
KEEPING CURED MEATS IN CELLARS DURING SUMMER.
_Query.--We have not enough cooler room to cure meat during the summer
time, and we want to know if there is any way we can keep cured meat in
our cellar during June weather without it becoming too salty._
Ans.--Even if you cure the meat in the winter and keep the cooler at
a proper temperature and then leave the meat in the brine during the
summer, the brine will turn sour, or become ropy, or thick, and will
spoil the meat. To store meat in brine, it is absolutely necessary to
keep it at a very low temperature. In fact, it is necessary to have
an ice machine to keep the temperature in the cooler or storage room
as low as 30 degrees. You could get it as low as 28 degrees. The meat
would not freeze, but by having the temperature so low, the meat would
not take on any more salt. You seem to be of the opinion that if the
pickle on the meat were reduced you could keep the meat in the brine
and keep it in a warm temperature. That would be impossible. Of course,
having the brine weaker, it would not cause the meat to become so
salty, but nevertheless, the brine would spoil, and it would then spoil
the meat. To store meat in brine it is absolutely necessary to have the
proper facilities and that means an ice machine. Our advice is that you
cure enough meat during the winter according to the =Freeze-Em-Pickle=
process to carry you until the middle or end of May, and then about the
first of May begin curing some more meat in your regular cooler where
the temperature is low enough so that the meat will cure properly.
STRONG LARD FROM BOARS.
_Query.--J. A. S. writes: “I have rendered 100 lbs. of lard made as
follows: 75 lbs. from fat barrows, 25 lbs. from fat boars. I find that
the lard is strong. Can you give me the cause of it?”_
Ans.--The odor from boar fat is so strong that such fat should not
be used in first grade lard. Boar fat will only make a second grade
of lard. We advise that you always keep it separate and sell it at a
discount as a second grade of lard to bakers. The strong boar odor
cannot be removed from the lard and the only thing that can be done is
to whiten and purify it. In future render your barrow fat and boar fat
separately.
TO MAKE HEAD CHEESE AND NEW ENGLAND STYLE HAM SOLID
Answer.--To make Head Cheese sticky and solid without putting hog rinds
in it, use Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder, putting from ten to twelve
pounds of Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder into 100 pounds of meat. The
quantity used must be governed by the percentage proportion amount
allowed by your State Pure Food Law. This will make a firm, solid Head
Cheese, filling all the holes with a jelly-like mass. Bull-Meat-Brand
Sausage Binder is an excellent binder for Head Cheese and other sausage
products.
If you desire your New England Style Ham to be more sticky, you must
take your pork trimmings and cut them about the size of an egg and mix
with every 100 pounds of meat 1 pound of our =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, but
do not put any salt with them whatsoever. Let the meat stand in the
cooler for a week and you will find that the juices in the meat will
have been thickened like glue and be sticky. Then take the meat out of
the cooler; add 1½ pounds of salt to 100 lbs. of meat and season with
Zanzibar-Brand Seasoning. Take a small quantity of this meat and grind
it very fine and then mix the fine with the coarse pieces and stuff
it. Cook it very carefully with slow heat, then put it in the cooler
in a press or put boards on it and press it down with stones. Your New
England Style Pressed Ham is then finished. Of course, you can use some
Zanzibar-Carbon to color the casings. See directions for momentary
dipping on page 117.
HOW TO PREVENT MOULD ON SAUSAGE, HAMS AND BACON.
_Query.--L. B. writes: “Will you please let me know if there is
anything to prevent the moulding of summer sausage, hams and bacon?”_
Ans.--It is first necessary that you hang the sausage and meat in a
dry, cool room. If you keep it in a room where the air is moist, it
will mould rapidly. If lard is rubbed on the sausage and also the meat,
it will aid materially in preventing moulding. When so used, it should
be applied with a cloth and rubbed on both the meat and the skin side.
If your meat has already begun to mould, it should first be washed with
warm water and then permitted to dry for a few hours. When dry apply a
little of the lard with a cloth.
SHARPENING KNIVES AND PLATES OF MEAT GRINDERS.
_Query.--F. W. F. Co. asks how to sharpen knives and plates of meat
grinders._
Ans.--If the plates are grooved and rough, it will be necessary to
have them turned off in a lathe. Then the knives should be sharpened
on the cutting-edge just like a scissors. We do not mean the flat
side which runs against the plate. But if the knife is also rough on
the flat side, then the flat side should be smoothed off a little on
a grindstone, and after the plate is turned down the knife should be
ground with emery and oil right on the plate to make a tight fit. If
you have no lathe, it will have to be done in a machine shop, and in
that event we would advise you to get into touch with some of the large
concerns which supply butchers’ cutlery, etc. We would be pleased to
give you the names of some very good firms if you desire.
HOW TO CURE MEAT FROM FARM-KILLED HOGS.
_Query.--C. A. J. writes: I have more or less trouble in curing hams
from farmer killed hogs. The trouble I have is in the marrow. Would you
please tell me the best way for farmers to kill and chill hogs and how
is best to cure such meat?_
Ans.--We take pleasure in sending you by mail under separate cover, our
book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making.” This book will give
you all needed information with reference to meat curing and sausage
making. You should study this carefully because it gives you the needed
information for handling the meat before it is put in brine and during
the time it is in the brine. It tells you how to pump the meats; how to
make the brine for pumping; when to overhaul the meat; the temperature
to cure in, etc. If you will follow all information given in these
articles you will overcome the trouble you have had. You should also
use =Freeze-Em-Pickle= for curing because by its use you will be able
to turn out the finest mild-cured sweet pickled meats having a most
delicious flavor, of good appearance. Moreover you would have a uniform
cure and no loss from sour meats. You say that you have had trouble
from hams souring at the marrow. Read carefully our article relating to
the pumping of meats. By pumping you will overcome the souring at the
marrow.
CAUSE OF FAILURE IN CURING MEATS.
_Query.--H. B. writes: I have been trying to cure corned beef, but it
has a very funny taste. If you can tell me what is the trouble and how
to avoid it I will be greatly obliged. I boil the water for making it
into brine and use refrigerated meats. I thoroughly cleaned the barrel
with scalding hot water. I did not cure the meat in a cooler, but in a
room where the temperature runs from sixty to sixty-five degrees. The
brine was seventy degrees strength, according to the pickle-tester.
I did not use either sugar or molasses in the brine. The curing is a
failure. Will you please give me all the information you can?_
Ans.--Your questions are their own answers. It is impossible to cure
Corned Beef or any other kind of meat in a room where the temperature
is as high as 60 degrees. It should not be higher than 45 degrees, and
40 degrees will be much better.
We refer you to our directions for curing Corned Beef in our book,
“Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making.”
The directions contained therein should always be followed to the
letter, if good results are desired, and when they are followed you
will turn out the very finest Corned Beef; it will be in perfect
condition and have the sweet taste so much desired. The brine for 100
pounds of meat should be made as follows: 8 pounds of common salt, 1
pound of =Freeze-Em-Pickle=, 2 pounds of granulated sugar and 5 gallons
of cold water. The meat should be cured in this brine ten to fifteen
days, according to the weight and thickness of the pieces. Use only
fresh meats that have been thoroughly chilled.
LARDING NEEDLES--HOW USED.
_Query.--F. P. C. writes: What are larding needles used for? I would
like to receive a copy of your book._
Ans.--A larding needle is used for drawing fine or thin strips of
bacon through beef tenderloins and other kinds of meat. Frequently
small strips of dry salt pork are drawn through beef tenderloins, also
through meat to be roasted. This makes the meat nice and juicy and also
imparts to it a fine flavor. The strips which are to be drawn through
the meat are cut very thin and usually square. They are about ⅛ to 3/32
of an inch in thickness.
WHY COOLER “SWEATS.”
_Query.--F. B. writes: “I would like a little information in regard
to my cooler. In sultry weather it sweats terribly, almost changing
its natural finish to white and the sweat rolls down from it. If you
can give me any information as to how I can stop it, I will be very
thankful to you. The inside of the cooler is perfectly dry; in fact, I
could strike a match in it anywhere. Kindly let me know if there is any
way of preventing this trouble.”_
Ans.--The trouble with your cooler is no doubt due to the moisture of
the atmosphere and to some imperfection in insulation. The defect can
be remedied by the manufacturers. You say the cooler is perfectly dry
inside, therefore, its construction must be very good, but the outside
insulation is not just right, so the outside becomes too cool and the
moist air coming in contact with the cold surface readily condenses.
If the cooler can be insulated in such a way that the outside will not
become so cold, we have no doubt your trouble can be overcome.
LEGALITY OF WHITE BERLINER BRAND KONSERVIRUNGS-SALZE.
_Query.--O. B. writes: “We notice in the Scientific Meat Industry
that you claim White Berliner Konservirungs-Salze can be used as a
preservative for meats and keep within the requirements of the food
laws of Pennsylvania. We wish to inquire whether one is perfectly safe
in using this preparation as a preservative in Pennsylvania. Of course
it is well understood that butchers must use a preservative of some
kind, but they are interpreting the law in this state very strictly.
Please let us hear from you fully in regard to this.”_
Ans.--White Berliner Konservirungs-Salze, when used in the proportion
of four to eight ounces to each 100 lbs. of meat, complies with the
pure food laws of Pennsylvania. No one need hesitate to use it for
all the purposes for which we have recommended it in these columns,
as there would be no grounds for action against anyone for its use.
It is perfectly harmless and is everywhere recognized as such. No
objection has been made against its use. We advise all butchers in
Pennsylvania to make use of this preparation, as it will fully meet
their requirements and absolve them from prosecution for the use of a
meat preservative.
COLD-STORINE IS NOW LEGAL.
_Query.--L. B. S.: We notice that you have put Cold-Storine on the
market again. Is this product now legal to use?_
Ans.--In reply to your favor of the 10th inst. we are pleased to inform
you that Cold-Storine is now made under a new improved formula and
contains no ingredients that have been ruled out under the National
Pure Food Law or the Federal Meat Inspection Law. It is therefore now
legal to use everywhere.
As you undoubtedly know, Cold-Storine is used to keep sausage, tripe,
tongue, poultry, etc., in a good condition, and it does this work most
satisfactorily. Simply by storing the sausage, tripe and other meats in
a solution of Cold-Storine, each night, they can be displayed on the
counters during the entire day, and yet keep in a good condition for
a week or longer. This preparation can save you considerable money by
preventing losses from spoiled goods.
You undoubtedly have your greatest difficulty in keeping link pork
sausage in a good salable condition after it has been exposed on the
counter for several days. This difficulty is entirely overcome by
storing them in a solution of Cold-Storine over night. It will prevent
them from becoming slimy and enable them to retain their full weight
and fresh appearance until sold.
You are of course anxious to cut down your percentage of losses from
spoiled goods, as nothing else eats so large a hole into your profits
as this. So we expect you will be glad to hear that you can again use
Cold-Storine. Like all progressive meat dealers, you undoubtedly look
upon the use of Cold-Storine, not as an item of expense, but as a big
money-making proposition. We enclose herewith our folder entitled,
“Put a Dollar Into Cold-Storine and Take Out Ten,” which will give you
further information on this product.
HOW TO GIVE A BRIGHT, RED COLOR TO BOLOGNA AND FRANKFORT SAUSAGE
WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL COLORING.
_Query.--I am trying to make Bologna and Frankfort sausage, and make
it all right except the color of the meat. I cannot get a nice pink
color. I have tried Freeze-Em Pickle; it is all right, but it is too
slow a process. I want to make my sausage out of fresh meat and smoke
it in a smoke-house, but cannot get a nice pink color on the meat. It
has a gray color and does not look right. I have a color on hand, but
it don’t give satisfaction. It makes the meat too red and does not look
good._
_Now, if you have anything that will overcome my trouble and will
give my sausage a nice pink color, not red, and will comply with the
National Pure Food Law, send it right along. I will remit on arrival. I
would send the money now, but do not know the value of it. I make about
twenty-five pounds of sausage at a batch._
Ans.--Your letter of recent date received. You say you are trying to
make bologna and that you make it all right, but that the color of the
meat is not a nice pink color. You say you tried the =Freeze-Em-Pickle=
and that it worked all right, but that it is too slow a process. You
further say you want to make your bologna out of fresh meat, but that
you do not get a nice pink color when it is made that way. You say the
meat is gray.
In all of that you are correct, and you will always have a gray sausage
unless you make it with =Freeze-Em-Pickle= according to the directions
in our circular. If you make bologna sausage out of fresh meat, it, of
course, will be gray. If you roast a piece of beef, it will be gray.
If you cook a piece of beef, it will be gray. It is the same with
bologna. When bologna is made with fresh meat, it will be gray, just
as though you take a piece of fresh meat and boil it. It is impossible
to make bologna with a pink color and make it out of fresh meat. For
that reason, we recommend you to use =Freeze-Em-Pickle= and prepare
your bologna meat with =Freeze-Em-Pickle= beforehand. You can do that
in about two or three days. It is better, however, to let the meat cure
for a week.
All you have to do is to trim out the beef and pork trimmings with
which you intend to make the bologna, cut the pieces up about the
size of an English walnut and sprinkle on =Freeze-Em-Pickle= in the
proportion of one pound =Freeze-Em-Pickle= to every 100 pounds of meat.
Mix the meat thoroughly and then pack it tightly in a tierce or a box,
in fact a shallow box where the meat is not very thick is better, but
pack it in tightly, and then put it in the cooler and let it remain
there for at least four or five days, or a week, if possible. Then
when you make bologna, the bologna will be better in flavor, will be
juicier, will have a fine red appearance, and will be perfect in all
respects. This we positively guarantee.
If you want to make bologna and frankfort sausage properly and have it
right in all respects, you must take the necessary time and prepare the
meat accordingly.
Formerly when artificial colors could be used in bologna and frankfort
sausage, then it was all right to make it out of fresh meat and use
an artificial inside color, but now, however, the food laws are such
that you cannot use an inside color and therefore it is necessary
to make it according to the =Freeze-Em-Pickle= process and with our
=Freeze-Em-Pickle=. Then you will have a nice pink color on the inside
of your bologna and frankfort sausage. You say you have a color on hand
but it does not give satisfaction. It is a good thing that it does not
give satisfaction, because if you were to use it, you could be arrested
and fined and it would cause you a great deal of trouble; in fact, your
reputation might be ruined if your name got in the papers stating that
you used coloring on the inside of your bologna and frankfort sausage,
because the food laws prohibit that.
By using the =Freeze-Em-Pickle= process you will make sausage that
will in every way comply with your state food law and will at the same
time, have a fine inside color, and excellent flavor and splendid
keeping qualities. This will overcome all the troubles you mention,
and all that is necessary is for you to prepare your meats a few days
before hand. In fact, you can prepare a quantity of the meat before
hand and keep it and use it along as you need it, making up 25 pounds
at a time whenever you wish to do so, and leave the balance until a
later occasion. Meat will keep this way in a good cooler indefinitely.
This is the only way we can recommend your making sausage that will
comply with your law and at the same time have the color you desire. Of
course, it is a little more trouble, but it is trouble that will well
repay you, because your sausage will really be of better quality and it
will make a much better appearance.
HOW TO REMOVE WOOL FROM GREEN AND DRY SHEEP PELTS
_Question.--K. M. Co. writes: Can you give us a method for pulling
the wool from green hides and also from dry hides? We get the dead
carcasses from the feed and transit yards--a good many hundred pelts
during a year. Lots of these pelts are torn. If we can pull the wool we
will be able to realize more money out of handling these pelts._
(_Copyrighted by B. Heller & Co.; Reprint Forbidden._)
Answer.--As a general rule, wool is pulled from pelts by concerns that
make this work a business. The method used is sweating and steaming
the pelts. The pelts are hung on racks in a room into which live steam
is turned. The pelts are kept hot for a number of days and the heat
loosens the wool. It can then be easily pulled from the skin. The wool
is then dried and baled.
You could not adopt this method profitably on a small scale, but we
will give you a method that you can use which will prove a satisfactory
way for small handlers of pelts who desire to pull the wool.
Make a pile of your pelts, wetting the pelts as you pile them. Cover
the pelts with blankets or gunny sacks and allow the pile of pelts to
sweat. The wet pelts being covered up tight, will become hot and sweat.
This will loosen the wool and it can be readily pulled off.
Another way of removing the wool from pelts is to spread the pelts upon
the floor, with the wool down next to the floor. On the skin side of
the pelts place crushed fresh lime and dampen the lime. This wetting of
the lime will cause it to slake and soak into the skin. The wool will
be loosened by this treatment of the pelts and it can be easily pulled.
This method, however, will spoil the skins and render them of no value.
The simpler method of handling the green hides by a butcher or other
dealer who has only a small business equipment is to use the sweating
process. By this method both the wool and the skins can be saved and
sold. Ordinarily, by the sweating method the pelts are piled one on top
of the other, some water sprinkled on each pelt, and the piles made
from two feet to three feet high, and allowed to sweat. Great care must
be taken not to let the pelts sweat too much, otherwise the hide will
decay and in pulling the wool the hide will tear. As soon as the wool
is sufficiently loosened from the pelt it should be pulled. The skins
can then be salted and cured, or the skins can be put into a brine
and cured. After the skins are thoroughly cured they are ready to be
shipped to the tannery.
HOW TO MAKE PEPPERED BEEF
_Question.--G. E. O’F. writes--Can you furnish me with a recipe for
making (Postromer) Peppered Beef? I am a user of your goods and will be
under obligations to you for this information._
(_Copyrighted by B. Heller & Co.; Reprint Forbidden_)
Answer.--We do not clearly understand your question. If you mean cured
Briskets that are covered with red pepper, or Paprika Compound, and
then smoked, you can proceed as follows:
Cure your boneless briskets in corned beef brine with garlic in it. You
will find a formula for this in our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and
Sausage Making,” a copy of which we are sending you. After the meat is
cured, and before you place it in the smoke-house, rub our Chile Powder
all over the outside of it, and then smoke it. Or, you can smoke it and
cook it, and then rub the Chile Powder over it after it is cooked. In
this way, you will use less Chile Powder.
If this does not fully answer your question write us again giving us
more complete statement of what is desired.
UTILIZING FAT TRIMMINGS