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Vinegar, Pickles, and Pickling: Meat

To Sweeten Tainted Meat.-Apply a solution of chloride of soda by means of a soft clean brush or sponge. With this quickly wash over the tainted portions and rinse immediately with fresh water. Afterwards broil or roast the meat so as to expose the tainted portions to a high temperature and char them with the heat. Or if they are to be boiled, place half a dozen lumps of charcoal, the size of an egg, in the water.

Or place a quantity of pulverized charcoal in a cheese-cloth bag, and place these in the kettle. All odors will be absorbed by the charcoal and the meat will be sweet and clean.

Or hang the meat on a nail in a box, or suspended inside of an inverted barrel. Place beneath half a teacupful of table salt in an earthenware bowl and add by degrees 2 ounces of sulphuric acid at the rate of ounce each 15 or 20 minutes, until all has been added. The resulting fumes will disinfect anything with which they come in contact. But care must be taken not to breathe them. Afterwards rinse the meat well with a solution of 1 tablespoonful of baking soda or borax to a gallon of water, To Keep Frozen Meat. - In cold climates and in winter, meat may be preserved indefinitely by allowing it to freeze. But it must not be permitted to freeze and thaw frequently, and must not be thawed out too quickly when required for use. To preserve meat by freezing, first expose it to the weather until thoroughly frozen through and through. Wrap in waxed paper or cover with a cloth coated with shellac or other varnish and pack in an ordinary flour barrel between layers of hay, straw, or excelsior, pressing the whole as tightly and solidly as possible. Place the barrel in a bin or packing case, and surround it with a layer of 5 or 6 inches of dry sawdust.

To thaw frozen meat when required for use, place it in a moderately warm room at a distance from the fire, and allow it to thaw gradually.

Or better still, soak it 2 or 3 hours in cold water.

If thawed too quickly it will be unfit for use.

SALTING AND PICKLING MEAT Curing Meat.-Among the various methods of preserving beef, pork, mutton, and other meats for considerable periods of time, are drying, canning, pickling, and smoking. Drying meat is practiced chiefly in hot climates and in localities where the air is free from moisture. It is accomplished by cutting the meat into convenient pieces and exposing it to direct sunlight on suitable drying forms so arranged as to admit of a free circulation of air. The canning of meat is similar in principle to the process of canning fruit aná vegetables. It consists in cooking the meat until tender, placing it while at the boiling point in sterilized jars, and sealing while hot so as to exclude the air. In addition, it is customary to pour over the meat the gravy or meat jelly in which it has been cooked, in the same manner that sirup is poured over canned fruits. Pickling consists PRESERVATION OF MEAT AND VEGETABLES 695 in immersing the meat in a solution of antiseptics, usually salt, sugar, and saltpeter with soda or potash. Smoking is accomplished by suspending the meat in a suitable chamber, exposed to the fumes of smoldering corncobs, hickory or beech chips, sawdust, or other substances. The antiseptic effect of smoking is due to impregnation with pyroligneous acid, an impure acetic acid which, together with tarry matter is contained in the smoke. The effect of smoking is therefore similar to that of rubbing fresh meat with vinegar, except that the admixture of tarry matter prevents the acetic acid from escaping by evaporation.

Pickling Meat.-The points to be observed in pickling are cleanliness and sterilization. That is, all foreign matter, as blood, dirt, and the like, should be removed from the meat, and the tubs or casks in which it is packed should be sterilized. In addition, of course, the pickle must be sufficiently strong, and the meat fully covered with it and heavily weighted.

If these precautions are observed, there is no reason why meat cannot be kept sweet the year round.

Preparation of Meat for Pickling. -The beef, pork, or mutton carcass to be pickled should be carefully cut into strips of equal thickness, so that it can be packed tightly in tubs or casks in uniform layers. The carcass should be cut up as soon as the animal heat is out of it, and the pieces to be pickled rubbed thoroughly with fine salt or powdered saltpeter or a mixture of these dried in a slow oven.

After the salt and saltpeter have been well rubbed over the surface of the meat, sprinkle the pieces lightly with the same, and lay them on slats or boards slanted so that the blood will drain off, and let them stand from 24 to 48 hours. This will remove all the surface blood and leave the meat fresh and clean. When the necessary tubs or casks and pickling liquid are in readiness, rinse off the meat by dashing cold water over it from a dipper or pail. Wipe dry with a clean cloth. It will then be perfectly clean and ready to pack.