—After properly cured in the salt pickle the feet should be cooked in a wooden vat (an iron vat discoloring them) provided with a false bottom about six inches above the bottom, so that the direct heat from the steam pipe does not come in contact with the feet. The water should be brought to a temperature of 200° to 206° F. and held at this temperature until the feet are sufficiently cooked. The water should never be brought to the boiling point, as the feet will become badly broken, which greatly injures their appearance.
After the feet are sufficiently cooked and thoroughly chilled in cold water, they should be put into a white wine vinegar pickle 45-degree strong, it being preferable to pack feet which are to be used at once in open vats in a refrigerated room held at a temperature of 38° to 40° F. Where feet are to be held for some months before using it is advisable to put them into barrels or tierces after filling the tierces with vinegar of 45-degree strength. The packages should be stored in a temperature 40° F. When held this way it will be found that the feet have absorbed a great deal of the vinegar and a very marked increase in weight is obtained. There should be a gain of from 10 to 15 per cent in weight at the end of three months.
Tests.
—Prepared pig’s feet at certain seasons of the year are difficult of sale and there are times when it pays better to tank them or use them for glue purposes. The following tests on rough uncleaned fore and hind feet will show the yield when tanked. Percentages in tests are correct. The prices are those ruling at the time tests were made:
TEST ON TANKED PIGS FEET.
| Total weight of front feet tanked 1,070 pounds cooked in tankfive hours at forty pounds pressure: | |
| Sixty pounds hock meat, 5.61 per cent, at 3c per pound | $ 1.80 |
| Prime steam lard, 138 pounds, 12.90 per cent, at $9.35 per cwt. | 12.90 |
| Tankage (dry basis), 125 pounds, 11.68 per cent, at $17.50 per ton | 1.09 |
| Total | $15.79 |
| Gross value, $1.47 per cwt. | |
| Weight hind feet to tank, 996 pounds, cooked in test tankfive hours, with forty pounds pressure: | |
| Prime steam lard, 163 pounds, 16.37 per cent, at $9.35 per cwt. | $15.24 |
| Tankage (dry basis), 13.76 per cent, at $17.50 per ton | 1.19 |
| Total | $16.43 |
| Gross value, $1.62 per cwt. | |
The following tests show costs, in detail, of pig’s feet put up in different sized packages, costs being figured at the regular Chicago market prices at the time these tests were made:
TEST ON 483 PIECES OR 500 POUNDS PIGS FORE FEET.