111.
SLAUGHTERING, CHI L L l N G AND CUTTING METHODS
FOR PORK CARCASS EVALUATION
I would l i k e t o present a few etandard items of procedure t h a t we
thought were important
'
F i r s t , weighing. We thought t h a t t h e animal should be weighed when
it is taken o f f feed, and again a f t e r twenty-four hours' shrink. We have 8%geeted an 18 t o 24 hours' shrink, with water, and no feed within the shrinking period.
Z)ressing per cent. Here is a standard t h a t we r e a l i z e has i t s def i c i e n c y i n t h a t it is hard t o obtain an accurate dressing per cent figure,
but we have suggested t h a t it be based on t h e k i l l weight, immediately before
slaughter and after a twenty-four hour c h i l l .
I f t h e carcaeses a r e not c u t i n twenty-four hour6, it i s sug$e&ed
t h a t they be weighed, and t h a t a percentage be figured on t h a t b a s i s .
The mothcd of slaughtering was another point of disagreement, as
you might imagine, because o f the fact t h a t some like t o leave t h e head on,
and c e r t a i n l y the head i s a p a r t of t h e carccies, and it cannot be forgotten-with t h e leaf, and hams not faced, which of course i s the ehipper s t y l e , more
or leea; and t h e r e a r e others who p r e f e r the packer s t y l e .
We, i n the Committee, decided t h a t it i s a point t h a t w e cannot
d e f i n i t e l y say t h a t we a r e a l l going t o k i l l packer s t y l e , o r shipper s t y l e .
We do think, though, i f you do k i l l packer s t y l e , you should account f o r the
head--at least weigh it, and c e r t a i n l y you should weigh t h e leaf fat, and ham
facing, because they do a f f e c t carca8s value.
We do know such a thing as l e a f f a t w i l l f l u c t u a t e with t h e pig,
and should be considered, EO whether you leave the head on, or o f f , shipper
t o standardize t h a t . We
o r packer s t y l e i s up t o you. We a r e not attemptf e e l i f we did standardize it, o r attempted t o standardize it, those t h a t were
k i l l i n g shipper s t y l e would continue t o k i l l ahipper s t y l e .
I mentioned a twenty-four hour c h i l l before c u t t i n g , when the c a r case has been thoroughly chilled--fortyoeight hours, or as soon t h e r e a f t e r as
possible.
Row, we have gone i n t o t h e carcaes meaeurements.
I think r i g h t now, we a r e ready t o g e t i n t o t h e c u t t i n g procedure,
and 1 am going t o c u t t h i s hog up unless someone wants t o volunteer t o do it.
I n research work, i n your c u t t i n g procedure, t h e c u t t i n g should
n a t u r a l l y be done by the same person from time t o time if a t a l l possible,
and t h e sarne person should do the trimming,
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I an going, f i r s t of a l l , t o break it down i n t o the rough cuts as
we have proposed it i n the meeting.
I personally l i k e t o take t h e f e e t o f f . Now, I suppose some of
you take them off l a t e r . W e take the bind f o o t off at t h e bony projection
on t h e inside of the hock and t h a t w i l l , of cour8e, keep t h e marrow s t i l l
i n t a c t . The f r o n t foot i s removed accordiag t o our specifications, one
half inch above the knee Joint.
The ham is taken off between the second and t h i r d s a c r a l vertebra,
counting from the fumbo-sacral j o i n t and a t r i g h t W e s t o the l e g l i n e .
The shoulder i s taken off between the second and t h i r d r i b s perpendicular a t r i g h t angles t o the general. back l i n e .
I would l i k e t o point out i n hog carcasses, often-times the ribs
do not run s t r a i g h t , s o you cannot say between t h e second and t h i r d r i b s .
We have s t a r t e d a t the point of attachment of the second and t h i r d r i b t o
t h e thoracic vertebra. That is our point; and a t r i g h t angles t o the gene r a l l i n e of t h e back l i n e , r a t h e r than between the second and t h i r d r i b s ,
which i n many cases would give us an angular type of cut.
That, of course, w i l l give ua the three rough cuts--the rough
ham, which we w i l l t r i m l a t e r , the rough shoulder, and the rough middle.
There is a point about which there i s aome controversy, because
some people l i k e t o cut on a s t r a i g h t l i n e . In the case of t h i s hog carcass we have quite a b i t of natural curvature here, s o if you did follow a
s t r a i g h t l i n e , you would have quite a long r i b in the center, or a r i b pork
chop. I think, there, it is g o i n g t o depend a l i t t l e b f t on the hog. I f
t h e hog does not have a s much curvature as t h i s one, you can more or l e s s
.cut on a s t r a i g h t l i n e , but on a hog t h a t has this much curvature, you a r e
going t o have t o follow the l i n e , or the natural curvature on the back.
We Just miss the lower edge of the psoas major muscle on the i n s i d e and on the blade end, or t h e shoulder end, we saw the r i b s Just as
close as possible. I f you leave a portion of t h e scapula s t i l l on the
belly, the Committee thouglht t h a t w a s not serious, t h a t it should be l e f t
there, OT you should go ahead and cut r i g h t through t h e scapula i f it
happens t o be i n t h a t position, and simply l i f t it out l a t e r .
I am going t o d r a w an imaginary l i n e here. When I g e t back t o
my last r i b , I'd like t o &e a groove f o r my saw t o work in, and saw
from t h i s side.
Now, we have the rough loin, the rough middle, t h e rough shoulder,
and the rough ham.
1 a m not going t o take t h e time t o take t h e f a t back o f f , Some
seem t o think that you should only leave one-fourth of an inch of f a t on
the loin.
Here is a point, which we think i s important.
This is i n connection with l i f t i n g the spare r i b s . This muscle
ie present, of course, i n a l l hogs. It i s termed t h e secondary flank
muscle. We think i n l i f t i n g the spare r i b s , if you come back t o the l a s t
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r i b , and approximately cut t h a t muscle i n half, you w i l l l i f t a l l of the s o f t
c a r t i l a g e out, t h a t would be p r e t t y much standard, and it could be done e a s i l y
by slmply s p l i t t i n g the secondary flank muscle i n h a l f , of course, keeping i n
mind t h a t w e lift the spare r i b 8 as f r e e f r o m lean as possible, and I am sure
t h e r e would be not more than f i f t y men i n t h e room who could do a b e t t e r job
than I am doing, but just bear with me.
You w i l l h i t a natural eeam. You do not h i t the n a t u r a l seam i n
pork that you do in beef, but you do h i t a natural s e a . I did take those
r i b s out a l i t t l e too deep, but it does give you an idea t h a t you w i l l g e t
a l l of the s o f t r i b s ; and I think It l e a etandard procedure t h a t we can f o l low t h a t w i l l give us st&d
spare r i b s .
Now, i f
t h e belly, if you
we remove it Just
we square Just a t
t h e flank end.
you have t o do e l i t t l e trimming t o t h e f a t back side of
think t h a t is deeirable, and of cowse, on t h e belly s i d e ,
above the t e a t line, and then on the flank end of the belly,
the boot Jack, as it is called, or simply square it up on
There, we have t h e bacon. This ham was not defaced, I n trimming
a ham, we come down between the natural eeam of the flank, and the ham, and
of course, t h a t flank meat should come off.
And over on the t a i l side, remove excess fat and t a i l bones. If we
were t o c o l l a r the ham, or t o skin it, which i e recommended, a l t h o w h we a r e
not saying that all hams ehould be skinned, we suggest that you come up approximately one-third t h e distance f’rom the end of t h e hock t o c o l l a r your
ham and leave approximately three-eighthe of an inch of fat on t h e ham.
Now t h e shoulder. The first thing, of course, is t o l i f t your neckbones, and they should come out spare. Now, here i s a hog t h a t i s a l i t t l e
off center, They have given us a l i t t l e error t h a t we always have in pork
cut-out work, Now, I think t h e next l o g i c a l s t e p is t o remove the b r i s k e t
p a r t , and the jowl, and that is a l i t t l e d i f f i c u l t thing t o describe i n writing. You aimply remove the b r i s k e t and t h e jowl, and you know, of course,
t h a t c u t would be p a r a l l e l t o the cut made when you remove the middle from
t h e shoulder.
I have given you a shoulder cut t h a t could be made i n t o a New York
s t y l e or a picnic, or a Boston Cut.
If you are going t o make it i n t o a New York S t y l e shoulder, t o make
it standard, you should come one Inch below the lower edge of the scapula f o r
your c o l l a r ,
If you are going t o make it i n t o a B s t o n Butt or a picnic which i s
done i n some areas, it should come about a half an inch below t h e mapula on
t h i s s i z e hog, 200 t o 225 pound hog, m a k l q the cut parallel t o t h e back l i n e ,
and of course, sawing. The picnic should have f a t beveled off and c l e a r p l a t e
removed &om b u t t leaving no f a t .
Now, I think t h a t is a l l I am gdng t o do on t h i s cutting. There
might be some questione. Maybe I should have stopped f o r any questione,
We have suggested all c u t e be weighed a8 near as gossible t o one
t e n t h of a pound, which might be a l i t t l e d i f f i c u l t when most of your soales
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a r e i n ounces, but of course, when you are buying a piece of equipment, you
can g e t a d i a l with weights i n tenths of pounds.
The rough cuts t h a t I have made here could be weighed, and you
might g e t some USefw. information on those as w e l l a13 the trimmed cuts;
and the percentage of y i e l d of the various c u t s probably should be
recorded if you have the time, on both the l i v e weight basis, and the
carcass weight basis.
I think there are many of us who would l i k e t o see it one way,
I think it would be desirable t o have it on both
basis, and it doesn't take much longer.
and others, another.
CHAIRMAN COLE: I think t h a t concludes my portion of the
program, and we are going t o go r l g h t along, and w e w i l l t r y t o g e t
through on time.
Mr. Wilson of Wisconsin i t 3 going t o t a l k to us about the,
"Physical, Chemical and Organoleptic Methods o f Pork Carcass Evaluation, with Special Reference t o Firmness and Color."