PIG KILLING AND CURING

New Zealand Mail, 22 January 1902, Page 57

PIG KILLING AND CURING

The following is a description of (he *vstem of killing and curing so successfnlJv carried out by Mr George Daley, ‘ ho has charge of the college piggeries at Hankesbury, New South Wales:— KILLING. The slaughterman turns the pig on its back, taking care not to bruise it in any ivay he then stands over it with o: e foot on each side of its shoulder. His assistant pulls back the fore feet; clie slaughterman then places one hand, on the bottom of the pig’s jaw, and with the other hand he takes his knife and quickly makes an incision in the pig’s throat from the brisket downwards; then thrusts the knife in again at the end of the cut nearest the jaw with the edge turned slightly upwards, and runs it back to the brisket, giving the blade a sharp twist in order to cut through the jugular vein, taking care not to cut through the heart, as pigs generally bleed better if this is left untouched. Providing the sticking is properly done the pig will bleed rapidly and suffer little pain. This is a very important point, as unless the rig bleeds freely the meat will not cure well. SCALDING. When pigs are killed on a large such as at bacon factories, the .vater for scalding is kept at a tcniperat ire of from 165 degrees to 180 degrees Fahr., but where only a few pigs are being treated a safe scald is three buckets of boiling water to one of cold. The pig is plunged into the scalding water and left there for about a minute, when the hair will readily leave the skin; the pig is taken out and the hair rapidly scraped off. Should any hairs remain after scraping, they are then shaved off with a sharp knife. The caicase is then scrubbed with a scud, using plenty of clean, cold water. After it has been thoroughly cleaned the hind legs are cut below the gambrel joint, so that both main cords may be reached, under which the gambrel should be inserted. The pig is then hung up and the intestines removed, placing a piece of wood in the mouth to keep the jaws open and ailow the blood to run out. After this the inside of the carcase is thoroughly cleansed, and it is then hung in a cool place until the meat is Arm enough for cutting up. CUTTING UP.

The trotters from the fore legs are first removed, and the head is then cut ofi with a knife, starting from where the pig was stuck and continuing round the small part of the neck, and aiming at leaving as much meat on the sides as possible. After the neck is cut round the head and the body are turned round in opposite directions, and the head then comes off cpiite readily. The knife is then run down each side of the backbone on the inside of the pig, and tne fat removed, so that it will'be out of tho way of the saw when cutting cut the backbone. Next the knife is drawn down, the back on each side of the backbone. starting at each side of the tail and finishing at the neck. The coupling bone is then sawn through on the inside of tho pig between the two hams. Then the backbone is cut out by sawing -lown through the ribs on each side as closely as possible to the backbone, taking care to turn the blade of the saw slightly below the last rib so as to cut the neckbone clean out. The two sides are then placed on the table, and the Sidney fat is removed by first running the point of the knife round between the fat and where the diaphragm had been cut out. and then the fingers are inserted between the fat and the meat, and the whole piece is pulled out towards 1 he ham. This fat supplies the best quality lard. The meat which lies on the inside of the back-bone from the loins back to the knuckle-bone of the ham is then cut out. This piece of meat is of no value for salting, and is coarse and stringy, but when fresh, if baked or fried, it makes an excellent dish. In curing the oil in the knuckle-bone of the ham often causes trouble, and some cura-s take the bone out. This, however, spoils the ham for market purposes, and a better plan is to make a cut mto tho bone with the point of the knife and allow’ the joint oil to run out; this generally prevents any trouble, the trotters are then cut off the hams, and tne sides stacked on either a brick or cement, floor. When stacking the fleshy portions are peppered all over with saltpetre; this removes any blood that may have been left on the meat, and gives the flesh a nice pinky appearance. 1 dry curing. dpfil f ry c : uri, f> tho b acon is rubbed daily f or luno days. For the first day’s rubbing coarse salt, with a small quantity of saltpetre is used. For five piss St'",n!] frO f n m 30 i t rr l4 ° lb - ifc takes ab °, ut u b Black Horse br and Liverpod salt and 10gr. of saltpetre. For Clght days a mixture of equal On S Al gar . and salt i s used, til tlia rS u day the sides are rubbed un-

’ The salt and sugar mixture is used for ' imparting flavour as well as for curing. After the rubbing is finished the meat °s stacked in a tank or vat, first putting a thin layer of salt on the bottom; a thin layer of sides is put oil this with the rind downwards, then another layer is crossed on this, and so on until all the bacon lias been put in the tank. It is then turned every day for a week, the sides which are at the top to-day being at the bottom to-morrow, and so on. This allows the pickle which is made during the curing to be well distributed over all the sides. After the first week it is turned every other day for from two to three weeks, varying it according to the size of the pigs. It is then ready for washing, drying, trimming and smoking. BRINE CURING. I Two pounds of Black Horse brand j , Liverpool salt is dissolved in every gal- j lon of water. This liquid is then strong j enough to float an egg or a potato. To | every gallon of the liquid the following : is added:—4lb brown sugar, 2oz salt- i petre, 2oz sal prunella, -’lb allspice; and to every 50 gallons added lib ground pepper corns. The allspice is sown in a cotton bag to prevent it from mixing with the pickle. The pickle is boiled for an hour, and is ready for use as soon as it is cold. The pickle can be kept in constant use if it is boiled every two months and replenished with spice, sugar, etc., to rise to the surface, when such matters can be easily skimmed off. Pickle properly looked after becomes stronger and more valuable with age, and will last a long time. The pork must be cold, er it will not take the salt properly. The colder the flesh the easier it is to cure, proving the advantages of a refrigerator. Pump pickle into the shoulders and hams—from two to four injections in the shoulder, and two to three in the hams, according to their size. Three tanks or tubs are ' necessary. Those at the college aie i built of brick and cemented. Have bacon j tank No. 1 empty. Cover bottom of i tank with a thin layer of salt, then | place a layer of bacon, taking care, should any of the sides overlie each other, to put a sprinkling of salt be- | tween. Sprinkle salt all over the-pork and also sprinkle very lightly with saltpetre ; then pack another layer of bacon crossways on the first, and so on until all the bacon is in the tank. When packing the tank, keep every layer as nearly level as possible. Batten the 1 meat firmly down, and cover the whole with pickle. If using new pickle, add lib of brown sugar to every 10 sides, dissolving it in pickie before use. Miss one whole day before turning the bacon into No. 2 tank, viz::—Bacon put into No. 1 ; tank on Monday should be turned into j No. 2 tank on Wednesday, and into ! No. 3 on Friday. The bacon will then 1 be ready to take out of pickle on Mon- ! day, giving it seven days in tanks. Use i saltpetre in No. 1 tank only. j STACKING. I Mark off part of the floor for stacking j the bacon upon as it conies from the i tanks. Cover the space with salt; then j put a layer of bacon, covering it with a j light coat of salt; then another layer of i bacon, crosswise to the first, and so on, taking care to have layers level, and as ! much presure on the pumped parts as | possible. For the first fortnight turn the stacks twice a week, and once a week for the other two or three weeks, j The bacon can then be washed and cured or hung up in the green state (unwashed) until required. HAMS, WHEN CUT FROM THE SIDE. Keep tanks and pickle for hams only. Follow instructions as given for bacon, with the addition of nibbing the face of every liam with brown sugar before cov- | ering with salt and saltpetre. After i seven days take hams out of tanks and rub brown sugar over their faces; place j them singly in rows, resting on a sup- | port to keep them level; then salt. | For this purpose a room should be set apart, and drained into a small well in 1 the floor, as the pickle that comes from : the ham is worth keeping. Leave the j hams in the sugar room one week. Go round them every morning, and cover any bare patches with salt and sugar. Take the hams from the sugar room, brush them with a dandy brush to remove any slime that may have appeared on them, and stack them two deep in salt. The third week stack them three, and the fourth week four deep. After the fourth week build them into a square stack, and turn it every week for four weeks, giving the hams a good pressing. When washed and soft, they can easily bo hatted into shape. The hams are now ready for washing and smoking. Use ham pickle for i pumping. WASHING. After the bacon is cured it is placed in water just warn enough to bear one’s hands in, and is then brushed over with a dandy brush, which removes all fat, sugar, slime, etc., from the surface. It is then placed in a tank or vat, and covered with clean, cold water, in which it is allowed to remain for from eighteen to twenty-four hours. This takes a lot of the salt out, and renders it a mild cured bacon. DRYING. The bacon is next hung up in a well ventilated room to dry. If the weather is favourable, i.e., if the days are fane and dry, with a slight breeze of wind during the greater part of the time, the

bacon is generally sufficiently dry in from six to seven days. TRIMMING AND POLISHING.

In trimming the bacon, the sharp pouits of the rib bones are sawn off, and the remaining part of the foreleg also sawn off level with the shoulder. # 6 , then run over the belly part ot the rib bones and any loose pieces removed. The sweat skin is scraped off with a sharp knife, and the side 1S then rubbed over with a little olive oil, which gives it a nice glossy appearance. SMOKING. The bacon is then placed in the smoke house. The fireplace is outside the smoke house, and the smoke is conveyed through a flue to the interior. This allows of the bacon being smoked in a cool state, which is, of course, a great advantage. Native apple tree and 'hard'll ood sawdust, also damp corncobs, are used, and they are generally considered to somewhat improve the flavour of the bacon. From four to five days’ smoking is given, care being taken not to smoke too much, as this greatly affects the flavour.”