SHRINKAGE OF SOFT PORK. 13 



;,..,, SUMMARY. 



Investigation revealed that discounts ranging from 1^ to 7 cents 

 per pound live weight were being made at the different live-stock 

 markets for soft and oily hogs. 



Hogs producing soft or oily carcasses can not be distinguisheu 

 before slaughter from those yielding firm meat. 



These tests did not show a distinct difference in the dressing per- 

 centages of soft, oily or firm hogs. 



Shrinkage in the chill room was relatively the same for all classes 

 of pork. 



All cuts used (except pickle-cured bacon) were increased in weight 

 3.50 per cent to 11 per cent by pumping with a curing solution. 



All pickle-cured meat gained in weight in cure. 



The results of the tests on hams, skinned and not skinned, were 

 practically the same. Both at East St. Louis and Fort Worth the 

 records show that the oily meat gains less while in cure, but loses less 

 in smoke and during the retaining period than does the firm. The 

 hams classed as soft lose more than oily and less than firm through 

 cure, but through smoke and the retaining period the oily skinned 

 hams at Fort Worth and the regular oily hams at St. Louis shrunk 

 less than the firm. 



All meat cured by the dry salt method, except two lots of firm 

 bellies and shoulders, lost weight in cure. 



All of the oily meat gained less than firm from chilled weight 

 through cure but, with the exception of picnics, all of the oily smoked 

 cuts lost less weight than the firm during the smoking and retaining 

 periods. All of the meat classed as soft lost more in smoke and during 

 the retaining period than firm. 



Oily ham and shoulder cuts, at the end of the retaining period, 

 were just as firm to the touch as those that were classed in the cooler 

 as firm. The appearance, however, was more glossy. The bellies 

 (bacon) not only appeared more glossy and yellowish, but still re- 

 mained soft and some of them seemed to be spongy. 



The melting points of the leaf fats taken from the various lots show 

 that the average of the oily samples was 34.70° F., while that for soft 

 was 40.28° and for firm was 43.40°. 



No difference was detected between oily, soft, and firm meats, 

 relative to their keeping qualities, at the close of the retaining periods. 



The resrults of the tests at Fort Worth show total percentage losses 

 in weight of all the smoked wholesale cuts, from chilled weight 

 through cure, smoke, and 19-day retaining period, as follows: Oily, 

 13.92 per cent; soft, 15.96 per cent; firm, 14.07 per cent. 



