The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-01-19
Pork-packing.

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years and this gives to farmers in the
vicinity of business centers ready
market for all those parts of the animal
which are not sailed or otherwise cured.
Tenderloins, ribs, chimes and hooks are
sold fresh, as a rule, although ribs and
chimes may be cured in the same man
ner as hams, and sometimes the hooks
are corned.
The season for curing meats for
family use is now at hand and few
suggestions on the subject may be well
come to readers who are inexperienced.
Do not slaughter hogs in mild. damp
weather or during extremely cold
weather. A dry, frosty day is best for
this work. After the hogs are killed
and dressed have the carcasses where
they will cool through previous to being
cut up and packed. Remember that
the animal heat must be dssipated or
the meat will spoil. In the endeavor to
cool and dry carcasses, avoid exposing
them to an atmosphere so cold as to
cause the outside to become frozen be-
fore the animal heat has all escaped.
Freezing the outer surface of the dressed
meat surrounds the interior of the flesh
with wall through which the animal
heat still remaining in and around the
bones cannot escape, and the result will
be sourlng and speedy decay AT the
centre Of the hams, shoulders and the
like, which outwardly appear in good
condition.
For picked pork the usual plan
among farmers who cure meat for home
use is to cut the middles crosswise into
pieces about five inches wide, taking
out the backbone and ribs. which leaves
the meat in convenient condition to cut
in suitable pieces when required for use.
New barrels or tubs are preferable, but
old ones may be employed repeatedly
if clean and sweet. Avoid using, how
ever, old pork barrels for beef and the
beef tub for packing pork.
Sailing with and without lime are
both satisfactory methods when prop
erly accomplished, but the preference
is generally given to the latter, as the
brine or pickle insures immunity from
insects during the pckeling process.
When the pickle is ready for packing
sprinkle the bottom of the barrel liber-
ally with coarse salt of good quality,
Pack the pieces on their edges, forming
ring around the inside of the barrel,
with the skin outward; fill the ring in
the same way until complete layer is
gained, then press or pound it down
gently if necessary. Next apply gem
erous layer of salt, follow. this with a
layer of meat placed according to direc-
tons given for the first one, and so on
until the barrel is filled, taking
care that the last layer of meat Is
well covered with salt. If the weather
is cool the meat may stand several
days in this condition. but, as rule, it
is safer to at once add the brine, which
should be made strong enough to float
an egg. Let the scum rise to the top
and skim it off before applying the
brine. Cover the meat entirely, and If
in open package weight it down to keep
it from rising above the pickle. Sup
ply enough salt SO there will be some
not dissolved in the barrel when the
meat shall have been used up.
The brine extracts blood and other
juices from the meat which rise to the
surface, and in bone meats it some
times decomposes these and contami-
mates the contents Of the cask. To
avoid annoyance in this direction, farm
ers, especially at the South, where it is
more liable to occur, are advised to oc-
casionally draw off the brine, boil it and
skim off the impurities. Then, after
the brine is quite cold, pour it over the
meat again. When barrels containing
picked pork are headed up it is best
to lay them on their sides and turn
them over occasionally.
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the same portion of the hog that is used
for picked pork, though differently
treated. For the pork barrel there i
no danger of too much salt, but as tn,
best bacon is that presenting alternate
strips of lean and fat, too much salt
makes the lean part stringy and tough.
Dry sailing is often resorted to in
making side bacon. In dry sailing,
whether in barrels, boxes or piles, with
out the addition of water to form 3
brine, it is of the utmost importance
that no chance be afforded for flies to
deposit eggs or maggots or to come in
contact with the meat. If flies have
had access to the pork it cannot be used
until at once put into brine. A simple
way in which to dry-salt any portion Of
the hogs carcass is to spread layer of
half an inch or more of salt on q plat
form floor or the bottom of large box
or cask, then layer Of meat. on this a
liberal application of salt. and so on
until all is packed and the top we'll
covered with salt.
The smoked breakfast bacon, SO ia
vorably known in the Eastern States,
is choice article made from thin bris-
ket pieces, and mildly cured. M r