PORK SLAUGHTERING, CUTTING, PRESERVING, AND COOKING ON THE FARM TEXT

around the internal organs should be rendered separately because they yield a darker lard than leaf fat and other body fat trimmings. Cut the fat into small pieces of similar size for quick uniform rendering. Steam rendering, if available, is most preferable since it eliminates the danger of scorching. When fat is rendered in a kettle over an open fire, it should be stirred frequently and the fire should be kept low to prevent sticking and scorching. Do not use a copper or brass kettle because these metals cause rapid rancidity. The temperature of the fat during rendering should remain about 212° F. As the process continues, water will evaporate and the temperature will increase. Do not allow it to go above 255° F. As the rendering process proceeds, the cracklings float to the surface and become brown in color. When boiling (evaporation of water) ceases, the rendering process is completed and heating can be discontinued. Strain the lard through several thicknesses of cheese cloth into lard pails or crocks, and cool immediately at a temperature near freezing. While cooling, stir to a creamy stage to prevent graininess. If the lard is dark in color, it is because it was scorched or there was too much lean left on the fat. Additional lard can be obtained by pressing the hot cracklings in a lard press. Air and light can cause lard to become rancid; therefore, containers should be filled to the top, sealed tightly and stored in a dark, cool place. Fresh Sausage Fresh pork sausage is generally made by grinding and seasoning lean pork trimmings from bellies, hams, and shoulders. Fresh sausage should contain about 20 to 30 percent fat. If more fat is included, the sausage may be too greasy and shrink a lot in cooking. If entire shoulders or hams are used, it may be necessary to add some fat. Prepare sausage by grinding the meat through a coarse plate (½-inch holes), mix thoroughly, spread thin, add seasoning, and mix thoroughly. Regrind through a finer plate (⅛-inch holes), for a more uniform mix with the seasoning. For seasoning 100 pounds of trimmings, a suggested seasoning formula would be the following: • 2 pounds of salt • 6 ounces of pepper • 1 to 2 ounces of sage Other seasoning such as mace, nutmeg, cloves, or red pepper can be added in small amounts (not to exceed 5 ounces) if desired. Seasoned sausage should not be frozen for longer than 2 or 3 months since salt hastens the rancidity of pork. Unseasoned ground pork may be frozen for up to 5 to 6 months, then thawed, seasoned, and used. Sausage may also be stuffed into casings for use either with or without smoking. Artificial casings can be obtained from local butchers or natural casings (small intestines) can be used. Natural casings should be washed thoroughly, cleaned, and scraped prior to use. Stuffing sausage requires skill and proper equipment. It is best to have sausage stuffed and smoked by a local custom processor. Scrapple Scrapple, a favored breakfast dish in many sections, is made of cooked pork and broth thickened with cornmeal, flour, and sometimes shorts. The following formula is popular: • 30 pounds of cooked and ground meat • 30 quarts of broth • 10 pounds of cornmeal • 3 pounds of buckwheat or rye flour • 1½ pounds of rolled oats • 15 ounces of salt • 3 ounces of pepper Cuts of pork such as the head, tail, kidneys, heart, tongue (skinned), spareribs, and pork trimmings may be used to make scrapple. Clean and trim all pieces thoroughly and place them in a pot or vessel; cover with water and cook until the meat separates easily from the bone. Separate the meat from the bones and grind or chop fine. After grinding return the meat to the broth and bring to a boil, add corn meal, buckwheat flour, and rolled oats and cook until the mixture has the consistency of thick mush. Season with salt, pepper, and spices; remove from the heat and pour into molds or shallow pans to harden. When adding the cereal, moisten it with some of the cooled broth so that it may be added without forming lumps. If made properly, scrapple can be sliced and fried easily with little crumbling. Headcheese Headcheese is easy to make. Split the head, remove the eyes, clean the ears and nostrils, cover the cleaned pieces in water with the tongue, heart, and some lean trimmings and cook until the meat is well done and separates easily from the bones. Grind the meat and cover with broth. Add seasoning (salt, pepper, and others if desired), cook for 15 to 20 minutes and pour into pans. Headcheese can be eaten cold or fried the same as scrapple or panhas. Headcheese does not hold together as well as scrapple because of the absence of corn meal and flour. The following quantities of seasoning per 100 pounds of cooked meat, including the added broth, are recommended: 2–2½ pounds of salt 3–5 ounces of black pepper 1 ounce of red pepper 1 ounce of ground cloves (if desired) 1 ounce of coriander (if desired) 2 ounces of sweet marjoram (if desired) Panhas (pon-hos) Using the broth remaining after making headcheese, strain out all the bones and thicken with corn meal, buckwheat or rye flour. Use three or four parts broth to one part meal to make a thick paste. To prevent lumping, it is best to slightly moisten the meal with a little cooled broth before adding it to the other broth. Season to taste with the seasonings given for headcheese. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes and pour into shallow pans to cool. Slice and serve like scrapple. Pickled Pigs’ Feet Pigs’ feet should be clean, free from hair, and the toes removed. Make certain to clean between the toes and trim any remaining hair. Cure clean, chilled feet in brine for 15 days to 3 weeks. Use the same brine suggested for curing hams. Weight the feet to keep them from floating above the solution. Use enough solution to completely submerge the feet. Keep the feet cold throughout curing period (at 36° to 40° F, if possible). After curing, slowly cook or simmer the feet until they are tender. Cook them slowly to keep the skin from parting excessively and the feet from pulling out of shape. Thoroughly chill the cured, cooked feet and pack them in cold, moderately strong vinegar, add spices such as bay leaves or allspice. Use the feet at once or store them in the vinegar. MEAT COOKERY Tender cuts of meat are best cooked with dry heat such as broiling, roasting, and panbroiling. Less tender cuts of meat are tenderized by cooking with _moist_ heat. Connective tissue is softened and tenderized by cooking slowly in moisture. Temperature control is very important in meat cookery. Meat loses moisture, fat, and other substances during cooking. However, some of the meat juices and fat may be retained in the pan drippings. Cooking losses can be minimized by controlling the oven cooking temperature and final internal temperature of the meat. Shrinkage is increased when hot oven temperatures are used for cooking and when meat is cooked to a higher internal temperature. The meat thermometer is the most accurate guide to the degree of doneness of meat. Cooking time in relation to weight is often used as a guide to the degree of doneness, but this may be influenced by the cut’s fat and moisture content and by its shape or size. Fresh pork, smoked picnic shoulder, shoulder roll, and other smoked products should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160° F (71° C). Excessive cooking will toughen and dry the meat, thus decreasing its acceptability. Hams cooked to 140° F (60° C) are not fully cooked and should be cooked before eating. Hams which are cooked to 150° F or higher should require no further cooking and are labeled “fully cooked.” Trichinae are rarely found in pork; however, precautions should always be taken. Trichinae are readily destroyed by any of the following conditions: • Heating meat throughout to an internal temperature of 137° F (58° C) • Storage at -20° F (-29° C) or below for 6 to 12 days • Storage at -10° F (-23° C) or below for 10 to 20 days • Storage at 5° F (-15° C) or below for 20 to 30 days More detailed instructions for cooking procedures can be obtained from the following source: _Lessons on Meat_, National Live Stock and Meat Board, 444 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611 PRECAUTIONS The Law The Federal Meat Inspection Act requires that all meat which is to be sold or traded for human consumption must be slaughtered under inspection in an approved facility under the supervision of a State or USDA meat inspector. A person can slaughter his animals outside such a facility only for use by himself, members of his household, his non-paying guests, or his employees, but he is not allowed to sell any portion of the carcass. For more details about these regulations, consult your county extension agent or write to the Food Safety and Quality Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. OTHER PUBLICATIONS The following publications give additional information on selecting and preparing food for your family. Send your requests on a post card to the Office of Governmental and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Include your return address and ZIP code. Order No. Family Food Budgeting—for Good Meals and Good Nutrition G 94 Vegetables in Family Meals: A Guide for Consumers G 105 Beef and Veal in Family Meals: A Guide for Consumers G 118 Pork in Family Meals: A Guide for Consumers G 160 Keeping Food Safe to Eat G 162 Nuts in Family Meals: A Guide for Consumers G 176 Your Money’s Worth in Foods G 183 Food G 228 Sodium Content of Your Food G 233 Beef Slaughtering, Cutting, Preserving, and Cooking on the Farm F 2263 Lamb Slaughtering, Cutting, Preserving, and Cooking on the Farm F 2264 This publication contains public information. It is not copyrighted and may be reproduced in whole or in part with or without credit. ☆ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1981 O-338-123 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Illustrations replaced with the text ‘[Illustration]’ or ‘[Illustration: some descriptive text]’. The illustration caption is on the following line. Due to the instructional nature of this text, extensive illustration descriptions have been added to this text only version. 3. The original was printed in two column text with illustrations sometimes spanning both columns. In order to reduce ambiguity, the illustrations have been moved adjacent to the paragraph that refers to them. 4. Footnotes have been renumbered. 5. Italicised words are enclosed by _underscores_.