IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PACKING OF, AND IN THE GAINING, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRODUCTS FROM FAT OR FATTY MATTERS
Year: 1846

page_text: PALMER'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PALMER, of Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, in the tenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Palmer, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Palmer,
my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Palmer,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years.therein' expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PACKING OF, AND IN THE GAINING, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRODUCTS
FROM FAT OR FATTY MATTERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained &
proviso that I, the said William Palmer, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Palmer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
(that is to say):
:-
In treating fat or fatty matters obtained from beef, mutton, veal, and lamb,
it has heretofore been usual to render the same into tallow by melting the rough
fat as obtained from the butchers, together with any dirt or impurities, and
also flesh and other matters combined therewith, without observing any care in
order to see that no stale or unclean fat is mixed with the fresh and clean fat.
The melted fatty matters being ladled out from the boiler or melting vessel and
packed into casks, by allowing it partially to cool, and then stirring as long as
possible, and the mass of fat thus obtained, owing to the absence of all care,
will have that peculiar taste or flavor which distinguishes tallow, and this pre-
paration of fatty matters, called "rendered fat," or "town tallow," is then
- either used for making soap, or more commonly for making candles, and when
for making candles it is sometimes subjected to pressure in order to separate
the more fluid portion from the harder product called stearine, but no care has
heretofore been resorted to for cleansing the cloths, press, or other apparatus
used from grease after using the same; and it is well known that such more
fluid portion or product of tallow will not fetch so much in the market as the
original "rendered fat," or "town tallow;" hence the cost of the stearine is con-
siderably increased, owing to the loss on the more fluid parts of the fat separated
therefrom, and such more fluid parts of the fat have been heretofore mainly
useful in making soap, and in the manufacture of low classes of candles. Now,
I have discovered the fat or fatty matters obtained from beef, mutton, veal, and
lamb, may be so treated that the more fluid part may be separated from the
stearine, and packed and preserved from contact with the atmosphere as to be
suitable for the purposes of food in like manner to lard, and in fact the new
manufacture of fatty matter gained by me in manufacturing of products from
such fatty matters from beef, mutton, veal, and lamb, is very similar in character
to lard, and such new manufacture is obtained partly by the care, management,
and cleanliness under which the processes are conducted, and partly by care
being used in the "packing" such product so as to preserve it from the influence
of the atmosphere. Thus the more fluid parts of beef, mutton, veal, and lamb
fats will not be, as heretofore, of a tallow flavor or taste, but pure; and in order
that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into effect,
I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
I take the fat of beef, mutton, veal, or lamb, when fresh, being careful
to separate any stale fat from that which is to be used in carrying out my
Invention. I prefer to sort one fat from the other and treat them separately,

page_text: and also to keep the products separate. The pieces of meat or flesh are to be
cut off, and I wash away all blood and other impurities with water at about
one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit; the fat is then chopped or cut fine and
then melted in an open boiler, heated by preference a steam jacket, taking
care that the boiler is kept at all times clean and free from all stale fat, as it is
important to avoid contact with all rancid fat; and I melt at about two hun-
dred and thirty degrees of Fahrenheit, stirring it continually, and maintain the
fat at that temperature till it becomes quite bright and the pieces begin to turn
brown, and the clean fat is to be ladled out, and I strain the same through a
fine sieve into clean vessels. I prefer to uso earthenware vessels for such pur-
pose, as they are very readily kept clean; those I use are twenty-eight inches
deep and twenty-two inches in diameter; in a room in which the temperature is
kept at about seventy degrees of Fahrenheit, and I allow the fat undisturbed
to granulate and become fit to be pressed, or have the more fluid part removed
by other means. I prefer to press the granulated fat as heretofore practised,
and as is well understood, but care is to be observed that the press and cloths
and all articles used in the process are to be kept clean and free from any im-
purities which would be consequent on allowing any fatty matters to remain
thereon for any length of time; and I cause the cloths press, and other articles
used to be well cleansed daily from any adhering fatty matter. The stearine
thus obtained is suitable for the manufacture of candles as heretofore. In
order to ensure the absence of moisture, and in order to flavour the matters
under operation, the weaker or more fluid part of the fat, separated by pressure
or other means, I immediately return into an open boiler heated by steam, and
raise the temperature of the fat to two hundred and thirty-two degrees of
Fahrenheit, till there is no evidence of steam going off; in this stage, when
desired, a few bay leaves or other flavoring vegetable matter may be introduced,
so as to obtain a slight flavour to the fat, as is sometimes done when preparing
lard from pork fat. I then strain the fat through a fine sieve into clean vessels,
by preference of earthenware, and when it begins to cool and become a little
thick, I add dry pounded salt, and stir it into the fat, the salt (owing to the
thickness of the fat) as it cools will not fall to the bottom, but with care and
continued stirring the salt will become uniformly combined with the fat, and
its use will tend to preserve the fat. The quantities of salt employed will vary
as in using it in lard from pork fat, and also as when making butter, depending
on the desire of the parties. The fatty matter thus produced will then be ready
to be packed into bladders, or into guts, or into jars, to be covered, it being
important to exclude the, atmosphere, in like manner to what has heretofore
been commonly done when packing lard made from pork fat, and such packing
should be done immediately it cools down and before it is quite cold and hard,

page_text: The new manufacture thus made from beef, mutton, veal, or lamb fat, will
very closely resemble lard, and be suitable for food and cooking of food, yet
cheaper in its production but much more valuable than the more fluid fatty
matters obtained from tallow. I would state that in thus making or gaining
the new manufacture of fatty matter from beef, mutton, veal, and lamb fat, I
have not found that the variations herein described in the processes, and the
requisite care and cleanliness to be observed, have added at all, certainly not
materially, to the cost heretofore consequent on treating fats of beef, mutton,
veal, and lamb, when making tallow and reheating, granulating, and pressing
tallow and obtaining the more fluid fat in a state in which it will only sell at a
cost less than that at which the rendered fat sells. In carrying out the process
of pressing, I prefer to use the press shewn in the Drawing, the peculiarity of
which consists in its having a lining of metal, a, with a series of grooves, a³, a³,
extending through the same, as shewn, so as to form channels for the more fluid
parts of the fatty matters under operation to pass freely down and by the sheets
of metal, a, being in close contact with each other, the same will be more
easily cleansed.
Figure A shows a side and an edge view of a board, or it may be of metal, to
be used instead of the frames of basket-work now used to lay between the
separate layers of matter under operation; these frames have each grooves b,
to act as channels to convey the fluid matters more readily to the sides of the
press. And in packing such manufacture of fatty matter for sale, I can use thin
sheet metal tin or tin foil cases, in place of the materials or jars before
mentioned. In using such cases I wrap the thin sheet tin round the lower end of
a funnel and fold up the lower end of the case thus made, and then introduce
the funnel into a block or hollow die, such as is commonly used when packing
various articles, and then I cause the prepared fat herein described to be pressed
through the funnel into the case, and then fold over the upper end of the case;
and in order to perfectly close the case against the atmosphere, I paste paper
over the joins of the case.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to
the details so long as the novel manufacture of fatty matter herein described be
obtained or gained and packed as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid William Palmer came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven.