Curing (food)

“ No drug, chemical, or coloring matter shall be used in any process of curing any meats, except as provided in Regulation 39. All pickling fluids and other solutions or substances used in curing meats must be clean. At the time that cured meats are packed for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce they shall be inspected by a Department employee, and any pieces or portions of such meats which are found to have undergone changes which render them unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food, shall be condemned and disposed of as provided in Regulation 18. ”

“ All parts of the pork carcass can be cured. The hams, shoulders, and bellies are usually cured. Although the loin can be cured, it is generally used fresh as chops or roasts.
The ingredients used in curing are salt, sugar, and sodium nitrate or nitrite. Salt is the preserving agent; nitrates (dry cure only) and nitrites are added for color and flavor development, but are also preserving agents. Sugar is used to counteract the harshness of salt. Commercial cures are available with some added spices and flavorings to give a characteristic flavor, aroma, or appearance. ”

“ Brown sugar is always more likely to contain foreign substances detrimental to the brine, and in most cases causes the brine to turn ropy, sometimes even causing it to ferment. The purest of sugar should always be used for sweet pickle. You have deviated from one of the greatest essentials to successful curing by not observing the most important of all requirements and that is an even temperature of about 38 degrees during the entire period of curing. You state that your meat was sometimes in a temperature below freezing point, but never cold enough to freeze the meat in the brine. ”

“ On most farms it is impossible to secure a desirable place in which to do the dry-curing as the meat is exposed to rats, cats, flies and other insects. The dry-curing requires considerable time to rub and salt the meat at different times while the only attention that is necessary for brine-curing is to properly prepare and pack the meat in the vessel and prepare the brine for it. ”

“ When Freeze-Em-Pickle is dissolved in water with the proper quantity of sugar and salt, the brine will be decidedly sweet and of the proper specific gravity to properly cure Hams, Bacon, Shoulders, Corned Beef, Dried Beef, etc., with a Delicious Flavor, without loss from spoiling. The meat will not be too Salty, but will have that Peculiar Sugar-Cured Flavor which is so much liked. By the use of the Freeze-Em-Pickle Process anyone can make fine cured meats, whether or not they have ever had any previous experience in the curing or handling of meats. ”

“ It is never advisable to use lard tierces for curing, as the lard is run into the tierces while hot, and the fat naturally soaks into the wood. This fat in time becomes rancid, and is likely to contaminate the brine and also the meat, even though you scald out the tierces, you do not get the grease 235 out of the pores of the wood. It is always best and safest to use new tierces for curing purposes; in fact, there is great risk in using anything else. You should never use brown sugar for sweet pickle, but the very best grade of granulated sugar. ”

“ Such methods of preparation, naturally, should never be of general use, because in cured meats the consumer demands the flavor which naturally proceeds from the ordinary method of curing. After curing and when subjected to transportation the meats may undergo decomposition and reach their destination in a spoiled state. To avoid this it has been a customary practice to pack the meat in a chemical preservative, such as borax. ”

“ This grade of sugar is on the market and is used for preserving fruits, and is the best kind of sugar to use for curing meats.
If brine has become ropy in a curing package and it is desired to use that package again, it is absolutely necessary to thoroughly scald out such package, and it is well to use Ozo Washing Powder for that purpose so as to prevent the possibility of fermentation. Otherwise, the unclean package will cause the fresh brine to turn “Ropy” even though it is made with the right kind of sugar and kept in the proper temperature. ”

“ It is hard to determine which is of the greater importance, good rennet or properly constructed curing-rooms; for both are necessary to the production of the best cheese, while the want of either is sure to injure if not to spoil it. The importance of controlling the temperature in curing has not yet taken hold of the popular mind. The best milk in the world may be spoiled by bad rennet, and the best curd in the world may be spoiled by a bad curing-room. ”

“ Warm carcasses of meat should never be put into a cooler where meat is being cured in open vats, as the cold pickle will absorb the impure animal heat, and odors which these carcasses give off. Never allow sour pickle of any kind to remain in the curing room, as cold brine or water will absorb all foreign odors. ”

“ Where the pieces of meat press tightly against each other, or against the tierce, the brine does not act on the meat; but if the 107 pieces of meat are rubbed properly with the mixture of Freeze-Em-Pickle, Sugar and Salt before being packed in the tierce, such surfaces will be acted upon by the undissolved mixture, so that the curing will be uniform and no portion of the pieces will be left insufficiently cured, even if the brine does not come in contact with it. ”

“ Federal meat inspection regulations state that the salt (cure) equalization period for hams and picnics is usually less than about 40 days or 3 days per pound of product (fresh weight) . Bellies are commonly cured about 7 days per inch of thickness.
The curing pork should be stored in a refrigerated place where a constant temperature between 36° F and 42° F is maintained. Bacteria grow rapidly in unsalted meat when the temperature rises above 50° F.
After curing, soaking the meat will improve its quality and appearance. ”

“ While the curing of course requires careful attention, yet, if the chilling is not done properly, the curing will never be perfect.
The floors of coolers should always be kept sprinkled with clean sawdust, as this will absorb drippings and assist in keeping the cooler clean and sweet. If the drippings from hogs are allowed to fall on the bare floor, the cooler will soon become sour and this will affect the meat that hangs over it. ”

“ It should always be remembered that if meat is put into brine soft and spongy, it will become pickle-soaked and in such condition will never cure properly. It will come out of the brine soft and spongy, and will often sour when in the smoke house. A great deal of meat spoils in curing only for the reason that the animal heat has not been removed before the meat is packed and placed in brine. When the animal heat is all out of the meat, the meat will be firm and solid all the way through. ”

“ We do all our own killing. If you can tell us what we have done wrong, we would like to know, as we are always trying to improve whenever we can.”
Ans.—You have been very fortunate indeed to have escaped trouble if you have always cured your bacon as you explain. There are many things which you have done while curing which are likely to cause you serious trouble, and which should never be done in the future. You are lucky that some of the meat did not spoil completely. ”

“ By packing cured meat in tins and subjecting these tins to sterilization complete immunity from decay may be secured and there is no damage done to the aroma or flavor. We, therefore, find upon the market at the present time in tinned, canned, or potted form almost every variety of meat that is used either in a fresh state or after the usual method of curing. ”

“ With a low and even temperature for curing, we do not need to work all the goodness out of the curd to make a firm cheese. We do not have to cut the fats and phosphates out with acid, nor to dry all the moisture out by fine cutting and high scalding or long scalding. We can stop the cooking when the curd is evenly cooked through so as to be springy when pressed together by the hands, take it out of the whey before the acid develops, and put it to press without unnecessary delay. ”

“ The brine was seventy degrees strength, according to the pickle-tester. I did not use either sugar or molasses in the brine. The curing is a failure. Will you please give me all the information you can?
Ans.—Your questions are their own answers. It is impossible to cure Corned Beef or any other kind of meat in a room where the temperature is as high as 60 degrees. It should not be higher than 45 degrees, and 40 degrees will be much better.
We refer you to our directions for curing Corned Beef in our book, “Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making.” ”

“ Some which when raw are quite poisonous can, by skillful boiling, be transformed into our most nutritious and easily digested food; yet the attempt to cook them is too often made in such a careless and reckless way that, although whatever poison they contain when raw is dispelled, the mode of cooking makes them about as injurious to the health as the poison could have been,—half raw or overcooked till they are clammy or sodden, or cooked with salt and fat meat until their whole nature seems changed,—requiring a stomach like that of an ostrich to digest them. ”

“ The brine in which hams have been cured can be used a second time for curing breakfast bacon, and the breakfast bacon will be even better than if put into fresh brine. As your vats are large, the meat will pack very tight on the bottom, and we wish to caution you to be sure and overhaul your meat promptly five days after it is packed and continue overhauling as per directions in our book on curing meats and making sausage. If you follow these directions you will not have any ropy brine or any spoiled meat, but all your meat will come out uniform and will have the proper flavor. ”

“ During the process of curing, especially if the curing be at a high temperature, [212] the number of organisms decreases. At first the decrease is very rapid and then becomes slower as the cheese becomes riper. The decrease in the number of bacteria when the temperature of curing is raised is somewhat contrary to expectations. It has been found that when a cheese is taken from cold storage, say at 24 degrees F., and placed in a temperature of 60 degrees F., the decline in the number of bacteria is always greater than when the cheese is retained at the lower temperature. ”

“ The curing process enhances meat flavor and improves shelf life by retarding bacterial growth. Salt and nitrites inhibit bacterial growth and enhance flavor and color; sugar counteracts the hardening effect of salt and also enhances flavor. Beef is generally cured by making corned beef or dried beef using the above-mentioned ingredients.
Corned Beef
Corned beef is generally made from cuts of the round, brisket, plate, or chuck. ”

“ Sterilization is such a certain method of preventing the decay of meats that it has now come into use to a large extent in the final preservation of shipments of cured meats. The object of curing, as has already been stated, is not merely to prevent the meat from decaying, nor is it intended to inhibit entirely enzymic action. ”

“ They find no difficulty in curing their meat even in mid-summer, by slicing it thin, and spreading or suspending it in the sun; or, if in haste, it is slightly barbecued. During the curing operation, they often follow the Indian practice of beating the slices of meat with their feet, which they say contributes to its preservation. ”

“ Increased attention needs to be given by cheese-makers to this matter of curing cheese. Cheese factories should be provided with suitable curing rooms, where a uniform temperature of the required degree can be maintained, together with a suitable degree of moisture and sufficient supply of fresh air. The expense required to provide a suitable curing room would be small compared to the increased value of the cheese product thereby secured. Small dairymen and farmers, having only a few cows, labor under some difficulties in the way of providing suitable curing room for their cheese. ”

“ This was a very serious adulterant from the view point of the sweet pickle curing of meat, as glucose tends to ferment in brine very quickly and consequently the brine would become ropy and slimy within a very short time. This resulted in sour and soggy hams, bacon, etc., so that the purchase of cheap sugar containing impurities was never a saving, but proved very costly to the manufacturer who was persuaded to purchase low grade sugar.
It has been a common practice with some butchers in preparing sweet pickle to use molasses or syrup. This method we strongly urge our friends not to adopt. ”

“ The even greater culpability of raw milk is due to the fact that milk is not only, like meat, sometimes obtained from an infected animal, but that it is a particularly good culture medium for bacteria, and in the process of collection or distribution may become infected through the agency of a human carrier. Foods such as ice-cream that are prepared with milk are also often connected with food poisoning. It seems probable that illness caused by ice-cream is much more commonly due to bacterial infection than to poisoning with metals or flavoring extracts. ”

“ PREVENTING CANNED FOODS FROM SPOILING.--From what has just been said, it will be seen that the success of canning depends entirely on destroying harmful micro-organisms that are present in the food and preventing those present in the air from entering the jars in which the food is placed.
Some foods are more difficult to keep than others, because bacteria act on them more readily and the foods themselves contain nothing that prevents their growth. Among such foods are meat, fish, peas, corn, beans, and meat soups. ”