HOME-MADE DILL PICKLES
All butchers should put up home made pickles of all kinds and such relishes as horseradish and sauer kraut. Dill pickles are very popular and they are always salable in the butcher shop. They may be made as follows: Select large pickles of as near an even size as possible and soak in water over night; then wash them thoroughly. Next, take a barrel and put a layer of dill about one inch thick on the bottom of it, upon which place the pickles three layers deep. Over these pickles place another layer of dill and repeat the layer of pickles as in the first instance. Continue this operation of the layer of dill and then pickles until the barrel is as full as desired, leaving sufficient space for the brine. The brine should be made of the best quality of salt, using ½ lb. to each gallon of water. Brine thus made will make the natural soft home-cured dill pickles. After the brine has been placed over the pickles, place them in a cooler and let them ripen for about four weeks. The ripening process may be quickened about two weeks by leaving the pickles in a room of moderate temperature. Some prefer dill pickles hard and for such taste it is necessary to put a little alum in the brine. Pickles treated with alum must be labeled to show this. A piece about as big as an egg for a full barrel of pickles is the proper amount. Dissolve this in the brine. This will keep the pickles firm and hard. It will be found, however, that most tastes prefer the natural brine without the alum, as the soft pickle seems to have a more appetizing flavor. There is no appetizer more appreciated than the dill pickle and it comes nearer appealing to the general trade than most any relish that can be offered.
DRESS POULTRY IMMEDIATELY AFTER KILLING
HOW TO DRESS POULTRY.
(Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden.)
The Butcher who will make a specialty of dressed poultry will make a hit with his customers and good profit on sales if he will be careful to get his Chickens dressed decently, and to educate his customers to pay prices that will be commensurate with the quality of the meat offered. Very often it is almost an impossibility for the consumer to secure sweet, untainted Poultry Meat. Much of this trouble is owing to the fact that large shippers kill the Chickens, dry pick them or scald them, and the food that remains in the intestines ferments and taints the meat, with the result that the Chicken, when cooked, has an abominable taste.
When a Butcher is so situated that he can dress his own Chickens, and he would be fully justified in making all preparations in that direction, he ought to open, draw and wash out thoroughly every chicken as fast as it is killed, just as he would wash out Hogs, Calves or Sheep. Chickens that have been nicely drawn and washed immediately upon killing are always sweet in flavor, and the Butcher who will take the pains to offer such goods and to acquaint his customers of their quality can not only establish a large trade and a great reputation, but he can offer the public an article that is pure and sweet, and difficult to obtain. No doubt he could command the Chicken trade of any neighborhood by this means, down all competition, and obtain good prices for his Meat, as people would be willing to pay for the original weight of the chicken before drawing, and at the same time would be much better satisfied with what they get. If desired, the Butcher could weigh the chickens after they are dressed, tag and draw them, and then could say to his customers: “This Chicken weighed so much before it was drawn, but in order to retain the sweetness of the meat, we draw it as it ought to be drawn, wash it out, and sell it to you for just what it is worth.” A Butcher’s statement upon these points would not be doubted. Furthermore, the Butcher would not lose anything by this method, as Chickens shrink after they are dressed and kept two or three days before sold. The loss from this shrinkage is considerable. Therefore, the trouble and expense of drawing Chickens and handling them in the manner described would be fully repaid.
STICKY FLY PAPER.
STICKY FLY PAPER