CAUSE OF FAILURE IN CURING BACON

Query. — T. K. writes: "We have been having trouble with our bacon. We put it down in second-hand lard tierces which we got from the large bakers here. We thoroughly cleansed them with boiling water before using them, and have been careful to weigh everything and measure the water we made the brine out of. We used brown sugar, the same as we have always used previous to this time. Our bacon was thoroughly cooled out before it was salted, and was never frozen. After being put in the pickle,, we let it stand in the back part of the shop, where the temperature was often below freezing, but never cold en&ugh to freeze the meat in the brine. We repacked it by moving from one tierce to another, always putting the same brine on the meat. We usually let our bacon in the brine for six weeks, unless it is very heavy, then we let it in a longer time. We usually keep four tierces full, and by moving from one to another always have the last one ready to take out and smoke. We used just the com- mon barrel salt and have always had good results until now; in fact, this time the meat is perfectly sweet, but the fat of it is very dark colored, while heretofore it has always been nice and white. We do all our own killing. If you can tell us what we have done wrong, we would like to knoiv, as we are always trying to improve when- ever we can.''

Ans. — You have been very fortunate indeed to have escaped trouble if you have always cured your bacon as you explain. There are many things which you have done while curing which are likely to cause you serious trouble, and which should never be done in the future. You are lucky that some of the meat did not spoil completely. It is never advisable to use lard tierces for curing, as the the lard is run into the tierces while hot, and the fat naturally soaks into the wood. This fat in time becomes rancid, and is likely to con- taminate the brine and also the meat, even though you pcald out the tierces, you do not get the grease

out of the pores of the wood. It is always best and safest to use new tierces for curing purposes; in fact, there is great risk in using anything else. You should never use brown sugar for sweet pickle, but the very best grade of granulated sugar. Brown sugar is always more likely to contain foreign substances detrimental to the brine, and in most cases causes the brine to turn ropy, sometimes even causing it to ferment. The purest of sugar should always be used for sweet pickle. You have deviated from one of the greatest essentials to successful curing by not observing the most important of all requirements and that is an even temperature of about 38 degrees during the entire period of curing. You state that your meat was sometimes in a tem- perature below freezing point, but never cold enough to freeze the meat in the brine. Such a degree of temperature is enough to ruin your meat, as the curing room should never be allowed to go below 36 degrees. The moment you get the temperature below 36 degrees, the meat ceases tO) take on salt and will not cure; besides, it is likely to spoil in the brine. It is all right to cure heavy Breakfast Bacon six weeks, but bacon from light or small hogs will cure perfectly in twenty to twenty-five days. The meat, however, at a temperature below freezing point would not cure in six weeks or even in a much longer time. We, of course, understand that the temperature in your curing room was not always below the freezing point, but it should never be that cold.

We are going to send you free of charge our book, ''Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making/ ' and we will ask you to read carefully all we have to say on " General Hints for Curing Meats,7' which covers the entire process, including chilling, overhauling, pump- ing, packing, temperature, etc. You will also note that we advise against the use of molasses and syrup bar- rels, as they are liable to cause ropiness of the brine. Also note what we have to say in regard to the hand- ling of meat in curing, the chilling room, the condition of the meat, and the proper time to slaughter. If you will read carefully all we have to say in reference to curing in this book and will follow our methods and in- structions, you cannot fail to turn out the finest kind of mild cured sweet pickled meat, having a most de- licious flavor and a beautiful appearance. We ask you to make the trial and report results.

HOW TO TREAT PORK WHICH IS TOO SALTY.

Query. — F. B. writes: "We have about twenty barrels of pork that have become very salty in the brine. What would you do and how can we get the brine out?"

Ans. — Salt pork is usually put down in very strong brine, therefore it is perfectly proper that pickled pork should be very salty. If it is desired to store the pork for a long time, it should be left in the strong brine and in order to freshen it so that it will not be so salty, the pork should be washed in fresh water. It is best to handle one barrel at a time as it is to be sold or used in the market. The water in which the pork is soaked should be as cold as possible; in fact, it would do no harm to put a little ice in it. By allow- ing the pickled pork to soak in the fresh water, a great 1 deal of the salt will be drawn from the meat. The meat should be soaked twenty-four hours altogether, and during the daytime the water should be changed every six hours. After the meat has been soaked, it can be placed in a mild brine, which should not be over 40 degrees strength, but if the meat can be dis- posed of in a few days, it is not necessary to keep it in the brine at all. It will be sufficient to place it on a shelf in the ice box; at the end of three or four days, it might be necessary to wash it off with fresh water.

IMITATION BULL -MEAT -BRAND SAUSAGE BINDER.

QUERY.— G. H. F. writes : "We recently ordered from a jobber 50 Ibs. ot Freeze-Em Pickle and 100 Ibs. of Bull-Meat Sausage Bind- er. The Freeze-Em Pickle was not shipped but we received a barrel of what is claimed to be Bull-Meat Sausage Binder. We notice that the Bull-Meat Sausage Binder is not put up in the regular way. It is in a plain keg without any of your labels upon it. "We are suspicious about its genuineness. Do you ever ship Bull-Meat Sausage Binder in this way? As yet we have not opened the package to test it.

Ans. — You can rest assured that you have not re- ceived our goods and you should return them at once. We never pack goods of ours of any description except in our well known packages with labels on the outside and circulars inside. We never sell Bull-Meat-Brand Sausage Binder in any other manner than in red drums, which are familiar to you and the trade generally. These drums vary only in size, otherwise they are identical in every particular. They have our large label on the

. LJ. S.-FL.

head and our long label on the side, just as you see them illustrated in the cuts which you will find in our circulars and advertisements. You have received some substituted article which the shipper has sought to im- pose upon you with the hope that you would not ques- tion its genuineness. We leave to your own ideas of fairness as to just how such a firm should be regarded. Our goods are the first and genuine of their kind and have won great prestige among butchers all over the United States. Unscrupulous parties in trade seek to reap some advantage from our great reputation by substituting worthless preparations upon which they make a big profit. You should always be careful in ordering your goods to specify the article wanted and insist that the name of B. Heller & Co. shall be upon the package and that you will accept no other. Upon receiving the goods, you should always inspect the labels and see that they are ours. Do not be misled by similar names or packages resembling ours.

COMPLYING WITH FOOD LAWS IN CUR- ING MEATS.

Query. — F. K. writes: "We should like to have you inform us what we can use in our state for curing meat and at the same time keep within the restrictions of the law. They have prosecuted butchers all over the state of Pennsylvania for using preservatives of some kinds, and it leaves everyone in the meat business at a loss to know what to do. We can't keep meat or cure it without using preservatives of some kind. What would you advise us to do?"

Ans. — We manufacture a preparation known as Freeze-Em-Pickle, which can be used for curing pur- poses and fully keep within the requirements of all food laws, both state and National, as well as laws of foreign countries. This article can be used in all kinds of sausage, fresh or dried. We guarantee that the use of this article will not in any manner con- flict with the pure food laws of your state, and you are perfectly safe in using it. Its uses are so various that it would be impossible for us to give full direc- tions for using it within the limits of these columns, but we take pleasure in sending you a booklet which will give you all necessary instructions and much other valuable information.

KEEPING CURED MEATS IN CELLARS DURING SUMMER.

Query. — We 'have not enough cooler room to cure meat during the summer time, and we want to know if there is any way , we can keep cured meat in our cellar during June weather without it becoming too salty.

Ans. — Even if you cure the meat in the winter and keep the cooler at a proper temperature and then leave the meat in the brine during the summer, the brine will turn sour, or become ropy, or thick, and will spoil the meat. To store meat in brine, it is abso- lutely necessary to keep it at a very low temperature. In fact, it is necessary to have an ice machine to keep the temperature in the cooler or storage room as low as 30 degrees. You could get it as low as 28 degrees. The meat would not freeze, but by hav- ing the temperature so low, the meat would not take on any more salt. You seem to be of the opinion that if the pickle on the meat were reduced you could keep the meat in the brine and keep it in a warm tem- perature. That would be impossible. Of course, hav- ing the brine weaker, it would not cause the meat to become so salty, but nevertheless, the brine would spoil, and it would then spoil the meat. To store meat in brine it is absolutely necessary to have the proper facilities and that means an ice machine. Our advice is that you cure enough meat during the winter according to the Freeze-Em-Pickle process to carry you until the middle or end of May, and then about the first of May begin curing some more meat in your regular cooler where the temperature is low enough so that the meat will cure properly.