8 BULLETIN 729, D. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



nation in a frozen condition. They should be unloaded promptly and 

 delivered to the cold storage holding rooms hard frozen. When with- 

 drawn from storage they should be received by the baker or other 

 customer still in a hard frozen state. 



The standardized rooms, equipment and methods of operation, essen- 

 tial for the preparation of a product of uniform, good quality have been 

 fully described in publications of the Bureau of Chemistry. 1 



DRESSED POULTRY. 



Poultry going into cold storage must be fresh. It must be abso- 

 lutely free from any visible or olfactory evidences of decomposition. 

 Poultry for storage should be gpod for its grade. Well-fleshed birds 

 keep better than thin birds. 



The poultry should be "dry picked" and "dry packed." While "ice 

 packed" poultry is sometimes held in cold storage and "scalded" poul- 

 try is frequently so handled, the type of dressing in each case is con- 

 ducive to more rapid aging. Poultry which has been in contact with 

 ice should never be cold stored. 



Poultrj- should be packed in clean, well-made wooden boxes, usually 

 12 birds to the box, in either a single or a double layer. The box 

 should be lined with a parchment or other suitable paper or each 

 bird should be wrapped in paper. The box should be tight, not slatted, 

 and not stripped. The habit of freezing barrel-packed chickens and 

 fowls should be discouraged. 



Dressed poultry is held in cold storage in a hard frozen condition. 

 If poultry is accepted by the warehouse to be frozen as well as held, 

 it should be placed in a "sharp" freezer, that is a freezer carrying a 

 temperature below 5° F. for at least 48 hours. The boxes must be 

 staggered or slatted and the stacks must be low and small enough to 

 permit air circulation. If shelves constructed from brine-filling piping, 

 such as used for fish, are available, the boxes of poultry should be 

 placed on them. Through this method the; period required for freezing 

 is cut about one-half. 



i Pennington, M. E. Practical suggestions for the preparation of frozen and 

 dried eggs. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry, Circular 

 98. 1912. 



Pennington, M. E. A bacteriological and chemical study of commercial eggs 

 in the producing districts of the Central West. U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Bureau of Chemistry, Bulletin 51. 1914. 



Pennington, M. E. A study of the preparation of frozen and dried eggs in the 

 producing section. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 224. 1916. 



Jenkins, M. K., and Hendrickson, Norman. Accuracy in commercial grading 

 of opened eggs. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 391. 1918. 



Jenkins, M. K. The installation and equipment of an egg-breaking plant. 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 66o. 1918. 



