Meat Curing Plus Sausage Making Information Part 5

MEAT CURING SAUSAGE MAKING: Q&A (a)

Q&A: Advice to assist packers, butchers, and sausage makers with Meat Curing and Sausage Making.

WHY DRIED BEEF DOES NOT THOROUGHLY DRY

Query.—R. B. writes: “We are having trouble with our Dried Beef. It doesn’t seem to dry out. We have it hanging in the cooler.”

Answer.—Your beef doesn’t dry out because you keep it in the cooler. In order to dry beef, it is necessary to hang it in a dry room. You can hang it right out in the market for that matter and there it will dry rapidly, in fact, it will dry too quickly so that it will become hard. Dried Beef will dry some in the smokehouse, but not sufficiently. We send you a copy of our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” which will give you full particulars in reference to this entire subject.

BULL-MEAT PREFERABLE FOR SAUSAGE

Query.—Z. & R. writes: There is a prevailing notion among local butchers that bull meat possesses qualities which make it superior to first-class steer or cow meat for making bologna and wieners. Is this not an erroneous idea? How can bologna and wieners be prevented from turning dark and shrinking within a few days after making if exposed to the air?

Answer.—The opinion of your local butcher is correct as far as it concerns bull meat as the best meat for bologna and wienerwurst. The reason for this is that bull meat contains a great deal of gelatine in various forms and far more than even the meat of either steer or cow.

If you take the bull meat and chop it up, you will find that it is sticky and binds together, while if you take meat from an aged cow and chop it up it will not bind together, is mushy and soft to the touch, and when cooked frequently crumbles and falls apart.

In answering your next question, we can say that the probable cause in most cases why sausage dries up, shrivels up, shrinks, or turns dark within a short time after being made is because it was not properly handled.

It is also possible that these effects of which you complain were due to causes produced by the way you salted your meat or what you salted it with. If you will follow our instructions on Bologna making given in our book “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” you should have no further trouble. The book is sent free.

HOW TO MAKE A PAPER BAROMETER

Question.—J. K. writes: Can you tell me how a Barometer can be made with paper that tells what the weather is going to be?

Answer.—Paper barometers are made by impregnating white blotting paper in the following liquid, and then hanging up to dry:

The amount of moisture in the atmosphere is indicated by the following colors:

SOUR SAUSAGE

Question.—B. & W. writes: We have been using your Bull-Meat-Brand-Flour through all of last winter, and found it satisfactory in every way. We have been using also your Freeze-Em Pickle. Since hot weather began our sausage has soured. We have lost over 100 lbs. of sausage through its souring. Can you tell us what is the probable cause of our sausage becoming sour?

Answer.—We will say that the cause of your sausage souring may be due to several things. Either your grinder has become dull, causing the meat you run through it to heat in the grinding, or it may be due to the fact that the meat was not cold enough to prevent it from heating while being ground.

Another cause for trouble of this kind is in the mixing machine. In mixing meat too much, a considerable quantity of air is forced into the meat, which will often cause it to sour during the warm seasons of the year. During hot weather, it is advisable to grind a small quantity of ice with the meat to keep it cold.

We also advise the use of our “A” Condimentine preparation. This is a very useful product for keeping in condition all fresh sausage. It is entirely harmless, containing no substances injurious to health. Complies with all pure food laws.

We are quite positive that you are souring your meat in the grinding, or in the mixing. Please let us know if you have a mixing machine, or whether you mix your meat by hand. If you have no mixing machine you are souring your meat while grinding it. You should mix ice with your meat before grinding it. Grind the meat and the ice together, and use “A” Condimentine. Your troubles will then disappear.

SPICED BEEF

Question.—W. C. K. writes: I was very much interested in your magazine “Success With Meat,” and wish you would send me a formula for the making and curing of Spiced Rounds of Fresh Beef. In our city, we have a great demand for spiced beef and I want the very best formula obtainable, which I know you can furnish me. I have used Freeze-Em-Pickle for a good many years and always get splendid results from its use.

Answer.—We are very glad that you like “Success With Meat,” and are pleased to learn you have obtained such uniformly good results with Freeze-Em-Pickle.

To make rolled spiced beef take 100 lbs. of boneless beef plates and cure them in brine made as follows:

5 gallons of cold water.
5 lbs. of common salt.
1 lb. Freeze-Em-Pickle.
2 lbs. of granulated cane sugar.
6 to 8 ounces Zanzibar Brand Corned Beef Seasoning.

Cure the plates in this brine for 10 to 20 days in a cooler. The temperature should not be higher than 42 to 44 degrees Fahr., but a temperature of 38 to 40 degrees is better for curing purposes.

The Zanzibar Brand Corned Beef Seasoning gives a delightful flavor to the brine. After the meat has been fully cured in accordance with the above formula sprinkle some Corned Beef Seasoning on the meat; then roll the meat and tie it tight with a heavy string.

Some people also like a garlic flavor and if desired a small quantity of Vacuum Brand Garlic may be added to the brine or sprinkled over the meat before it is rolled. Where you want to cure rumps or rounds of beef that weigh from 12 to 25 lbs. each, we advise that you pump them just the same as a ham would be pumped with a pumping brine made as follows:

½ lb. of Freeze-Em-Pickle.
1 lb. of pure granulated sugar.
2 lbs. of salt.
1 gallon of water.

By following the above suggestions carefully you should have no trouble in turning out delicious corned beef.

SOUR HAMS—HOW TO PREVENT

Query.—F. B. writes: “Have you any chemical compounds that will help us to take care of some sour hams? We have some hams that are just a little sour and thought perhaps you would help us in the matter.”

Answer.—We do not prepare anything which would help you in the least. The trouble arises from imperfect curing and the only time that we could have been of help to you would have been when you commenced putting the hams in the pickle; we could have then given you full instructions for pickling the hams in such a way that they could not have soured.

In nearly all cases the souring is around the bone. In your case, it is best to cut out the bone and trim away the sour meat. After being thus carefully trimmed, they can be rolled, tied, and sold for boned hams. You can always avoid the danger of sour hams by exercising extreme care in properly chilling the meat before curing. Most souring arises from the fact that the meat is not chilled through to the bone. If all the animal heat is thoroughly removed before curing, the hams will come out of the pickle cured all the way through.

If you will follow closely the directions contained in our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” you will never have trouble with your hams. We take great pleasure in sending you a copy of this book free of charge.

FREEZE-EM-PICKLE LEGAL EVERYWHERE

Query.—S. G. Co.: You will please send us a 500-lb. barrel of Freeze-Em Pickle, if you can guarantee it to comply with the Pure Food Laws.

Answer.—Shipment of 500 lbs. Freeze-Em-Pickle, which you ordered by mail, went forward today. We beg to inform you that this product complies with the requirements of all Pure Food Laws and is perfectly legal to use everywhere. We know that you will be highly pleased with Freeze-Em-Pickle.

The Freeze-Em-Pickle process of curing meat gives it a uniform bright red color and a sweet sugar-cured flavor and enables it to retain all of its albumens. It also prevents the meat from drying up and hardening when fried or cooked, or from crumbling when sliced up after being cooked. It may be used in the brine, or it can be sprinkled dry over the meat before it is packed for storage. See our directions for using it.

MAKING SOAP FROM RENDERED FAT

Question.—C. J. B. writes: Can you give me a formula for making soap? I have a surplus stock of rendered fat that I would like to convert into soap.

Answer.—We will give a very good formula for making soft soap and hard soap.

To 20 pounds of clear grease or tallow take 17 pounds of pure white potash. Buy the potash in as fine lumps as it can be procured and place it in the bottom of the soap barrel, which must be water-tight and strongly hooped. Boil the grease and pour it boiling hot upon the potash then add two large pailfuls of boiling hot water; dissolve 1 pound of borax in 2 quarts of boiling hot water and stir all together thoroughly.

Next morning add 2 pailfuls of cold water and stir for half an hour; continue this process until a barrel containing 36 gallons is filled. In a week, or even in less time, it will be ready for use. The borax, and also one pound of rosin, can be turned into the grease while the grease is boiling.

Soap made in this manner is a first-rate article and has a good body. The grease must be tried out, free from scraps, ham rinds, bones, or any other similar kind of matter; then the soap will be as thick as jelly, and almost as clear. To make soft soap hard put into a kettle four pailfuls of soft soap, and stir in it by degrees about one quart of common salt.

Boil until all the water is separated from the curd, remove the kettle from the fire and draw off the water with a siphon (a yard or so of rubber hose will answer); then pour the soap into a wooden form in which muslin has been placed. For this purpose, a wooden box sufficiently large and tight may be employed.

When the soap is firm turn out to dry, cut into bars with a brass wire and let it harden. A little powdered rosin will assist the soap to harden and give it a yellow color. This must be added to the kettle when the soap is boiled. If the soft soap is very thin, more salt should be added.

WHY BOLOGNA DRAWS WATER WHEN IT IS BOILED

Question.—J. B. writes: I again write you for information. When I boiled my bologna the meat drew water. I added the water the second time I ground the meat. Why did the meat draw water while the sausage was being boiled?

I am glad to say that your advice in reply to my last letter enabled me to completely overcome the trouble I had with my corned beef. I am now using the galvanized iron tank as you recommended, and have discarded my old corned beef barrel. I will further say that since I began using your products, that I am selling three times as many sausages as I formerly did. I am greatly pleased with all the goods that I have bought from you.

Answer.—There are three principal reasons for meat drawing water while the bologna is being boiled. The first is that you probably “killed” the meat in the grinding of it, by your knife not being sharp enough, or that your meat soured in the grinding of it by the meat not being cold enough.

If you desire to work in some water while grinding the meat, use chipped ice instead of water. The ice will keep the meat cool and stiff, and the meat will not quash, or mash down. The use of ice will prevent the meat from getting warm.

Another cause for bologna drawing water while being boiled is that you have heated the bologna too hot while it was in the smokehouse, or you are boiling bologna at too high a temperature. Boiling bologna at 160 degrees Fahrenheit would hardly spoil it, but we recommend boiling bologna at 155 degrees Fahrenheit.

Possibly you boil the bologna too long. When you take your bologna out of the cooking water do you pour cold water over them? This also has a bearing on the case. Watch carefully all of the above points and you will not have any more trouble. Refer to our book.

OLD BARRELS INFECTED WITH GERMS WILL CAUSE ROPY BRINE

Question.—W. & Sons write: Can you advise us about our corned beef pickle? We made it according to directions given in your book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making.” But our brine gets “ropy” as you call it. We use pure cane sugar. We keep our cooler at 38 to 40 degrees Fahr., and are at a loss to know what is the cause of our trouble. Please advise us in this matter.

Answer.—Ropy brine can come about even when pure cane sugar is used in curing. This condition is caused by germs that develop in the brine and cause the brine to thicken. You will find that the barrels which contain your brine are infected with germs.

The best way to get rid of these germs is to first empty the barrels; then put the barrels into a vat and boil them. Also, scrub the barrels inside and outside. For this purpose, they should be rinsed with boiling water to which has been added Freeze-Em, 4 ounces to each gallon, and afterwards a last rinsing with our Ozo washing powder, or soda, in the water that you use for washing the barrels.

After the barrels are thoroughly washed and rinsed with cold water, they should then be put out of doors where the sun can shine upon them and in them for several days before they are again used and placed in the cooler.

Barrels in which corned beef is cured should be made of hardwood. If you are using a syrup barrel or a molasses barrel, you will find that the pores of the wood have become filled with syrup or molasses, which causes the brine to become thick. We think this is the cause of your trouble.

The best barrels to use are tierces that are made of oak, such as lard is shipped in by the packers. The wood of these tierces becomes saturated or filled with lard, and the lard prevents the brine from penetrating or soaking into the wood. Be sure that whatever barrels you use are made of hardwood, and not of white wood or other softwood, of which many kinds of barrels are made.

HOW TO MAKE FERTILIZER FROM BEEF BLOOD

Question.—J. E. P. writes: Please tell me how to utilize and handle beef blood so as to make fertilizer out of it. I am killing from ten to fifteen head of cattle each week, and thus have quite a quantity of blood.

Answer.—Blood in a packing house is handled as follows: It is first drained from the killing floor into vats and when the vats are filled, live steam is turned on and the blood is boiled until congealed. It is then put in large powerful presses and all the water pressed out, the congealed blood remaining in the press cloth. From the presses, it is put through a fertilizer dryer and then is known as dried blood.

Where you only kill 10 to 15 head of cattle a week, it would not pay you to dry the blood in this way. A very fine fertilizer, however, can be made from the blood either for your own use or to sell by boiling the blood in a kettle over a fire or else putting it into a tank and blowing live steam in it; then separate from the water as best you can and mix with black earth, spreading it out thin in the sun to dry.

The boiled blood should be mixed with about its own weight in black earth. This makes a wonderful fertilizer and ought to bring you many extra dollars.

ICE VS. ICE MACHINE IN SMALL PLANTS

Query.—F. S. writes: “I would like to know if an ice machine can be had small enough for a retail meat market and would it be profitable to take the place of an icebox? If you can do so, please give me this information and where I can get the ice machine. The ice here for a summer’s use will cost about $75.”

Answer.—You state that the cost of ice for the summer season in your market would be about $75.00; therefore, it will not pay you to put in an ice machine, as the cost of operating such a machine for an ice-box would be a great deal more than $75.00 for the season.

For instance, if you could obtain electric power or a gas engine for operating the ice machine, you could figure on using at least $7.50 to $10.00 a month for power alone. In addition to this, you would have the expense of repairs and the wear and tear on the machinery, also the cost of ammonia and the interest on your investment. For a small plant, it is always cheaper to use ice for an ice-box, when it is possible to secure the ice at a reasonable figure.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POTATO FLOUR AND BULL-MEAT BRAND SAUSAGE BINDER?

QUERY.—J. G. Co. writes: Will you kindly state the difference between your Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder and Potato Flour, as we have received several circulars from you on Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder and have always been using potato flour heretofore, and if you will explain to us the difference, and if your Bull-Meat Sausage Binder is better for us, we will be glad to use it.

Answer.—The difference between Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder and Potato Flour is this, potato flour is made from potatoes and the absorbing properties of a pound of potato flour or potato starch are much less than you would imagine.

If you will take a gallon of water and put into this water one pound of potato flour and let it stand for one hour, all the Potato Flour will have settled to the bottom and you can pour off the gallon of water and then weigh the pound of potato flour and you will be surprised that it will weigh less than two pounds, it will have taken up less than one pound of water.

Also, make a test by putting one pound of Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder in a gallon of water and you will find that the pound of Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder will have absorbed almost the entire gallon of water. You can easily see by making this test the difference in the action of the flours when used in different kinds of sausage.

When Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder is used it helps to hold the fat and then when the sausage is fried it looks different and tastes different than sausage made with potato flour. Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder absorbs fat and juice in the meat and tends to hold it in the meat and it does not fry out so readily. If you will try the Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder and make a test, you will prefer it to potato flour.

CAUSE OF BOLOGNA DRAWING WATER AND BEING SHORT GRAINED

Query.—J. L. B. writes: “Will you kindly answer the following questions: First, What is the cause of bologna drawing water while being cooked? Second, What is the cause of short-grain bologna?”

Answer.—We do not exactly understand your first question and cannot tell whether you mean that moisture draws out of the Bologna or whether water draws into the Bologna. As a rule, when the Bologna is cooked, especially in water that is too hot, it will shrink very much, become dry and crumble and break up. This effectually answers your second question also.

The trouble you are experiencing is due to your method of making Bologna, which is not exactly right. In the first place, good Bologna cannot be made without the use of a binder like our Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder. A binder and absorbent of this kind cause the meat to hold together. It also makes the juices of the meat remain in the Bologna. When Bologna does not properly bind, it shrinks up and gets watery inside.

This is owing to the fact that the meat does not hold together properly and the water, instead of being absorbed right into the meat as it should be, gets between the small particles of meat and separates them. If you use our Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder and follow the methods set forth in our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” you will never have any trouble from your Bologna breaking up or getting crumbly or watery, as you call it.

CAUSE OF LARD FOAMING WHEN USING LARD PURIFIER

Query.—W. & Son write: “Will you kindly tell us what, in your opinion, accounts for our lard foaming after treating it with your B. Heller & Co.’s Lard Purifier when placed in the frying pan? Our customers are complaining about this feature, although the lard is nice and satisfies them in every other respect.”

Answer.—The complaint which your customers make concerning the foaming and spluttering of the lard is in all probability due to the fact that all the water was not separated from the lard after treating the lard. 203 Whenever lard is treated with our Lard Purifier, it must be heated hot enough and allowed to stand long enough so that all the water separates and settles out to the bottom. If this is always done, the lard will not splutter when used in the frying pan.

IMITATION BULL-MEAT-BRAND SAUSAGE BINDER

QUERY.—G. W. writes: “I find that I have been imposed upon by a salesman with a binder which is claimed to be Bull-Meat Binder. Owing to the fact that I have not been able to get satisfactory results from the use of it, I have examined the package closely, and find that the labels are not the same as yours.

I enclose a rough drawing of what this label is like and would like to know if the goods are of your manufacture. It doesn’t act like your Bull-Meat Binder and I have had very poor success with it: in fact, so very poor that I have sent it back to the jobbers and told them that I could not use it.”

Answer.—You most certainly received an imitation of Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder. The very fact that the preparation you received failed to give satisfaction was, in itself, sufficient to convince you that you had been imposed upon, as Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder always produces excellent results. Your idea of examining the label is the proper one.

Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder is not only a Binder but also an Absorbent. It has its Flavoring Qualities as well as its tendency to Bind and Blend the Juices of the Meat, thus absorbing those constituents that enable Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder to give sausage such a Delicious and Superior Flavor.

When purchasing our goods in the future, we would ask you to kindly examine them closely upon their receipt to see that you are receiving the Genuine and nothing but the Genuine. In this way, it will not be necessary for you to spoil a lot of Sausage in order to find out that you have been imposed upon by irresponsible imitators who try to pirate our goods. Never use any goods shipped to you until you have examined them closely to see that the name of B. Heller & Co. and no other is upon the label.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT A MODERN SMOKEHOUSE

Query.—The S. P. Co. asks: “Would you kindly tell us, and we will gladly pay you for the information, how to construct a modern, up-to-date smokehouse?”

Answer.—We will be very glad indeed to tell you all about this subject without charging you any fee. We are always glad to tell customers or prospective customers how they can profitably conduct their business and make money. As you are located in California, where the weather is always warm, the building of a smokehouse becomes simple, because the smokehouse will not sweat as it does in a climate where the weather gets cold in winter.

Here in the Middle West, or farther East, it is more difficult to get a good color on meats smoked in a smokehouse in winter. One of the principal points to be considered in laying out your plans is to get the proper height, and the higher you build your house and the less floor space it occupies, the better will be your results. An 8×10 or an 8×12 foot house gives the best results.

In this, you could put an arch about nine or ten feet from the ground, and under the arch smoke your fresh sausage, and above it smoke the meat. In this way, the heat and smoke used for the sausage would also be utilized for smoking the bacon and hams and none would be wasted. If you build the way we have indicated be sure and put ventilators right above the arch so that cold air can be let into the smokehouse during the real hot weather.

If your fire gets too hot, you can feed cold air to the interior chamber, and if your smokehouse is tall you can create a good draught and will soon get up a circulation which will cool the air so that the meat will not shrink too much. A smokehouse built for simply two tiers of meat, that is, two rows are better than one built wider. The walls of your smokehouse can be built either of brick or wood, whichever you prefer, brick being the safer of the two.

If you do not intend to smoke fresh sausage but only bacon and hams, it is unnecessary to put in an arch. In that case, simply construct some iron bars about eight feet above the fire and on top of these put a heavy iron screen, so in case any hams should fall that they do not fall into the fire. Of course, you know that many smokehouses catch on fire and burn up, due to not having an iron screen above the fire and by meat falling directly into the fire.

PREVENTING PORK SAUSAGE FROM SOURING IN WARM WEATHER

QUESTION.—W. G. F. writes: “I make my own sausage, using your Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder and your Sausage Seasoning. My sausage is good when it is fresh-made, but it soon becomes sour in warm weather. What can I do to prevent this trouble?”

Answer.—The best and easiest way to overcome the difficulty you report about your fresh pork sausage souring in warm weather is to use our “A” Condimentine. In making your sausage, for every 100 pounds of meat add ¾ to 1 pound of Heller’s “A” Condimentine. This will prevent fresh pork sausage from turning gray and souring for from eight to ten days, according to the temperature at which the sausage is kept.

“A” Condimentine will keep pork sausage in condition, so that it may be shipped, if necessary, for a considerable distance and still retain its own natural color. Your sausage maker will find this method of keeping fresh pork sausage from souring for a reasonable length of time in warm weather of great advantage and save you from severe losses. “A” Condimentine is legal to be used under the National and all State Pure Food Laws.

The sausage does not have to be labeled to show the presence of “A” Condimentine. We will be pleased to have you try out our recommendation for retarding fresh pork sausage from souring and report to us your success at an early date.

IS FREEZE-EM PICKLE LEGAL TO USE?

Query.—W. K. I am a butcher and sausage maker, and also cure a great many hams and bacon. I have used a good bit of your Freeze-Em Pickle and am well pleased with it, and I wish to ask if it can be used with safety under the new pure food laws. That is the new state food law. The man I have been getting Freeze-Em Pickle from says “Yes” and the States Attorney says “No,” so I write you and would like to have you explain the situation and oblige.

Answer.—Replying to your recent favor affords us pleasure to advise you that Freeze-Em-Pickle does comply with the requirements of your new state food law and that you need have no fears in continuing its use. In fact, Freeze-Em-Pickle complies with the requirements of all the state food laws, as well as with the regulations under the National Pure Food Law, and it is being used all over the U. S.

It is evident that the State’s Attorney confuses Freeze-Em-Pickle with the preservatives which are prohibited under your new state law. All antiseptic preservatives, for the purpose of keeping fresh meat fresh and meat food products in a fresh condition, are positively prohibited under your new state food law. Freeze-Em-Pickle does not come in this class.

The ingredients of which Freeze-Em-Pickle is composed have not been ruled against by any of the pure food laws. We are pleased to hear your praise of Freeze-Em-Pickle, although this is the universal report we get when it is properly used. We enclose a circular concerning its use, which you may not have seen, and this will give you further information concerning the manufacture of Bologna and Frankfort Sausage, Corned Beef, etc.

We also enclose a circular concerning our Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder, which is unquestionably the best Binder on the market. This also complies with the pure food law. So does our Vacuum Brand Garlic Compound and our Prepared Sausage Seasoning, and Red and White Konservirungs-Salt. We will be pleased to hear from you whenever we can be of further service to you.

ADVICE TO A PACKER WHO WAS DECEIVED

N. & W. complain that a firm to whom they gave an order for 25 pounds of Freeze-Em Pickle and a barrel of Bull-Meat Sausage Binder, sent them 25 pounds of an inferior substitute and a barrel of flour which was an imitation of Bull-Meat Sausage Binder. The firm states that they did not know very much about how the label of Freeze-Em Pickle looked and, therefore, did not notice the fraud until after they had used some of the imitations. They ask what they should do about it.

Answer.—Return the goods to your jobber, even though you have used half of them, inform him that you will not pay for the goods on the ground that you did not order them, but had ordered B. Heller & Co.’s goods and that you will in future buy your goods from such firms as will send you what you want and order. This is a simple remedy for the trouble which you have.

ADVANTAGES OF STEAM-JACKET KETTLE IN RENDERING LARD

Query.—C. W. F. asks: Is there any advantage in rendering lard in a steam-jacket kettle?

Answer.—There is. Both a caldron and a steam-jacket kettle work well. The best lard is made in one or the other. A steam tank in which the fat is put, and the steam turned right into it, will not produce as good lard as either the caldron or the steam-jacket kettle. The steam mixes right with the lard and the latter therefore contains a large amount of moisture and the lard does not keep well. Another disadvantage is that water used in the boiler is not always pure.

If the boiler is not cleaned once a week the water will have a bad smell. Steam made from this water and turned into lard can not be expected to improve its flavor, even though it should not actually harm it. Those who kill large numbers of hogs usually have a steam tank for making steam rendered lard and a steam-jacket kettle for making their finer brands of kettle rendered lard.

SEASONING FOR SAUSAGES

Query.—T. U.: Will you please send me a copy of your book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making.” I have always used the following seasonings in my sausage: Pepper, summer savory, and sage, and would like to know if you can recommend anything to me which will give the sausage a better flavor than these spices will. Any information you can give me on the seasoning of sausage will be very much appreciated.

Answer.—The Seasonings which you have been using are being used by a good many Sausage Makers, but a real fine flavored Sausage cannot be made with them. If you wish to increase your Sausage trade right along and want to make Sausage that your trade will relish and enjoy, you must use the very finest Seasonings obtainable, as the Seasoning really is the life of the Sausage.

We are manufacturing the Zanzibar Brand Sausage Seasonings, which we make for all kinds of Sausage. These Seasonings are made after secret formulas which have been in our family for a good many years. The flavor that these Seasonings impart to the Sausage is something very fine; it must be tasted to be appreciated, as we cannot describe in a letter what the flavor really is.

It is a peculiar combination that everyone likes and it is something that will soon increase your Sausage trade. Zanzibar Brand Sausage Seasonings are manufactured from only high-grade Spices and we guarantee them to be absolutely free from any adulteration. We are sending you our circular and price list and would be pleased to receive your order for any quantity that you may desire, and we will say in advance that when you once use them you will never again want to make Sausage without these Seasonings.

SOLE MANUFACTURERS OF ZANZIBAR CARBON

Query.—C. & K. writes: “Are you the sole manufacturers of Zanzibar Carbon?”

Answer.—Yes, and we were the first to put a preparation of this kind upon the market.

QUICKEST WAY TO CURE MEATS

Query.—W. & B. write: Our capacity for curing meats is limited for the want of room. Can you give us a formula or a recipe that will give a good cure in the shortest possible time? We would like something that is reliable.

Answer.—Our Book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” will give you all the information in reference to curing meats that you may desire. The curing period can be greatly shortened by pumping the meat. It will also give you a better article. Our book, which is mailed to anyone requesting it, free of charge, will give you full directions for pumping, and also the formula for making the pumping brine.

By following the instructions which this book contains, you will be able to turn out the finest kind of mild cured and sweet pickled meats, which will have a delicious flavor and a fine color. It will be necessary, however, for you to fully carry out our directions in reference to chilling meats and overhauling them, also the temperature to be maintained during the curing period.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FREEZE-EM AND FREEZE-EM-PICKLE

Query.—L. B.: We have been using some of your goods and notice that you speak of Freeze-Em-Pickle for curing meats. Is this product the same as Freeze-Em? We have been getting our goods from our jobbers, and in their catalog, they also speak of Freeze-Em-Pickle. We would like one of your books on the secrets of meat curing and methods of smoking and curing, as we are young in the curing of meats yet and would like all the information possible.

Answer.—Your letter was received and we are pleased to note that you have been using some of our goods and find them very satisfactory. You say you have read of our Freeze-Em and also our Freeze-Em-Pickle, and you would like to know whether they are both the same. They are not the same. Before the various pure food laws went into effect, we sold Freeze-Em as a preservative, also as a cleansing agent. As so many of the pure food laws objected to the use of preservatives, we discontinued selling Freeze-Em as a preservative, and now sell and recommend it as a cleansing agent only.

Freeze-Em-Pickle is an entirely different preparation. This was placed on the market with a special view to supply the butcher with a preparation that will comply with all food regulations under all food laws. Freeze-Em-Pickle is to be used for curing all kinds of meat, such as hams, bacon, corned beef, bologna trimmings, pork sausage trimmings, and meats of all kinds, and it is also excellent for use in chopped beef, to keep it in a fresh condition. Freeze-Em-Pickle is not a Chemical Preservative.

DIFFICULTIES WITH CURING BRINE AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM

Query.—W. S. & Co.: We are so situated that we have to boil all the water that we use in our brine. After boiling it we run it into a cooling tank and let it cool. We have made some experiments with your Freeze-Em Pickle and like it to cure very well, and have decided to adopt its use in the curing of all of our meats.

Now, what we want to know is, can we dissolve the Freeze-Em Pickle in the boiling hot water and then cool it and run it through coils the same as we do now with the water? Would the heat affect the Freeze-Em Pickle? Our vats when full hold 6,900 lbs. of medium-sized hams. According to the size of the kettle and the amount of water to boil at one time, it would require 58 pounds of Freeze-Em Pickle.

What we want to do is this: we do not want to weigh the Freeze-Em Pickle for each vat, but simply want to make a large quantity of brine and then run the prepared brine onto our hams. We have been using saltpetre and molasses for our brine and we are having trouble with it getting ropy and stringy. Will syrup answer the same as molasses or sugar, and is New Orleans molasses the best, or should granulated sugar be used entirely? Kindly let us know what you consider the best for hams.

Answer.—First of all, we advise that after the water is boiled, that it is allowed to settle and precipitate so that all the solids will settle to the bottom of the settling tank. It should settle at least 24 hours before the solids will have separated and gone to the bottom. Then the water should be drawn off, but not from the bottom of the tank, but at least a foot from the bottom. The water that will come off from above will be nice and clear.

This water should then be run into another tank, called the mixing tank, in which the sugar, salt, and Freeze-Em-Pickle should be dissolved; 211 this will make the stock brine which can be run down into the cellar over cooling pipes, so as to chill it properly before it is put on the meat. The reason the brine that you are making becomes ropy is that you are using the wrong sugar.

If you will use absolutely pure granulated sugar or absolutely pure syrup made from granulated sugar you will have no trouble with ropy brine. We strongly advise the use of nothing but absolutely pure granulated sugar. We find that it gives the best results. It costs a little more than the unrefined product but you get less vegetable substance in your brine, and the brine will therefore keep much longer.

The brine in which hams have been cured can be used a second time for curing breakfast bacon, and the breakfast bacon will be even better than if put into fresh brine. As your vats are large, the meat will pack very tight on the bottom, and we wish to caution you to be sure and overhaul your meat promptly five days after it is packed and continue overhauling as per directions in our book on curing meats and making sausage. If you follow these directions you will not have any ropy brine or any spoiled meat, but all your meat will come out uniform and will have the proper flavor.

TOUGH AND SALTY CORNED BEEF

Query.—E. W. G. writes: I have had complaints from several large institutions I serve that my corned beef is tough and too salty. I would like to know about what proportions of salt and saltpetre to use. It is only recently that I have had these complaints, in fact, I have been in the retail business for about ten years and have been very successful with my corned beef.

Answer.—If you will use the following in curing plates, rumps, briskets, etc., for corned beef, you will have no trouble. Use for 100 lbs. of meat:

Five pounds of common salt, 1 lb. of Freeze-Em-Pickle, 2 lbs. of best-granulated sugar, 5 gallons of cold water.

Cure the meat in this brine for fifteen to thirty days, according to weight and thickness of the pieces. If you are taking pieces out of the brine from day to day and adding others, you should keep up the strength of the pickle to sixty degrees by adding a small quantity of Freeze-Em-Pickle and salt from time to time as you withdraw and replace the meat. One of the first essentials to producing first-class corned beef is to be careful about the temperature during the curing period.

An even temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit is always the best for coolers and for curing meat. If maintained at this degree, there will be no trouble from taking on too much salt, provided, of course, the meat has been properly chilled through before placing it in the brine for curing. In order to produce a good cure, all the animal heat must be extracted from the meat before it is packed, otherwise, it will become soft and spongy in the brine, and pickle-soaked.

KEEPING HAMS AND BACON SIX MONTHS

Query.—A. J. M. writes: I would like to know how to keep hams and bacon in first-class shape for the next six months without their getting moldy and with the least possible shrinkage.

Answer.—There is no practical method for keeping hams and bacon for so long a time after they are smoked without their getting moldy. There is a method for keeping them in sweet pickle for any length of time, provided you have cold storage facilities. All kinds of pickled meat 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 like fresh cured meat.

Hams and other meats are often purchased when the market is low and stored in a freezer and kept here until such a time that they are in greatest demand and will sell at the highest price. At a temperature of 28 degrees the meat will not freeze after it is cured, and the brine, of course, does not freeze at that temperature. When meat is taken out of such cold storage to be smoked, it should be first soaked from three to five hours in fresh water, and then washed and smoked the same as regular fresh cured meat.

Farmers often bury their smoked meats in their oat bins and are enabled to keep them in good condition for some time, but this is a method which, perhaps, does not suit your purpose. It is best to keep the meat in sweet pickle until you are ready to smoke it, as this will ensure a much better article.

USES FOR DRIED BEEF ENDS

Query.—C. E. C. writes: “Can you inform me the best and most profitable way for disposing of my Dried Beef ends? I am in the sliced Dried Beef business and have no way of using up my ends. Thanking you in advance.”

Answer.—There are three ways for disposing of beef ends to advantage and profit. They may be ground up in an Enterprise Chopper and sold to hotels and restaurants for use as Minced Dried Beef to be prepared and served in cream. They can also be sold to concerns engaged in the baked bean business, where the ends can be cut up and baked with pork in the beans. Restaurants can also use dried beef ends to their excellent advantage by putting them in soup. They will give a delicious flavor to all kinds of soups if boiled at the same time with other soup meats.

HOW TO PREVENT HAMS FROM SOURING IN THE HOCK

Query.—C. F. G. Co. writes: “We have a lot of hams that we put down in dry salt to cure about six or seven weeks ago, and we have discovered that they have become tainted in the hock, while the balance of the piece of meat is all right. Can you tell us anyway to rehandle or overhaul these hams to save them? The front or butt end of the ham is sound and all right and sweet; the bad part is in and around the hock end or leg end.

Could this taint and odor be removed and the meat made sweet by putting these hams down now in a strong salt brine and punching holes in the hock end of the pieces so that the brine could quickly get into the tainted part? Would salt brine save them now? We will thank you for any advice or plan of action that will help to save us from loss.”

Answer.—It is more difficult to cure hams by the dry salt process than it is by the brine process. If these hams had been pumped before packing them in the salt, there would not have been so much danger of shank sour. Hams being very thick, it takes a long time for the salt to draw through them; therefore, if they are first pumped and packed in dry salt, you can readily see that the salt draws through quicker and thus gives them a chance to cure from the inside as quickly as they would cure from the outside.

Only under one condition can you pump these hams, make them sweet and save them. For instance, if the hams are taken from the salt and upon trying them with a ham trier they are found to be sweet but turn sour when they are placed in the smokehouse, then you can save them. Such a condition would show that the hams are not fully cured around the bone and around the shank joints.

In that event, they can be pumped with pickle and fully cured around the bone so that they will not sour when placed in the smokehouse. It is necessary to explain that meat is frequently perfectly sweet when it comes out of cure, but it is not fully cured. In such a condition when it is placed in a warm smokehouse, it will sour in the smokehouse.

This, of course, can be avoided by fully curing the hams. If, on the other hand, the hams are already sour and tainted when they come out of the cure, whether it be dry salt or sweet pickle, then nothing can be done with them to make them sweet. Meat once spoiled, remains spoiled. If the hams are sour when they come out of the cure, but sour only in the shank, then the proper thing to do is to cut off the shank; in other words, cut off all the sour or tainted meat and use the butt ends for boiled hams.

You can boil and slice them and sell them in your store. You must be careful to cut off all the tainted parts because any of the tainted meat which is left will taint all the rest of the meat when the butt is boiled. You, of course, understand that during the process of boiling, the good meat will absorb the taint from the bad meat. We regret that you did not write us for advice before you began curing the hams, as we would have advised you to cure in brine.

We will send you by mail, free of charge, our book, entitled “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” which covers every point that its title indicates. The advice given here as to the handling of meats, you will find very valuable and covers the whole ground, from the condition of the animal before killing to the handling of the meat through the chill room and through the entire curing process.

We call your special attention to the various articles for curing meats, which will give you the temperature for curing, how to overhaul the meat, how to pump the meat, and how to make the brine for pumping. Full directions for curing the hams you will find carefully indexed. By following the advice given in these pages, you will have no loss from the souring of meats, but on the contrary, will be enabled to turn out meat of the highest quality possible.

BUILDING A COOLER

Query.—W. G. H. writes: I have about completed a cooler except for the floor and am undecided whether to make it of plank or cement. I thought you could give me the desired advice. One room is 16 feet square inside; 7 feet to joist with 7 feet of solid ice above, or about 50 tons capacity. The walls are 2 feet thick; 8 inches sawdust, 4 inches dead air space, 8 inches of sawdust, with four thicknesses of one-inch boards, thus making the 2 feet.

The building has these walls on all sides and partitions. I expect to use the drip from the above to cool another room, 8 feet by 16 feet inside, and will have the water run around this room in gutters (sheet iron) fastened to the wall. I want this as dry and as free from mold and dampness as possible and, therefore, am not sure as to whether a cement floor will be what is needed, though it was my intention to use cement.

There is a 2-foot stone wall under the cooler which sets on sand—this sand having been washed up at times past by the lake. There are now fifty tons of ice over the cooler and back of this is an ice house, 16 feet square, inside filled with ice 14 feet high.

This makes the building 20 feet wide by 48 feet long, by 20 feet studding. For ventilation a four-inch square flue will run from the bottom in one corner and from the top in the opposite corner of the cooler to the top of the roof, and above it, acting as chimneys. I want to use these coolers for fresh meats, packing hams and bacon, storing eggs, and most anything that there is any money in, which requires to be kept in good condition. Your advice will be appreciated.

Answer.—You are building your cooler on very good plans. However, we would advise the use of cement for the floors. It will be found much better than wood, much purer and cleaner, and withal much drier. You speak about putting two ventilators in your cooler, which is all right, but you should be sure to provide these ventilators with slides, so you can shut them off and regulate the ventilation according to your wishes.

Of course, you understand that it is not well to have the ventilators open all the time, as it would result in quite a loss of ice. The ventilators should be open only when the room needs ventilation, which will be at well-defined periods or varying according to the amount of material in storage. Your plan of using the drip water of the ice and running it in pans will work all right. We have seen this method applied, and it was always satisfactory. Be sure to use galvanized iron gutters for the pans, not sheet iron, as it will rust easily.

WHY BOLOGNA “TAKES WATER” IN COOKING

Query.—H. P. writes: “Sometimes I have to bother with my bologna taking water when cooking them. Can you tell me what to do to prevent this trouble?”

Answer.—The difficulty you mention is caused by the sausage not being properly boiled. Ordinary round or long Bologna should be boiled in water of 160 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit for about thirty to forty minutes, and thick, large Bologna should be boiled in water of 155 to 160 degrees for from three-quarters to one hour, according to the size. If the sausages are very large, it will take from one and one-quarter to one and one-half hours to cook them properly.

After sausage of any kind has been cooked, they should be handled as follows: Pour boiling water over them to wash off all the surplus grease that adheres to the casings, and then pour cold water over them to shrink and close the pores of the casings. This is very important and should be closely observed by all packers and sausage makers who wish to have their sausage look nice and keep their fresh appearance. The shrinkage and quality of cooked Bologna depend considerably upon the temperature in which they have been boiled. It is very necessary for every man who cooks sausage to use a thermometer.

WHY BOLOGNA SHRIVELS

Query.—T. B.: Can you tell me the reason bologna shrivels when it is taken from the hot water? It looks fine until it gets cold.

Answer.—There are several reasons why your bologna might shrivel when taken out of the boiling water. First, it might be that you do not cure your meat right before the bologna is made, and second, you probably do not use the right kind of a binder, and third, you probably boil the bologna in too hot water.

If when the meat is cured properly and you do use the right kind of a binder, the bologna shrivels when taken out of the boiling water, it is because you are boiling it at too high a temperature. Before making bologna you should sprinkle Freeze-Em-Pickle over the meat and leave it for a few days. We refer to our instructions for preparing bologna trimmings, which will be found in our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making.”

ADVICE ON CURING HAMS AND BACON

Query.—E. A. S. & Co. write: I have taken a barrel of meat, hams, and shoulders, which I cured in my icebox after your instructions, and I wish to say that it is as fine as was ever produced by anyone. My icebox holds well, standing from 38 to 39 degrees, but it is small and only has room for one barrel in it. I have made arrangements to try packing in the house this winter.

I have a closet made of brick on both sides and by proper ventilation in cold weather so as to keep it from 35 to 40 degrees, I think I can save hams all O. K. in tierces. I have about ten oak tierces for the purpose. (Is that all right?) I have an old icebox in the rear 8×8 feet with a good roof on it, walls filled with sawdust.

I would like to know if I can fill this with hams and shoulders when the weather gets cold and just dry salt them. Can I save them by just letting them stay there all winter until next spring? I can put in a layer of hams and cover them with salt, then put in another layer and cover with salt, and so on until I fill it. I would like your opinion and advice as to these methods. I kept side meat this way last winter just leaving it in salt.

Answer.—If you keep the temperature of the small room which you mention at from 35 to 40 degrees it will answer the purpose for curing. The oak tierces for curing are all right provided they are new. We advise that you wash them out with scalding hot water, so as to get rid of the oak taste. If the tierces are not new, then you must make doubly sure that they are scalded out thoroughly and at the same time you should use our Ozo for cleansing them.

The old ice-box which you mention can be used for dry salting hams and shoulders when the weather gets cold, provided you do not let the meat freeze. You must not let the temperature get below 35 degrees, because at a lower temperature, the meat will not take on salt. Hams can be dry salt-cured just the same as side meats, but when hams are very thick, we would advise that you pump them.

Our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” will give you full information as to the pumping process and a formula for making the pumping brine. Hams are very seldom dry salt-cured; they are nearly always sweet-pickle cured. A sweet pickle or sugar-cured ham has a much finer flavor than the dry salt-cured ham.

If you pack side meat properly and overhaul it regularly until it is fully cured, and if you keep the temperature of the curing room at about 38 degrees, you will have no trouble in keeping dry salt meat in salt all winter. Of course, if you keep it in salt 218 too long, it will get very salty.

Our book on curing meats will give you full directions for dry salt curing. Hams, after they are fully cured in brine, can be rubbed with salt and kept in a cooler for several months, and if desired, all winter, but the shrinkage will be great and they will take on salt and might become too salty for your trade.

WHY OIL SEPARATES FROM LARD

Query.—E. & W.: We are having trouble with our lard; the oil separates from the lard during the warm weather so part of the lard is really oil, and we cannot use it in that condition. Our business is too small to justify us in employing a practical man to take charge of our lard. We ask you for your advice.

Answer.—To keep the oil from separating from the lard, you should carry out the following directions: First, you should provide yourself with a lard cooler with an agitator attached, as the lard after it is rendered and when it begins to cool should be agitated until it becomes thick like cream before it is run into the buckets.

If lard is not agitated when it is cooled the stearin crystallizes and the oil separates from the stearin, but by chilling the lard and by agitating it while it cools, the stearin does not get a chance to crystallize and the oil will not separate and the lard will keep better in this condition. The lard that is put up in winter for summer use is much improved by adding about ten percent of tallow, but when this lard is sold, it should be sold as lard with ten percent of tallow added.

If you wish to treat the lard that you have on hand, we advise you to treat it as follows: For every 100 lbs. of lard, put 100 lbs. of water in your lard kettle; add to it four ounces of our Lard Purifier, and throw 100 lbs. of lard into this water. Start the fire and gradually heat it until the lard is melted and is as hot as it will stand without boiling over.

Keep on stirring the lard until it begins to melt, so as to thoroughly wash it. After the lard is thoroughly washed, you will find a certain amount of scum will come to the top, skim this off and then allow the lard to settle for about two hours, so that all the water will separate from the lard and settle down at the bottom. Skim the lard off the top of the water and then let it cool, but keep on agitating it or stirring it while it is cooling until it is thick like cream.

COATING BOLOGNA SAUSAGE IS NOT NECESSARY TO PREVENT MOULD

Query.—E. D. writes: I would like to ask you if you have anything to coat bologna with after making? I think it is called Gloss or Lustre; have seen it used, but have not been able to find out where to get it.

Answer.—What you refer to is Bologna Varnish. The use of such preparation has been practically discontinued as it does not conform to pure food laws; it is not proper that a varnish should be put on the outside of food of any kind. Bologna Varnish is made from shellac, and shellac is used in all kinds of furniture varnish, so you can readily see that it is not the proper thing to use on Bologna.

In former years, the use of varnish was quite general, but it was finally discontinued and is now practically a thing of the past. If you want to prevent your Bologna from getting moldy, you should make them as follows: First, cure the meat with Freeze-Em-Pickle as directed in our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making,” and add Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder to the meat, as this absorbs the moisture. Bologna made by the Freeze-Em-Pickle Process keeps fine and will not mold for a reasonable length of time.

MAKING SOAP FROM TALLOW

Query.—F. B. writes: We have a little meat business and quite often have on hand a surplus of tallow. Now we have been thinking probably we could put this into a soap, something cheap that would not cost us too much to put on the market. Can you kindly give us any information in the matter, and if the idea is a practical one for a small shop like ours?

Answer.—It would not pay you to undertake to make a hard soap in a small way, as it would be necessary for you to compete with other soaps on the market, and you are aware that laundry soap sells at a very low price and is put upon the market upon a very small margin of profit.

You would also find it quite a task to make hard soap, and the time required would hardly justify you to undertake it on a small scale. If you can dispose of soft soap in your locality, we would advise you to use your surplus tallow in that way, but, of course, this suggestion from a financial point of view would depend entirely upon whether there is a sufficient demand 220 for such an article in your vicinity.

Possibly you could work up a trade among private families and sell it to them for scrubbing purposes, also to hotels, stores, and restaurants, but as your town is small, you might have difficulty in disposing of a sufficient quantity to make it pay you. On the other hand, it would not cost you much to make the experiment.

You are surrounded by a good hog-feeding country, and it is possible that you could dispose of quite a quantity of soft soap to the farmers, as it is a very fine thing for hogs, and the truth of the matter is, their hogs would be much better off if they would feed it frequently. You might be benefited more by this suggestion than by sales from other sources.

The following is a recipe for making soft soap with potash: To 20 pounds of clear grease or tallow take 17 pounds of pure white potash. Buy the potash in as fine lumps as it can be procured, and place it in the bottom of the soap barrel, which must be water-tight and strongly hooped. Boil the grease and pour it boiling hot upon the potash; then add two large pailfuls of boiling hot water; dissolve 1 pound of borax in 2 quarts of boiling hot water and stir all together thoroughly.

Next morning add 2 pails of cold water and stir for half an hour; continue this process until a barrel containing thirty-six gallons is filled up. In a week or even less, it will be ready for use. The borax can be turned into grease while boiling, and also 1 pound of rosin. Soap made in this manner always comes, and is a first-rate article, and will last twice as long as that bought at a soap factory.

The grease must be tried out, free from scraps, ham rinds, bones, or any other debris; then the soap will be as thick as jelly, and almost as clear. To make soft soap hard put into a kettle four pailfuls of soft soap, and stir in it by degrees about one quart of common salt. Boil until all the water is separated from the curd, remove the fire from the kettle and draw off the water with a siphon (a yard or so of rubber hose will answer); then pour the soap into a wooden form in which muslin has been placed.

For this purpose, a wooden box, sufficiently large and tight, may be employed. When the soap is firm turn out to dry, cut into bars with a brass wire and let it harden. A little powdered rosin will assist the soap to harden and give it a yellow color. If the soft soap is very thin, more salt should be added.

Meat Curing Sausage Making links:

Meat Curing – Part 1
General Hints For Curing Meats – Part 2
Hints For Handling Of Meats – Part 3
Sausage Making – Part 4
Meat Curing Sausage Making Q&A (a) – Part 5
Meat Curing Sausage Making Q&A (b) – Part 6
Meat Curing Sausage Making Products – Part 7