The modern packing house

Receiving Live Stock.

—The beginning of the packing business relating to hogs and cattle starts when they are received in the pens. The pens in most climates should be paved, provided with proper drainage and ample watering facilities. Before animals are slaughtered the first essential point is to see they are in condition to be slaughtered, namely, that they are not excited, fevered, out of condition, under fed, or, in other words, that they are as near their normal condition as possible. Cattle should be allowed to rest over night before they are slaughtered, if they have been driven or transported any distance; for if the animal is tired or excited it will not bleed properly when slaughtered, and if killed in this condition the meat has a red, fiery appearance, and is generally unwholesome. It is a condition which the practical eye of the tradesman will take cognizance of very readily, and he will not be slow to use it to his advantage.

Water and Sprinkling.

—Ample fresh water should be provided for drinking purposes, and sprinkling hogs and cattle is very desirable in hot weather. Fig. 34 is a view of suitable resting pens. After the animals have rested a sufficient length of time to be in normal condition they should be driven to the killing pens carefully, and without undue violence, such as striking them across the back with heavy sticks, or prodding them unnecessarily while in the pens, as this abuse shows on the meat very readily when the hide is removed. This damage is invariably done on the loin and rump of the animal, and as this is the high-priced part of the meat, it will readily be seen that the loss is quite considerable. With stubborn or wild cattle it is often necessary to be quite severe, but a practiced handler of live stock will do it in such a manner as to avoid injuring the carcass.

Driving Cattle.

—A wooden knob for the end of a prod pole will prevent a great deal of bruising and consequent discoloration of the meat. When penning cattle from overhead, the penner invariably prods the animal in the loin, oftentimes using his pole as a harpoon. The force of the blow thus inflicted, covering so small a surface, invariably makes a bloodshot spot, whereas, if the force of the blow were distributed over a portion three times as large no ill effect would be noticed, hence the use of the knobs on these poles will do away with the bruising of loins in handling and penning cattle. Poles electrically charged by a wire extending through the pole with a connection to the lighting system are used by many with good results.

Knocking or Stunning Cattle.

—This represents really the first act in the slaughtering of cattle. After they have been driven into the narrow pens provided for the purpose, as shown in Fig. 35, the knocker follows and with a four pound hammer strikes the animal a stunning blow in the middle of the forehead.

In former times cattle were speared, which was accomplished by walking over the top of the runways and with a long, sharp-pointed spear, severing the spinal cord. This method of killing, however, is barbarous and not nearly so efficacious as stunning by knocking, and has been superseded in all the large abattoirs of the United States by the method of knocking as shown in the view. It is advisable to use a hammer of comparatively large face, so as not to indent the skulls.

Immediately after the stunning a sliding door is hoisted and the stunned animal rolled out to be hoisted for sticking, heading, etc., as shown in Figs. 36 and 37.

Sticking.

—In sticking great care should be taken that the throat is well opened, thereby giving the blood a free flow, also that in sticking both arteries and veins are severed, otherwise the beef will purge on the back and look discolored when finished. Care should also be taken not to stick cattle “through,” for if this is done, when the bullock is thrown on its back, the blood flows onto the chime bones, causing a bad discoloration.

Heading.

—Care should be used to see that all the fat possible is left on the tongue, leaving it perfectly smooth on the outer surface; that as little hide as possible is left around the horns. The header, in cutting around the side of the head, leaves all the fat on the heads, and keeps as close to the side of the tongue as he can without injury to same; when this is done, the hide dropper can leave a full shaped neck, otherwise considerable meat which should be on the carcass is left on the head, where it is afterward trimmed and only worth tallow price. In taking the tongue from the head the trimmer should cut close to the jaw-bone, so that all the meat possible may be left on the tongue.

Pritch Sticks.

—For convenience in handling the carcasses on the beds, a pritch is used (See Fig. 38). This stick is arranged with a spike in one end and a ferrule on the other; used to hold the animal when rolled on its back. Pritches were formerly made with spikes at both ends. A spike should not be used on the end of the pritch coming in contact with the beef, as the spike often punctures the hide. The end of the pritch, which is to rest upon the floor should have a spike inserted. The end which is to support the carcass, should have a ferrule of 1¹⁄₂-inch pipe, roughened like a saw tooth, which prevents it from slipping and at the same time does not injure the hide.

Foot Skinning.

—Foot skinning is the term applied to taking off the feet. In doing this, cut around the hoofs closely. Do not open the hide any higher than necessary to unjoint the feet. If the shank is uncovered more than necessary, it is likely to become dirty, and it is impossible to make it clean if the tissue becomes stained. Be careful to see that none of the cords from the front part of the shin-bone are left on the hide. The men skinning the front feet usually raise the gullet. In doing this they should be careful to open the neck straight from where the sticker left off, and guard against cutting the weasand. The gullet should not be raised too high with the knife when clearing, for if this is done, it allows the blood to run back on the ribs, producing the same effect as if the bullock had been stuck through.

Ripping and Leg Breaking.

—In this operation care should be exercised to see that the first cut is made exactly where the sticker left off, opening the breast and hide in the center the full length of the animal, in a straight line. Uncover the gam only sufficient to reach the joint, leaving the hide over balance of shank to protect it. In this way you get very much better shanks than if skinned too low. Cut closely to hoofs so all hide possible comes off around the feet, but that none of the cords are left on the hide.

Flooring Cattle.

—This expression describes rimming over and siding the bullock. The special object of this operation is to attain a smooth hide without scores or cuts, smooth work on the bullock, which consists in saving the fell very carefully, clearing the rose on shoulder fully, also the saving of the fell back of the elbow and the forward shoulder. The latter part is a very particular point, as if the fell is not left it shows black upon chilling.

Breast Sawing.

—In sawing the breast, it should be done centrally, holding saw at same angle as that at which the animal is lying, otherwise the saw works toward one side, and makes a very bad-looking brisket on one side of the beef. Saw where marked, otherwise it will become necessary to trim meat from the neck, if the marks have not been followed.

Caul pulling consists in taking out the caul in a tidy, cleanly condition, keeping same off the floor, and putting it into a box. Care should also be taken not to cut or tear the intestines, and if so, that they are immediately skewered.

Fell Cutting.

—Fell cutting consists in skinning the hide off the hind legs when animal is on the first hoist. The points to be carefully looked after in this work is to see that smooth work is done both on the hides and on the beef itself.

Rumping.

—This operation requires very skillful work, and calls for a great deal of attention. Points to be attained are a smooth hide free from scores or cuts, and smooth work on the beef. Care must be used in this work to see that the rumper keeps very close to the hide on outside of the leg, in order that the fell-beater may do good work. If the rumper is careless and breaks through the fell, it is impossible to carry this down smoothly. In working around the tail, care must be taken not to cut into the lean meat, especially on thin cattle, where there is comparatively little covering.

Fell Beating.

—If the floorman and rumper do their work properly, it is comparatively easy to do a good job at fell beating. The fell-beaters should then use care to see that they do not tear through, and, in marking with the chopper, to mark in such a way that they tear back instead of cutting off.

Gutting.

—The objects sought for in this particular work are: First, cleanliness, and next, to save the fat smooth and without tearing it around the bones. The liver should be taken out without tearing. Special care should be used in cutting between kidneys, to open in the center without cutting tenderloin. Also to leave all tenderloin in the bullock, for, if any comes out with the “pluck” it is wasted. The workmen should also be careful about cutting intestines or weasands.

Backing.

—The objects to be attained in this particular work, are: First, smooth hides, free from scores or cuts, at the same time leaving no fat on the hide, and next, particular care should be taken in the work required in the dropping of the hide to see that the fat is not removed from the loins.

Tail Sawing.

—The point in this work is to see that the saw is absolutely in the center, and that the first bone is sawed centrally. Better work can doubtless be done by sawing the tail from the rear, “popping” it twice.

Beef Spreaders.

—In slaughtering cattle it was formerly the custom to use an ordinary spreader as shown in Fig. 40, which spread all carcasses, large or small, a certain distance and kept them spread from the time they were hung until finished splitting. The spring beef spreader illustrated in Fig. 41, is a great improvement over this old spreader. When the cattle are first hung on this appliance the center piece is raised up, allowing the hooks to hang in a normal condition proportionate to the size of the animal which is hung on them. Hanging in this shape, the rumper is given a chance to do his work better.

Splitting.

—Great care should be exercised in this particular work, especially on “hard-bone” cattle. They should split the bone down centrally, the entire length of the carcass. Great care should be taken to see that they split the short fin-bone in the neck, thereby giving the neck-splitter a chance to start centrally with his work.

Splitting Cleavers.

—Care should be exercised to see that these are in the very best condition to do the work. They should be ground as thin as possible, yet not so thin that they will shatter. If the splitters do not break a chopper occasionally, it is evidence that these are not ground as thin as they should be, and, unless they are, it is impossible to do good work in splitting. The workmen should, however, have choppers ground different thicknesses for different boned cattle, and never use thin-ground choppers on cows or hard-boned steers.

Clearing Out and Hide Dropping.

—In clearing the shanks the workmen should look carefully to see that they do not score the hide, or make any miscuts in the meat. They should also save the veins in the under side of forward shoulder, for when these are cut they continue to purge, making bad-looking shanks. In hide dropping care should be used to see that the workmen do not score or cut hides, make miscuts in the neck, or leave any unnecessary fat on the hide. They should also skin hides as low down as possible on the necks.

Neck Splitting.

—This should be done carefully, splitting the neck fairly in the center. The last bone, or “deacon” joint, in the neck should be broken centrally, in order to give equal weights and appearance to the beef.

Bruise Trimming.

—This is a very essential feature in the dressing of cattle, and one in which good judgment must be exercised. It is, therefore, very hard to lay down any set rules further than the following: The object of trimming bruises is to take off all blood accumulations, and at the same time leave all the fat possible on the hips, etc., to be bleached out by using hot water and thorough wiping. The great danger, generally speaking, is that they are trimmed too much and scrubbed too little. These are points which require very careful attention.

Skirt Trimming.

—Skirt trimming consists in cutting off the edge of the skirts evenly on native cattle without exposing the lean meat. On western cattle and thin stock, the skirts should be trimmed high enough so that they will expose the lean meat, which gives a chance for all moisture which has gathered under the film to escape, making the beef dryer than if otherwise trimmed.

Washing Cattle.

—It will be noted that the carcasses are then separated into two pieces and should be thoroughly washed and scrubbed with fountain brushes to insure absolute cleanliness in every part. The washing and wiping should be carefully performed, and incidental to the washing is the scraping of slime from the back and shoulders previous to wiping. Many slaughter floors are now equipped with centrifugal wringers for wringing out boiled cloths and cleanliness is made paramount in handling beef.

In the washing of beef the work should start at the hind legs, the step-ladder men being the first to use water on the beef after it is split. Next, the back washers and wipers; after these, the neck and rib washers, the policy being to start at the top and clean the beef as they go along. The washers should be kept close up, handling the beef promptly, running it into the cooler as fast as it is dressed.

Fountain Brushes.

—A convenient apparatus for washing carcasses is the fountain brush. It consists of an ordinary brush with a spray attachment on the front of it, as shown in Fig. 43. To this is attached a hose which supplies hot water from the vat above. When the men are ready to scrub the beef a valve is turned on, the water gravitating through the hose to the meat. In wetting it continuously the blood or discoloration which may be gathered on the meat is rapidly taken off, leaving it in a bright, clean condition. The beef is then wiped with a cloth made of ten or twelve thicknesses of very coarse cheese cloth which rapidly absorbs the moisture.

Dressing Cattle.

—The mechanical labor of dressing cattle is about the same whether slaughtering ten or ten hundred, except in the former case the work would be performed by one man and in the latter by probably one hundred and thirty. The facilities for doing the work vary with the quantity and style of beds. Some beds are burdened with mechanical appliances where the apparatus more than counteracts any possible labor saving that can be effected. Common sense in this instance would indicate simplicity, as conveyors and mechanical appliances are costly for installation and for upkeep.

Dressing Conveyors.

—Dressing conveyors to take the animal after siding would, however, appear advantageous, since it permits of the concentration of the viscera for inspection and manipulation, and makes for facilities where the same can be handled to meet the regulations and avoid the troubles of food products touching the floor on being trucked. These conveyor systems can be simple or complicated and each house requires treatment comparable with the quantity of business performed.

The type of killing beds, where the pens range across the building with one pen for each two beds, and a waiting pen where the drive can be moved forward for knocking, is, in the writer’s opinion, the least costly for standard operation, particularly if an automatic hanging-off arrangement is provided.