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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The modern packing house
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Title: The modern packing house
A complete treatise on the design, construction, equipment and operation of meat packing houses, according to present American praactice, including methods of converting by-products into commercial articles
Author: F. W. Wilder
Editor: David I. Davis
Release date: April 7, 2024 [eBook #73350]
Language: English
Original publication: Chicago: Nickerson & Collins, 1903
Credits: deaurider, Harry Lamé and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Please see the Transcriber’s Notes at the end of this text.
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THE MODERN PACKING HOUSE
A COMPLETE TREATISE ON THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT AND OPERATION OF MEAT PACKING HOUSES, ACCORDING TO PRESENT AMERICAN PRACTICE, INCLUDING METHODS OF CONVERTING BY-PRODUCTS INTO COMMERCIAL ARTICLES.
New Edition Revised, Amplified and Enlarged by DAVID I. DAVIS
First Edition by the Late F. W. WILDER
FOR MANY YEARS GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT SWIFT & CO.
PUBLISHERS
NICKERSON & COLLINS CO.
CHICAGO
COPYRIGHT, 1905 AND 1921, BY NICKERSON & COLLINS CO., CHICAGO
Press of ICE AND REFRIGERATION Chicago.
PREFACE.
In the preparation of the revised edition of this work, the first complete treatise upon the subject of the meat packing house business published, the original scheme has been followed. First, presenting in a convenient and simple form, practical suggestions, tables and formula that are needed in the operation of the packing house business according to modern practice. Second, describing operations in the various ramifications of the business, from the unloading of the animals at the pens to the production of the finished product and the disposition of it, in the order in which the different operations are conducted.
The various operations described and subjects treated upon have been indexed so that any matter upon which it is desired to obtain instant information may be readily found. The author arranged the chapters in the order of the various operations in the packing house, together with descriptions of the machinery and appliances required. The established packer, as well as the beginner, if he carefully digest the contents of this work, will find he has valuable information, the knowledge of which will aid him in conducting his business.
The chapters on proper construction and arrangement contain information in which the author has given the reader the benefit of his experience in the construction and operation of packing plants.
A portion of the contents of this work is devoted to tests showing the value and yields of the various products of a modern packing house, based on prices and conditions existing at the time they were made, in which the percentages and comparisons are reliable and are available to the reader by using the weights and percentage shown, computed on present commercial prices.
The numerous formulas given for the manufacture and preservation of the various products of the packing house are those which have been proven to be the best after years of experience. In
every instance they have been put in the simplest form possible, so that no mistake can be made in applying them.
In revising this work, it is recognized that the use of some of the ingredients are now prohibited by regulation in the United States, but in some instances, it has been seen fit to not change the original formulas. In some instances, however, the omission of the objectionable ingredient has been made, though otherwise the formula remains the same as in the first edition. Many formulas rendered obsolete are omitted on account of conflicting with pure food laws.
The information furnished in these pages is based upon the author’s experience, there being very little theorizing upon the possibilities of what may be accomplished by adopting certain prescribed methods. For this reason, the book will be found of practical value to those interested in the meat packing business.
The present necessity of a work on packing house operation is more evident than when the first edition was published. The original work has been entirely revised where considered necessary, amplified in places and much new information added.
The chapters relative to construction, refrigeration and mechanical operation have been revised to conform to advanced practice.
Acknowledgment is made of the use of engravings, photographs and original data, and ideas developed and used by the reviser in his engineering practice. That the volume will be well received and fill the needs as a hand book and reference work is the hope of the authors and publishers.
The assimilation of the contents as a foundation, together with power of observation and application will greatly assist beginners in packing house work, the methods of which are progressing— although the fundamentals remain the same.
The reviser hopes assistance will be given in this way, which he in turn received by oral advice from the two outstanding superintendents in their day (the days of the business growth), Messrs. F. W. Wilder and C. O. Young.
D. I. DAVIS.
Chicago, July 1, 1921.
Introduction and Growth—Concentration — Early Methods
Yankee Ingenuity — Chicago Yards — Movement Westward —
Location — Water Supply — Sewage — Odors and Prevailing Winds — Cleanliness — Designs and Errors — Character of Business — Requirements — Principles of Design.
of Plants — Plant No.
— Plant No. 2 — Plant No. 3 — Plant No. 4 — Type of Plant — Loading Facilities — Producing Department — Abbatoir Building — Rendering Building — Live Stock — Icing Department — Cooler Building — Pork House Manufacturing Building — Salt Spaces — Power Department —
Gravity System — How to Build — Fireproof Design — Advantages — Slow Burning Construction — Approval of Plans.
CHAPTER IV.
Ammonia Machines — Ammonia — Compressor — Condenser — Receiver — Cooler — Condensing Water — Unit Basis — Computing from Unit Basis — How Rated — Freezer
Requirements — Freezers in Small Plants — Cylinder
Arrangement — Why Brine Circulation — Air Circulating —
Force Draft — Coil Room Systems — Brine Chilling — Brine
Methods — Types of Brine Coolers — Balanced Brine System
Direct Expansion — Two Stage Compressors.
CHAPTER V.
Refrigeration Necessities — Ice Plants — Natural Ice Chilling — Quantity Refrigeration to Provide — Space Per Ton Machine — Machinery Per Head — For Cooled Meats — Ice
CHAPTER VI.
Economizers — Superheaters — Steam Engines — Exhaust Steam — Advice as to Exhaust Steam — Boilers — Conclusion.
Ribbing Beef — Freezing Beef — Loading Beef — Weighing and Tagging — Care of Coolers — Mutton and Veal — Chilling Hogs — Cellars — Freezing Meat.
CHAPTER VIII.
WAREHOUSES 70
Warehouse Design — Floor Area — Fire Proof Buildings — Floor
Construction — Coolers — Fan and Ventilation — Spray System — Galvanized Sheet Iron Pipes — Coil Rooms — Quantity of Pipe — Method of Erecting — Life of Pipe — Cellar Ceiling Suspension — Ratio of Piping — Defrosting — Gardner Curtain System — Direct Expansion Piping — Chill-Room Bunkers — Low Temperature Brine System — Freezer and Storage Buildings.
Yields of Cattle — Yield from Twenty-two Native Cattle — Yield from Fifty-nine Texas Cattle — Yield from Twenty Heavy Cattle — Yield from Thirty-four Cattle — Percentage of Various Cuts — Beef Cuts — Diagram of Cutting — Grading — Loins — Ribs — Rounds — Chucks — Plates, Shanks and Flanks — Barreled Beef.
HIDES AND PELTS
CHAPTER XI.
126
Green Hides — Condition Scores — Prod Pole Damage Clean Floors — Leather Yields — Pattern — Proper Storage for Hides — Grading — Grubs in Hides — Salt to Be Used — Building of Packs of Hides — Trimming of Green Hides — Switches — Shrinkage of Hides — Sheep Pelts.
OLEO OIL AND STEARINE
CHAPTER XII.
136
Fats — Origin of Butterine — Oleo Oil — Oleo Fats — Selection and Care — Cleanliness and Collection — Chilling Fat — Cooling Water — Melting — Settling the Oil — Clarifiers — Scrap Vat — Seeding or Graining Oil — Press Room — Collecting Oil — Oil
Receivers — Temperature of Oil Drawn to Tierce — Stearine
Oil House Yields — Grading Fats — Tests on Oil Fats — Butcher Fats — Mutton Fat — Oil Selection — Oil House Operation.
BONE DEPARTMENT
CHAPTER XIII.
159
Bone Department — Hard Bone — Glue Bone — Bone Products — Horns — Manufactured Articles — Skulls — Test Yield from Skulls and Feet — Buttocks and Thighs — Blades and Ribs —
Drying — Crushed Bone — Grinding Bone — Neats Foot Oil
Storage — Neats Foot Oil Purifier — Yield Tests.
TANK HOUSE DEPARTMENT
CHAPTER XIV.
170
Tank House Design — Isolation and Ventilation — Separation of Press Room — Digesters — Rendering Tank — Surface Box —
Press and Pump — Cooking Killing Stock — Operating Tank Blow Off — Pressing Tankage — Treatment of Lard and Tallow — Titer in Tallow and Lard — Steam for Cooking — Cooking Tests — Operating Odorless — Tests — Catch Basin.
TANK WATER
CHAPTER XV.
189
Soil Fertility — Animal Feeding — Tank Water — Separation of Solids — Collecting Grease — Testing Tank Water —
Evaporating Tank Water — Description of Apparatus — Cleaning
Evaporators Table of Boiling Points — Testing Stick Copperas in Water to Evaporate — Solids in Water — Drying Stick — Value of Tankage — Quantity of Tank Water — Cost of Evaporating.
CHAPTER XVI.
FERTILIZER
201
Fertilizer — Blood — Receiving Tank — Cooking — Pressing — Purity — Storing — Quick Handling — Tankage — Quotations and Value — Grease — Influence of Stick — Digester Tankage — Slime — Dryers — Drying — Expense for Drying — Commercial Fertilizer — State Regulations — Mixing Materials — Conversion Factors.
CASINGS
CHAPTER XVII.
208
Description of Beef Casings — Round Casings, How Made — Selection of Round Casings — Export Casings — Domestic Rounds — Beef Middles — Turning and Sliming — Inspection and Measuring — Beef Bungs — Bung Gut Skins — Beef Bladders — Beef Weasands — Packages — Salt — Cleanliness — Water Temperature — Machines for Casings — Hog Casings — Small Casings.
Dry Room Caution — Shipping Ages — Storage — Preparation of Casings — Trimming Meats — Formulas for Sausage.
BUTTERINE
CHAPTER XXVII.
420
Ingredients — Colors — Equipment — Rooms — Arrangement — Testing Milk — Acidity — Milk in Butterine — Reasons for Culture — Cream Ripeness — Water vs. Brine — Milk Not Pasteurized — Preparatory Culture — Starters — Cultivating the Milk — Low Grade Butterine — Graining — Working the Butterine — Butterine Packing — High-Grade Butterine Cleanliness — Use of Color — Formulas — Costs of Butterine.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Specifications for Boxes Cooperage Specifications Government Specifications for Packages — Refrigerator Boxes.
DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTING
Departmental Accounting — Expense Accounts — Departments — Purchases — Inventories Store Accounts — Labor Charged to Departments and Sub-Divisions — General Principles.
AND EXCHANGE BUILDING AT RIGHT.
VIEW OF UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO, SHOWING HORSE MARKET AT LEFT
GENERAL VIEW OF UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO, SHOWING PACKING HOUSES IN THE DISTANCE.
ENTRANCE TO THE UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO, U. S. A.
CHAPTER I.
MODERN PACKING HOUSES.
Introduction and Growth.
—Few industries in the United States have shown such rapid growth as has the packing house business. The modern packing house, as it exists today, may be said to be less than forty years old since its inception. One naturally inquires the causes which led to the growth of this industry to its present proportions in so short a time, ranking practically fifth in importance among the industries of the United States. The main factor which has been instrumental in the consummation of this immense growth is concentration—coupled with—conservation.
Concentration.
—Concentration permits the manipulation of byproducts, creating useful and valuable materials saleable in themselves and tending to reduce the commercial cost of the edible portion of the animal. Conservation in the saving of all parts of the animal to their best uses.
Early Methods.
—Before the modern packing house was established the method in vogue was to either ship by car or drive live stock to the point of consumption, where it was slaughtered and put on the market in a crude and expensive way compared with the methods of to-day. In the evolution of the business the first step toward making the modern packing house was the concentration of live stock at a few markets where it was offered for sale. Prior to that time it would have been impossible for any one point to obtain
sufficient stock to much more than supply its local demands, and surely not enough to supply a modern establishment.
Yankee Ingenuity.
In the United States during the early days of the live stock market, buyers purchased their supplies where they best could, and shipped them alive to the places where the animals were to be consumed. At this point “Yankee” ingenuity interceded and devised the opposite plan, viz: that of shipping the live stock to a few central points and there changing it to dressed meats, which were shipped to the consuming markets. The development of this plan inaugurated a new line of business now recognized as one of the most important of modern industries—central stock yards and packing house centers.
FIG. 1. LIVE STOCK GOING TO SCALE, UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO.
Chicago Yards.—One of the first and largest of these central live stock depots to be established was the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A., where are located the largest slaughter houses. Views of these great yards are shown. Fig. 1 shows one of the places where live stock is passed to the scales and weighed prior to delivery to the purchaser; Fig. 2, a view of the live stock pens and an alleyway on a busy day; Fig. 3, a view of a pen containing choice yearling cattle, and Fig. 4, one containing a bunch of choice PolledAngus cattle. These views are typical of many markets now established throughout the United States and where the business is conducted upon a parallel basis.
Movement Westward.
—Many factors and conditions contributed to the possibility of the modern packing plant. The feature of slaughtering the cattle near to the point of growth lessened the shrinkage and abuse of the animal and its resulting food product. There are many of the conditions that might be gone into in detail but which are now of no consequence. However, among the conditions that made the business possible was the fact that on the vast plains of the west, innumerable cattle were being raised at a minimum cost, with but little local sale, whereas in the
FIG. 2. A BUSY ALLEY, UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO.
thickly settled east, in the manufacturing districts, a ready market was found for the beef.
Economic Factors.
—Economic conditions make the raising of live stock, in juxtaposition to the production of grain, a fixed fact. And apparently the nearer to the source of supply the animal is slaughtered the less deterioration in the product, animal and meat considered together. The packing business of this country would practically be impossible in older countries that are thickly settled, as the cost of raising live stock would be actually about the same in all parts, and the cost of shipping from one point to another would only add to the original cost. With the lower cost of raising the animal on low value land, the eastern farmer with his high priced land was unable to compete, hence the practice of raising live stock in the
FIG. 3. PEN CONTAINING CHOICE YEARLING CATTLE.
west and consuming it in the east; and the concentration of live stock at the large markets, with the improved devices, has made the business a possibility, and the money and energy expended in adopting the best methods has caused its growth to its present magnitude.
Saving By-Products.
—Another important feature adding to the growth of this industry, is the saving effected by utilizing the byproducts. When animals were killed promiscuously throughout the country this was impossible, for a man killing a few at some local point could not save the by-products, consequently they were lost. Neither could the small killer afford the necessary appliances with which to turn the material out economically and compete with business on a large scale, any more than the ancient cobbler sitting
at his bench, could afford the labor-saving machines and devices which are seen in modern shoe factories. The general health of the public has been served by having their meats properly inspected and delivered in a much better condition than they could be at the time when the animal was killed and the meat consumed without it being properly chilled. That the meat is delivered to the consumer in a more palatable condition than it was formerly is generally conceded by all. Foreigners who visit this country are invariably impressed with the superior meats with which they are served, due to the process in chilling, and the age at the time of consumption.
The by-products which are saved in modern plants, which, under the older methods were almost entirely lost, have a good value. Heads and feet, for example, which were ordinarily thrown away, are to-day made up into various products, all of which have a value. The blood, fats and refuse, are turned into commercial commodities, and the saving of these different parts creates a profit in the business, a profit heretofore lost. Further details on this subject will be given in the chapters treating on by-products.
Pioneer’s Troubles.
—When the pioneers of the business first broached the idea of killing cattle in Chicago and selling the dressed beef in the east it was considered wholly impracticable, and the people who started the business were looked upon as a “little queer.” There were many bitter experiences, in the way of financial losses before it was accomplished. Shipping perishable products long distances caused the loss of many thousands of dollars before the proper methods were discovered, but the beginners felt they were working along the right lines. Obstacles were overcome and to-day meats are delivered in eastern markets in a far better and a more healthful condition than they were ever offered to the public under the old methods from local abattoirs.
Using Box Cars.
In the early days of the concentrated cattle markets, fresh meat products were only shipped during the winter months and in a common or what is now known as a “box” car, as differentiated from a “refrigerator” car.
Using Refrigerator Cars.
—The next step was the use of ice in the car and from this to the “refrigerator” car. This type of car with the improved dispatch service offered by the railways, made the business of shipping freshly dressed beef to any part of the country feasible.
The Chilling Room.
—Notably and most essential was the development of a chilling department in which the slaughtered animal could be properly chilled. This is now a matter of such common occurrence that but little consideration is given the subject. However, in the days when ice was used, and before the introduction of mechanical refrigeration it was a matter of large consequence.
Mechanical Refrigeration.
—Mechanical refrigeration, and this alone, has made it possible to properly cool meats for shipment to remote points as fresh meats, or to properly prepare them for curing, and to preserve them after curing beyond a comparatively limited time. Mechanical refrigeration made possible the equipping of ships for the transportation of meats under refrigeration from any point to any market on the globe.
Freezing Meats.
—The freezing of meats such as beef and poultry, and holding them to a desirable season has rapidly become an important factor in packing house work. Not only beef, poultry, butter and other food products are accumulated, but pork cuts, such as hams, shoulders, bellies, etc., are frozen and carried indefinitely or until it appears desirable to thaw and cure them.
Overseas Shipments.
—A contributing feature to the development of the packing house business, was the overseas shipment of meats. In the early part of the decade 1900-1910 a very large business in fresh beef was conducted between the United States and England. At the outset it was considered an impossibility, but by the most careful and detailed attention and the utilization of modern methods, it was found possible to kill cattle or sheep in the hottest months of the year at interior points in the United States, ship the meats in refrigerator cars to the seaboard, transfer into refrigerated rooms on the steamers and thence to England, the meat being sometimes four or five weeks en route from the abattoir where the animal was killed, to the place where the meat finally
reached the consumer. Even though the English authorities gave it the most critical examination, it was found in proper state for consumption. In the same manner vast quantities of meat is finding its way from South America to the European markets, most of it shipped “chilled,” not frozen. For a time the United States furnished the largest part of the fresh meat consumed in England. It is true that for many years we have supplied foreign markets with cured and canned meats, but the fresh meat trade in England is a business developed within a comparatively few years and it grew to magnitude. However, owing to our growth, increasing home demands, and the changed economic conditions, this business dwindled in the last decade so that on beef it was practically gone, except that during the European war owing to prevailing conditions, it was revived for a time at least. The pre-eminence of the United States pork products, however, is everywhere recognized and until new corn producing lands are developed and utilized, the corn and the pig supply for the world will be that part of the United States west of the Alleghany mountains and east of the Rocky mountains.
