IMPROVED MODE OF PRESERVING MEAT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 236, 22 September 1862, Page 6

IMPROVED M ODE OF PRESERVING MEAT.

(From the Sydney Morning Herald.)

A new application of an old discovery in the preservation of meat has recently been made, and promises' to open up an important source of industry and export.. We refer to the preparation of jerked meat, called in South America by ...the Indian terni "charqui," a name which it is proposed to apply to the article in this country. The drying of meat for the purpose d£ preserving it is sometimes resorted to on the stations in the interior, where salt is not procurable; but it does not appear .to have been hitherto carried on in this colony for* either colonial or export trade

The preparations of charqui has during the last few weeks been very successfully carried on by Mr. Edward Blaxland, at Mr. Atkinson's abattoirs at Collingwood, near Liverpool. The process is an extremely simple one. The beef is cut \ip into thin slices, which are then | hungup and dried in the sun ; afterwards they are subjected to a high degree of artificial heat in a room which is heated by flues, the meat being placed upon grating for purposes of cleanliness. Most of the charqui prepared by Mr. Blaxland has, after being dries in strips, "been again cut into pieces of the size of nuts, iin order to ensure perfect dryness, as in the j event of any piece being soft it would get putrid and taint the rest of the meat. When cut up small and thoroughly dried, the appearance I of the charqui resembles that of parched beans. The taste and sraell are by no means disagreeable. The action of the sun upon the abumen has the effect of caking the meat, and the surface being glazed and hard prevents flies from blowing upon it.

At present the meat is cut up by hand, and a man can only dispose of four bullocks a day. A machine is, however, being made under Mr. Blaxland's instructions, by Messrs. Chapman, of George-street south, which will, it is calculated, cut up twenty bullocks a day. This apparatus will be provided with three sets of knives, which are to cut in different directions, so as to turn out the meat as a chaffcutter does the chaff, dividing it into cubes about half an inch square. The meat will then pas 3 into revolving cylinders placed in a hot air room, the temperature of which is to be kept up to about 110 degrees, in order to expel the moisture from the meat, and to thoroughly bake it. A patent for the machine has been applied for by Mr. Blaxland, and will probably be granted.

The advantage which charqui or dried meat possesses over salted meat is, that one pound carries in bulk the weight and nutrition of four pounds. It has been proved by experiment that the effect of the drying process upon meat is to concentrate the nutrition of four pounds into one. The watery particles are expelled, leaving the albumen and the animal juice in a solid form. It is far more palatable than salt meat, and is particularly adapted for long voyages, as its use would prevent scurvy, and as, moreover, it can be compressed into a very small space. In cases where the charqui could not be cooked, it might be eaten raw, and indeed with considerable relish. gg The pemmican prepared by the order of the Admiralty for the use of the Arctic expeditions was somewhat similar to charqui. It is described in " M'Clintock's Narrative of his Voyage" as prime beef cut into thin slices, and dried over a wood fire, then pounded up and mixed with about an equal weight of melted fat. The pemmican is then pressed into cases capable of containing forty-two pounds each.

The adoption of the above process is owhi" to suggestions made by Mr. Ledger, whose long residence in Sonth America rendered him familiar with the extensive use of charqui throughout that continent. The circumstance of large quantities of charqui being constantly sent westward round Cape Horn from Buenos Ayres to Chili, as well as to Havannah and the Brazils, convinced Mr. Ledger that the article might be advantageously produced here, especially when he considered that cattle were fully twenty-five per cent, dearer in the Argentine Provinces than they arc in this colony, and also that, while £Ji per ton was paid for the freight of the article round Cape Horn, vessels leaving this port would take it for a nominal freight. Mr. Ledger is confident that the dried meat might be profitably exported from this colony to the West Coast, and that a contract could at once be got for 10,000 quintals of it. It is his intention to take several boxes of the charqui with him on his visit to South America, and to send samples to the principal mercantile houses in Peru and Bolivia. He also believes that when the valuable properties of charqui have been tested and appreciated, a large and lucrative trade will be carried on with China and other eastern countries.

Shortly before his departure from Sydney, Commodore Seymour visited the meat preserving establishment at Collingwood, and paid much attention to the preparation of charqui. At his request, Mr. Blaxland supplied the Pelorua with about three hundredweight of the meat, a part of which the Commodore stated he would try on the voyage to see how it was liked by the crew, and the rest he I would take to England, and bring it under the I notice of the Admiralty. Several other gentlemen have paid visits to Liverpool for the purpose of inspecting the new preparation, and of tasting it as served up in the South Ameri can style, and-they have pronounced to be not only palatable but delicious. Hitherto the process has been carried on chiefly by way of experiment, but a demand is springing up fbr the charqui, principally for cpnsumption at the diggings, and the production now amounts to about a ton per week. The article can be sold for ninepence per pound, a moderate price when it is considered that one pound of charqui has the nutriment of four pounds of salt meat. The price of cattle maybe averaged at £3 lOs.per head, and each animal will produce about ISOpounds :of charqui, besides eighty pounds of .tallow. Estimating the tallow to be worth 3sd per pound, and the hide and other parts to fetch 15s. 6d., the value of an animal thus disposed of would amount to £7 11 s., proving the production to be a far more profitable one than that to which cattle are at present applied. 'A gentleman of very extensive mercantile experience in Sydney has ventured the opinion ; that the production of charqui will, before 'long, be second only to wool in importance, 'and that it will have the effect of adding £2 ;per head to the value of horned cattle.

Death of an Infant from Repletion.-—Yes-terday Mr. H. Raffles Walthew, the deputy coroner ,for .bast Middlesex; resumed an adjourned inquiry at the "William the Fourth, West-street, Mile-end Old; Town, on view of the body of Emma Wood, aged one year and nine months, who died from eating a;larj»e quantity of beefcteak pudding", under the following circumstances: It appeared from the evidence that the mother, about ten days since, Rave the deceased some beefsteak pudding for breakfast, although of such'a tender, age, and shortly afterwards she was seized with illness. The medical gentleman called in, found—the-deoeased -in- great pain. The stomachy was distended, and death soon took place. Jle had since made alpost mortem examination of the body, and had found in the stomach about eight ounces of beefsteak pudding.; :,He had measured some of the pieces of meat, and found them one inch and a half foJength.; .The meat was in an undigested condition, and had ia his opinion produced death through inflammation of the: stomach. The deceased was in a weaklycpndition, and such a quantity of meat and pudding was npt fit even for an adult person, at breakfast. .The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the opinion of the medical gen.tiemen.--<7tofo\