b
We advise the cutting of the hind shank bone after the hog is dressed, so as to expose the marrow, as shown in cuts A and B. It is the best thing to do, as it helps to chill the marrow. The chunk of meat that is usually left on the hind foot, above and next to the knee, if cut loose around the knee, will be drawn to the ham, and when chilled, will remain on the ham instead of being on the hind foot, as shown in cut A. After the meat is cut, the bone can be sawed, in the same place where the hock would be cut from the ham later. See cut B. The hog will hang on the sinews the same as if the bone had not been sawed, except that the cut bone separates and exposes the marrow so it can be properly cooled. On heavy hogs this is quite a gain, as the chunk that would remain on the foot would be of little or no value there, but when left on the ham, sells for the regular ham prices.
FACING HAMS AND PULLING LEAF LARD IN A MODERN PACKING HOUSE. (Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden.)
The first two figures in the above cut show two men Facing Hams. The first man faces the Ham at his right hand side and the second man faces the Ham on his left hand side, as the Hogs pass by.
The advantage of Facing Hams right after the hogs are dressed, is this. The knife can be drawn through the skin and through the fat close to the meat, and the fat will peel right off the fleshy part of the Ham. Between the fat and lean meat of the Ham, between the legs, there is a fibrous membrane which is very soft and pliable. When the knife is run through the skin and fat, it will run along the side of this membrane, making a clean face for the Ham. That part remaining on the Ham will shrink to the Ham and will form a smooth coating over the lean meat, which closes the pores and makes the Ham look smooth and nice when it is smoked. It also makes a much smoother cut along the skin. The skin when cut warm will dry nicely and look smooth when cured, whereas if it is trimmed after the meat is chilled, it looks rough and ragged. Facing Hams also allows the escape of the animal heat more readily. If Hams are not faced until after the Hogs have been chilled, this fat must be trimmed off and the Hams will not look nearly so smooth as they will if this tissue and fat is removed while the hog is warm.
The second two men in the opposite illustration are Pulling Leaf Lard. The Leaf Lard should always be pulled out of the hogs in summer, as it gives the hogs, as well as the Leaf Lard, a better chance to chill. During the winter months it can be pulled loose, but can be left hanging loosely in the hog, from the top. In this way it will cool nicely, and it will also allow the animal heat to get out of the hog. Most of the large packing houses pull out the Leaf Lard in the winter as well as summer, and hang it on hooks in the chill room to chill. Leaf Lard that is properly chilled, with the animal heat all taken out of it, makes much finer lard than when pulled out of the hog and put into the rendering tank with the animal heat in it.
SPLITTING HOGS IN A MODERN PACKING HOUSE. (Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden.)
Splitting can be done in several different ways. Where the back of the hog is to be cut up for pork loins, the hog is simply split through the center of the backbone, so that one half of the backbone remains on each loin. Packers who wish to cut the sides into Short or Long Clears or Clear Bacon Backs run the knife down on both sides of the backbone, as close to the backbone as possible, cutting through the skin, fat and lean meat; then the hog should be split down on one side of the backbone. The backbone should remain on the one side until the hog is cut up and it can then easily be sawed off with a small saw. By cutting or scoring the back in this way for making boneless side meat, the sides will be smooth and there will not be much waste left on the bone as when the backbone is split and half of it left on each side and then is peeled out after the meat is chilled and is being cut up.