NEW METHOD OF DRYING MEATS

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 38, 15 February 1919, Page 14

NEW METHOD OF DRYING MEATS

ANNOUNCED BY COLUMBIA

SCIENTIST.

Dr. Arthur H^ M'Kee, professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University, announced in December that he and his.staff had evolved a drying process for mftats and fish that they thought was superior to any other, and would cause a great saving of shipping space and refrigeration, without' deterioration in food value. So little change in the flavour and food content of the dehydrated meat was caused, Dr. M'Kee said, that Columbia faculty members and soldiers were unable to detect any difference from fresh meat.

Uee of the method by the army would require only one-twelfth of the shipping space used at present, Dr. M'Kee said, making unnecessary the use of brine, refrigeration, or any other means of preservation. Bone, waste fat, and connective tissue are removed from the meat or fish, and it is then cut into cubes or steaks, placed in a vacuum enclosure, and subjected to a long period of drying at low temperature. He said no other treatment was necessary. "For many years attempts have been made to dry meats by methods used in drying vegetables," said Dr. M'Kee. "The product obtained, however, emerged with* the protein coagulated, and was far from palatable. By this new process meats and fish return to their fresh state when water is added: There is no chemical change in the food except that all water is removed, and the meat is sterile or free:of putrifying germs, so that it can be kept indefinitely. "This dried meat could be shipped in burlap sacks or packages with a saving of tin containers, and itwould remain in perfect'condition for months. Addition of water restores the meat or fish to a state of freshness, so that.it is impossible to tell the difference when it is used in hash, stews, or other dishes that .do not require large pieces of meat. Of course, it is not possible to treat a roast in this way so that it will be preserved, but it is possible to preserve smaller pieces, some as large as steaks, so that they may be used months later. The cost is small, not more than refrigeration, and I think the process will lower the cost of meats in the ordinary household where roasts and choice cuts are not desired. It would be of particular use in relief work in Europe, where large cuts of meat are not demanded. The chief quality is the saving of valuable shipping space. "Major Murlin, of the Army Sanitary Corps, who investigated the process for the Army, agreed that it would be useful in saving shipping space, with the armies, and under his direction about 300 pounds of the' dehydrated meat was served at Fort Oglethorpe in experiments. The meat was kept in its original packages for weeks before it was served."

lixperimenti in dehydrating meat for the armies were begun more than" a year ago in the Harriman Laboratories at the Roosevelt Hospital by Drs. K. G. Falk and E. M. Frank&l, and were taken to the Columbia laboratories so that'the investigators might have additional facilities. Dr. Falk is a graduate of the university, and was an instructor there. Dr. Frankel is a graduate of City College, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale, and is now assisting Dr. M'Kee at Columbia.