PREPARATION" OF FROZEN AND DRIED EGGS. 



45 



cipient forms of deteriorated eggs such as "beginning greens." This difficulty was 

 minimized, however, when the eggs were separated into white and yolk, because a 

 very fair view of each egg was obtained during the process of mechanical separa- 

 tion. Inasmuch as by far the greater part of the commercial product of this house 

 was prepared from separated stock, this imperfection in the breaking apparatus was 

 not as much of a detriment to the product as a whole as would be the case if used 

 when whole egg constituted the principal output. 



After the eggs were broken they were poured from the cups into new 30-pound cans, 

 which, after one-half day's service, were cleaned and used for final containers of 

 frozen egg. The tables supporting the breaking outfit and the containers of the shell 

 eggs and liquid egg were the same, with a few modifications, as used during the 

 season of 1911. A fair idea of the construction of the tables and the arrangement of 

 the apparatus on them can be ascertained from the pictures. The stools were of sani- 

 tary construction. Particular attention had been given to the height of breaking 

 stands, tables, and stools, in order to make them comfortable and convenient for the 

 breakers. 



Three new sanitary washbowls installed in the center of the room (PL VII) were 

 used mostly for rinsing yolk from separators; a fourth (PI. XI, fig. 2), located under 

 the wash-room window, was used for washing hands. 



Linen towels about six inches square were used both for wiping hands after washing 

 and for drying fingers during egg breaking. A towel was used only once, then laun- 

 dered. A supply was kept on racks suspended above each table and on a shelf over 

 the washbowl under the window. 



For the assistance of persons contemplating the purchase of egg-breaking equipment 

 the following inventory is given of the number of pieces of small apparatus used by 

 the 52 girls of this breaking room during the season of 1912: 



Breaking knives. 



Cups 



Trays 



134 



379 



61 



Egg separators 97 



Aluminum spoons 57 



Finger towels 4, 320 



From these data the number of utensils necessary for a room with a smaller or larger 

 working capacity can be calculated. 



The wash room was 12 feet square; the walls were plastered and covered with 

 enamel, and the floor was made of cement. The latter sloped toward a drain located 

 at one side of the room. The washing equipment was unique; it consisted of a round- 

 bottomed sink, two revolving brushes, two rinsing devices, a steam jet,_ a dairy ster- 

 ilizer, a chute for transferring clean cans to the breaking room, and a sliding window 

 for passing apparatus back and forth between the wash room and breaking room. 

 (PL XI, fig. 2; PL XII, figs. 1, 2.) The eqiiipment was so arranged that it saved 

 time and labor. 



The sink was supplied with an abundance of hot and cold water and was furnished 

 with a perforated draining rack. A pan beneath the latter conveyed the drippings 

 back to the sink. 



The two mechanical brushes were driven at a speed of about 300 revolutions per 

 minute by a one-quarter horsepower motor supplied with reducing belts. One of the 

 brushes originally designed for cleaning milk bottles was used to wash breaking cups; 

 the other was specially constructed by bolting ordinary scrubbing brushes to an 

 aluminum center and was used for scrubbing 30-pound cans that were smeared with egg. 



The device pictured in the extreme right end of the sink consisted of a nozzle and 

 a percussion valve connected with a water pipe. When the nozzle was pressed down 

 the valve opened and water sprayed out. This mechanism was used for rinsing cups. 



The conical-shaped fixture at the left of the can brush was supplied with both a 

 water and a steam jet and was used for rinsing and steaming large utensils. 



Routine of Handling Product. 



As soon as the preliminary container was full the eggs were transferred promptly 

 to cool surroundings. The whites were weighed into either 10 or 30 pound cans and 

 immediately conveyed to a freezer. The yolks and whole egg were pouredinto the 

 mixing churns and cooled to a temperature just above freezing. If the liquid was to 

 be frozen it was weighed into 30-pound cans and taken to a freezer; if the egg was to 

 be desiccated it was drawn off into 40-quart milk cans and taken to the drying room. 

 The product, however, was kept in a chill room if any time intervened between 

 cooling and desiccation. The desiccation of the liquid egg has already been dis- 

 cussed in detail on page 15. 



