The following test will show the shrinkage of this product when smoked in the manner described above for canning purposes:
SHRINKAGE OF SMOKED DRIED BEEF HAMS.
| Packed | Wt. lbs. | Pct. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thirty-two tcs. beef hams, four months old, weight to smoke | 1,461 | pcs. | 12,542 | |
| Smoked weight | 1,461 | pcs. | 7,254 | |
| Shrinkage in smoking | 5,287 | |||
| Per cent shrinkage in smoking | 42.15 | |||
| Smoked eleven hours; temperature 112 degrees F.; hangingin house to dry, seventy-two hours. | ||||
Beef Trimmings.
—In the slaughtering of live stock in large numbers there is an accumulation of trimmings which has to be cured for the sausage room or canning department, as the case may be. The following formula will serve for the curing of beef, pork and sheep cheek meat and hearts, hanging tenderloins and other meats for sausage and canning purposes:
To 1,100 gallons of seventy-degree pickle dissolve seventy-nine pounds saltpetre. Use this pickle for the curing of beef cheek meat, pig snouts, pork cheek meat, sheep cheek meat, ox-lips, beef hearts, etc. This material is usually cured in vats and should be overhauled in five, fifteen and thirty days after being packed. If freezer space is available it is preferable to box it in convenient sizes and to freeze it, using it as a fresh product, when thawed.
Barreled Beef.
—Barreled beef, graded as [described], in a previous chapter, is usually packed in barrels, using a plain pickle fully saturated. It is cured in the packages with a pickle of the following formula, for plate beef, rump butts, briskets, clods, and all trimmings of a similar character:
To 1,500 gallons of 100-degree strength pickle add ninety-eight pounds of saltpetre. It will be found necessary to dissolve the saltpetre before putting it into the pickle. Store in a cellar at 38° F. temperature. Repack with capping salt at time of shipment if for long exposure.