13 16 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



be handled at one time on the ordinary farm. Where a room or a family 

 refrigerator can be kept at a temperature of 40° or less, with good ventila- 

 tion and circulation of air, fresh meat can be kept for a week or ten days. 

 It is very important that the circulation be free and the air dry. Moisture 

 in a refrigerator tends to develop wet mold or slime, and a little decay 

 soon contaminates the whole piece. Less difficulty will be experienced 

 in keeping fresh meat if it is kept in a room where the temperature is 

 high and the air dry than where the temperature is low and the air damp. 



Where an ice house is filled each year a small portion of it may be parti- 

 tioned off as a cold-storage room. With the ice properly packed on 

 three sides of it, and with good drainage, this makes a very satisfactory 

 place for keeping meat, and it may also be used for storing butter and other 

 perishable products. 



In the North, meat is kept during the cold season by freezing. A 

 carcass is cut up into quarters, or even smaller pieces, and hung in an 

 outbuilding, where it will remain frozen solid. When a portion is wanted 

 it may be cut off with a saw. If the meat is taken into a cold room and 

 slowly thawed out the flavor is only slightly injured. No more should 

 be taken in at one time than is wanted for immediate use. Repeated 

 freezing and thawing are injurious to the flavor and quality of the meat; 

 hence the importance of keeping it where the temperature will remain 

 sufficiently low to prevent thawing. 



Insects should not be allowed to get at the meat. For this reason a 

 dark, cool cellar is the best place for keeping fresh meat on the farm. 

 The cellar should be clean and free from odors or the meat will become 

 tainted. 



Snow packing 



Freezing the pieces and packing them in snow is a better way 

 of keeping meat than freezing the carcass and thawing to remove 

 a portion as wanted. The carcass should be cut into steaks, roasts, 

 and boiling meat. All trimming for table use should be done before 

 allowing the meat to freeze. Lay each piece out to freeze separately, 

 where it will not come in contact with other meat. Secure a box 

 large enough to hold it all and put a layer of dry snow at the bot- 

 tom. When the meat is frozen put in a layer, packing it so that no two 

 pieces touch. Cover this with a layer of snow and lay alternate layers 

 of snow and meat until the box is filled. Set the box in an outside shed 

 where it will not be subject to sudden changes of temperature. For 

 convenience in getting the meat when wanted it is well to pack the steaks 

 in one section or end of the box and the roasts and stews in another. It 

 will not then be necessary to disturb anything but the piece desired when 

 a supply is needed. Use only dry snow in packing, be sure the meat is 



