Pig Tongues.
—Various uses are made of this piece of meat. They are very extensively used in canning factories where they are put up and known as “lunch tongue”; they are also used in different kinds of sausage, and are put up to quite an extent in vinegar pickle. When handled in the latter manner the following suggestions are of practical value.
The tongues after being trimmed should be cured in a 75-degree plain salt pickle using three ounces of saltpetre to 100 pounds of tongue. After the tongues are fully cured, which will require from eight to twelve days, they are scalded, the outer surface of the tongue being scraped off. In some instances the scalding is done before the tongues are put in the pickle. Either way is proper. After being scraped and cleaned they are cooked as desired and afterward pickled in a white wine vinegar pickle of 45-degree strength. The following tests will show the cost of tongues packed in different sized packages, the cost being determined by the cost of meat and supplies at the time tests were made:
TEST ON 1,000 PIECES, OR 910 POUNDS PIG TONGUES.
| Debit: | |
| 910 pounds pig tongues, at 6¹⁄₄c per pound | $56.88 |
| Scraping at 15c per 100 pieces | 1.50 |
| Counting, cooking, etc., three hours at 18c per hour | .54 |
| Trimming at 5c per 100 pieces | .50 |
| Miscellaneous labor | .20 |
| Administrative expense, 47c per 100 on 560 pounds produced | 2.63 |
| Total | $62.25 |
| Credit: | |
| Green weight, 910 pounds; cooked weight, 560 pounds; shrinkage, 38 per cent. | |
| Trimming 112 pounds at 1¹⁄₂c | 1.68 |
| Net cost | $60.57 |
| Cost per pound, 10⁴⁄₅c; cost handling per cwt., including administrative expense, $0.665 per 100 pounds finished. | |
COST OF ONE BARREL PIG TONGUES PACKED AT 190 POUNDS NET.
| 190 pounds pig tongues at 10⁴⁄₅c per pound | $20.52 |
| One barrel | .78 |
| Packing, one-half hour at 17¹⁄₂c per hour | .09 |
| Pickle, ten gallons at 2¹⁄₂c per gallon | .25 |
| Coopering, one-sixth hour at 25c per hour | .04 |
| Spices, 2c | .02 |
| Miscellaneous labor | .03 |
| Total cost per barrel | $21.73 |
Formula for Export Hog Tongue Pickle.
—There is at times quite a demand for fresh pig tongues in Liverpool and other foreign points, in which case the trade demands that they arrive there without being salt-cured. The following formula will be found very valuable for this purpose and also point out how to carry tongues without salting them, when it is desired to do so: Use 116 pounds of boracic acid, fifty-eight pounds of borax, twenty-nine pounds of fine salt and seven and one-quarter pounds of saltpetre.
The method of mixing is as follows: The boracic acid and borax are put into a vat containing sixty gallons of water. The vat should be connected with steam supply so that it can be brought to the boiling point, cooking same slowly and stirring it well for half an hour. The salt and saltpetre is then added and should be stirred until thoroughly dissolved. After the solution has been allowed to cool, add sufficient cold water to give it a strength of 21 degrees by salometer test. Chill the solution to a temperature of 38° F. The tongues should be trimmed and thoroughly chilled, it being essential that they are in perfect condition. They should then be packed in a tierce, after which the tierce is filled with the preservative. Tongue should be shipped in refrigerator cars where the temperature is not allowed to go above 38° F.