Secrets of meat curing and sausage making / how to cure hams, shoulders, bacon, corned beef, etc., and how to make all kinds of sausage, etc. to comply with the pure food laws

by B. Heller & Co.

LARD NOT PURIFIED.

If Lard is made without taking out the impurities with water and our Lard Purifier, the Lard will become rancid if it is to be kept during the hot weather, and it will not be so sweet in flavor nor as clean and white as it is when treated with our Purifier according to the preceding directions. Our Lard Purifier neutralizes the free fatty acids in the Lard, thus to a considerable extent preventing rancidity and helps keep the Lard Sweet and Pure.

Lard made with our Lard Purifier according to the foregoing directions will comply with the regulations under the various Pure Food Laws.

COMPOUND LARD.
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In the Southern States, where the climate is warm, it is necessary to add either Tallow or Tallow Stearin or Lard Stearin to Lard, so as to stiffen it in order that it can be handled at all.

To make Compound Lard, first render the Lard and press out the cracklings as directed; then add from 10 to 20 per cent of either Tallow, Tallow Stearin or Lard Stearin and stir until it is all melted and thoroughly mixed with the Lard. The quantity of Tallow or Stearin to add depends upon the climate and season of the year, and also the price of the different materials.

After adding the above, purify the mixture, the same as directed for handling Pure Lard. However, Compound Lard must always be agitated until it is thick and cream-like before it is run into buckets. If one has no Lard Agitator, it must be stirred by hand until it is stiff and cool.

It is perfectly legal to add Tallow, Tallow Stearin or Lard Stearin to Lard for this purpose, but such Lard must be sold as Compound Lard. It cannot be sold as “Pure Lard” when these ingredients are added to it.

COTTON SEED OIL-LARD COMPOUNDS.
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For certain purposes Cotton Seed Oil added to Lard is preferred to straight Lard, and the Cotton Seed Oil is added after the Lard has been purified and is ready to put in the Agitator.

To make a really good Compound Lard, a Cooler with an Agitator is absolutely necessary, but if one hasn’t a cooler with Agitator, it can be done by stirring by hand continuously, so the Lard and Oil do not separate while cooling.

When Cotton Seed Oil is used, it must be Refined Cotton Seed Oil, and the more it is refined the better the compound will be. Lard should always be run through cheese cloth before putting it in the Lard Cooler, so as to take out any small particles of detached cracklings which may remain in the Lard.

The formula for making Compound Lard with Cotton Seed Oil varies according to the relative values of the ingredients and the quality of Compound desired. The usual Compounds found on the market, as sold at the present time under trade names, and which contain no Lard at all, are made of 80 per cent Cotton Seed Oil and 20 per cent Tallow Stearin. (Tallow Stearin is Tallow with the oil pressed out of it.) A small butcher can make this Compound by using 80 per cent Cotton Seed Oil and 20 per cent Rendered Tallow, which has previously been purified with B. Heller & Co.’s Lard Purifier.

If it is desired to make a better quality of Compound, use less Cotton Seed Oil and add sufficient Lard to bring the cost and quality to the desired degree.

All such Compounds must be sold as “Compound Lard” when Lard is added; but when no Lard is added, they must be sold as “Lard Substitutes.” These preparations are perfectly legal, and comply with the Pure Food Laws provided they are labeled and sold for what they are, but no one should make a Lard Compound or Imitation Lard and sell it for Pure Lard.

REFINING LARD WITH FULLER’S EARTH.

THE METHOD USED FOR REFINING LARD IN LARGE PACKING HOUSES.
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The large packers all refine Lard and Tallow with the Fuller’s Earth process, and for the benefit of the small packers, who would like to know how it is done, we will give the full directions, although a small packing house can hardly afford to put in a plant for the process, as it requires a man who is experienced to refine Lard and Tallow in this manner. If a packing house does not make enough Lard and Tallow to afford to keep a man especially for this purpose, it will not pay to put in a refinery, which consists of the following machinery: A Receiving Kettle, which is a large open tank with steam coils in it to dry the Lard or a large Jacket Kettle will do. A Clay Kettle, which is a tank with steam coils in it for heating the Lard and an air pipe at the bottom of it connected to an air compressor. A Lard Cooler with Agitator to cool and stir the Lard while it sets so as to have it thoroughly mixed. A Pump, Air Compressor and Filter Press. An ordinary size outfit will cost from $2,000 to $3,000.

First, the Lard, Tallow or Cotton Seed Oil, which is termed stock, is placed in the Clay Kettle. The Clay Kettle is simply an iron jacket with a coil in the bottom of it through which air is pumped. In this kettle, the Fuller’s Earth is added. To each and every 100 lbs. of stock, there is added from one to two lbs. of Fuller’s Earth; the quantity depending upon the grade of stock. Before the stock is treated a small test is made as follows. A small quantity is heated; in a part of it one per cent of clay is put, in another part 1½ per cent, and in another two per cent. Mix each lot thoroughly, put them into a funnel over filter paper and allow them to filter. By examining these samples, one can tell how much earth to use to the stock in the kettle. This must be done when the stock varies. Of course, when the Lard, Tallow, or Oil are running uniform, it is not necessary to make the test, but where the stock changes, it is always advisable to test before treating, for the reason that too much Fuller’s Earth put into the stock will give the Lard an objectionable flavor. Before stock of any kind can be treated with Fuller’s Earth, all the moisture must be out of it; Lard usually contains two to three per cent of moisture, and very often considerably more, so it must be heated in a Jacket Kettle until all the water is evaporated. If there is any water in the Lard, the Fuller’s Earth attacks the water first, and the Lard is not affected, because wet Fuller’s Earth has absolutely no effect upon Lard. When the Fuller’s Earth is added to Lard, it must be 155 degrees hot; Tallow must be 185 degrees hot, and Cotton Seed Oil 140 degrees hot. After the desired heat is obtained, regulate the steam so the temperature will remain stationary, turn on the air, and when it is blowing hard, put in the Fuller’s Earth and blow for about 20 minutes; then start the force pump and pump the stock through the Filter Press. If the stock is of fine quality and only a small percentage of Fuller’s Earth is used, it can be pumped directly into the Receiving Kettle, but if a large percentage of Fuller’s Earth is used, it is advisable to let the Lard run back into the Clay Kettle, and keep on letting it run through the filter and pumping it round until it is thoroughly clarified; then allow it to run into the Receiving Kettle.

If inferior stock is used, sometimes as much as four and five per cent of Fuller’s Earth is used to refine it, but it is not advisable to use that large amount as the clay gives off an odor which the stock sometimes absorbs. Always use the least amount of clay that good judgment indicates will do the work, and after pumping through the filter, if it is not as it should be add more clay and refilter it.

To make Compound Lard, treat the different stocks separately, run them in different tanks, and then mix them. After they have been put into the receiving tank or the mixing tank, it is advisable to mix them by blowing air into the bottom of the kettle in which are Lard, Tallow and Oil; this will mix even better than any process or method that we know of. The amount or kind of stock to be used depends upon the season of the year, and the kind and quantity of goods you wish to make. Equal parts of Tallow, Lard and Oil make a very good Compound. All the cloths for the Filter Press should be washed every day after using them as they must be kept perfectly clean; the cleaner the better.

After the Compound Lard has been thoroughly mixed it must be put into an Agitator and agitated until it is thick like cream before it is run off into buckets.

HOW TO RENDER TALLOW WHITE, ODORLESS, FLAKY AND SOFT, LIKE LARD IN TEXTURE
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It is an easy matter to render Tallow so it will have a very light color, in fact, will be almost white and at the same time flaky and soft like Lard, if the instructions which follow are carried out. When so rendered, the Tallow will sell at a good price, as it will be entirely free from a tallowy odor, and is an excellent thing for baking purposes. Tallow rendered according to these instructions can be mixed with Lard and it will even improve the Lard. But it must be sold for what it is.

Take Beef Suet and all the Beef Fat trimmed from steaks and other cuts, and run it through a Chopper, chopping it very fine. It will thus become soft and sticky so it can be rolled in small balls about one and one-half to two inches in diameter. While this is being done, fill Rendering Kettle half full of water, dissolving in the water about two ounces of Lard Purifier to every 100 lbs. of Tallow to be rendered and start it to boil. While the water is boiling the small balls of Tallow should be placed on top of the water until a sufficient number of balls have been thus put into the water to make a layer three or four inches deep, but not deeper. After the Tallow is rendered out of the balls, the heat should be turned off and the Tallow should be permitted to cool. Just as soon as the boiling has ceased, all the cracklings that are on the surface should be skimmed off, put into a press and pressed out. The Tallow that is on the surface should be skimmed off and put into buckets. Care should be taken that no water is taken out with the hot Tallow. The tallow which remains on the water can be left there until it is hard, when it can be taken off and melted if desired, and then run into buckets. The advantage in rendering Tallow in this manner is to prevent the Tallow from becoming too hot, and thus to keep it from turning dark; besides, the water and Lard Purifier purifies the Tallow and also draws out the tallowy odor.

Any butcher can build up a large trade on home-rendered tallow when it is prepared in this manner. In fact, his trade will like the Tallow so well that he will not be able to supply the demand. As a rule, the butcher sells his Tallow unrendered at a low price, but if he will render it himself and follow the above instructions carefully, he can sell the Tallow for at least 10 to 12 cents per pound, owing to the fact that Tallow rendered in this manner produces a very fine fat for cooking purposes. We believe it is much better than Lard.

NEAT’S FOOT OIL.
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Neat’s Foot Oil is made by simply boiling the feet of cattle in a water bath, in an open kettle. The oil will come out of the feet and float on the top of the water. After the oil has been cooked out of the feet, they should be skimmed out of the kettle. The oil should then be treated with our Lard Purifier, the same way as directed for treating Lard. Simply let the water and fat cool down to 200 degrees Fahrenheit or below, and to every 100 lbs. of oil add about four ounces of our Lard Purifier dissolved in a quart of water. Stir the water, Lard Purifier and Neat’s Foot Oil thoroughly, and then start up the fire and bring it to a boil. Skim off any foam and impurities that may come to the surface and then stop the fire and allow it to settle about two hours; then skim the oil off of the top of the water and you will have genuine, sweet and refined Neat’s Foot Oil.