6 BULLETIN 928, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



EXPERIMENTS AT ESTABLISHMENTS A, B, AND C. 

 PLAN OF WORK. 



Six tierces of hams were cured at establishment A and five each at 

 establishments B and C. The chilled hams were first pumped in 

 the body and shank with 100° brine containing sodium nitrate and 

 were then packed in tierces, which were finally filled with pickle. 

 At each establishment the pickles for the several tierces were made 

 up according to the same formula except as regards the kind of 

 sugar used. It may be noted here that raw cane sugar was being 

 used regularly at the time in curing this class of hams at establish- 

 ments A and C and refiners' sirup at establishment B. At establish- 

 ments A and B the tierces of hams were stored at a temperature 

 approximately 36°-37° F., and at establishment C they were stored 

 at a temperature of 40° F. The tierces were rolled on the fifth, 

 fifteenth, and thirtieth days after packing. 



At establishment A the cured hams were soaked 2f hours in water 

 at 70° F. and were smoked 30 hours at a temperature approximating 

 130°-135° F. At establishment B the cured hams were soaked 2 

 hours and 20 minutes in water at 70° F. and were smoked 18 hours 

 at 100° F. At establishment C the cured hams were soaked 3 hours 

 in water 60° F. and were smoked 16 hours at 125° F. 



Each lot of smoked hams was carefully inspected for soundness by 

 a Government inspector. Two sound smoked hams were selected 

 from each lot at each establishment for test purposes, except from 

 one tierce at establishment B, which had been mislaid. 



A record of the experiments is given in Table 4. 



Table 4. — Record of Jiam-curmg experiments at establisJwients A, B, and C. 



Establishment A. 



Item. 



Tierce 1, 

 granu- 

 lated 



sugar. 



Tierce 2, 



dextrose, 



Tierce 3, 

 cerelose. 



Tierce 4, 

 70 per 



cent corn 

 sugar. 



Tierce 5, 



refiners' 



sirup. 



Tierce 6, 



raw 



sugar. 



Number of hams 



Curing period 



Weight of green hams 



Weight of cured hams 



Gain in weight 



Quantity of pickle 



Condition of smoked hams 



...days. . 

 .pounds.. 



do 



....do.... 

 .gallons.. 



32 



54 



300 



327 



27 



13 



Normal. 



31 



54 



300 



328 



28 



14.5 



Normal. 



31 



54 



300 



328 



28 



16 



1 light 



shank 



sour. 



32 



54 

 300 

 324 



24 



16.75 

 Normal. 



31 



54 



300 



320 



20 



17 



Normal. 



31 



54 



300 



329 



29 



15.5 



1 shank 



sour. 



Establishment B. 



Number of hams 



Curing period 



Weight of green hams. 

 Weight of cured hams . 



Gain in weight 



Quantity of pic-kle 



Condition of smoked hams. 



...days., 

 .pounds.. 

 do — 



...do... 



.gallons. 



28 



28 



28 



28 



28 



45 



45 



45 



45 



45 



290 



290 



290 



290 



290 



322 



Tierce 

 lost. 



318 



322 



322 



32 



18 





28 

 16* 



32 

 16J 



32 

 18$ 



18 



Normal. 





Normal. 



1 light 



Normal. 









shank 











sour. 





