CUTTING AND CURING PORK
(Page 2 of 12)
Start cutting up the carcass at the shoulder, sawing
through the third and fourth ribs at right angles to the
back. Each side has 14 ribs.
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Complete the cut with the knife and turn the shoulder over
and cut off the jowl at a point where the backbone ends,
which is in line with the wrinkle of the neck.
Trim some of the cheek meat from the jowl and flatten it
out with the broad side of a cleaver or hatchet and square
it up by trimming with a knife. The trimmed jowl is known
as a "bacon square" and can be cured and used the same as
bacon, or used for seasoning with boiled foods.
Remove the neck bone from the shoulder, leaving very little
meat on the bone. Trim up the shoulder and cut off the
shank. This is the "long cut" method of trimming and will
give you the maximum of cured meat from the shoulder. Shank
is sawed off above knee joint.
LONG CUT SHOULDER READY FOR CURING
Where smaller cured cuts are desired, the shoulder can be
divided between the smallest part of the blade bone,
producing a picnic shoulder and butt. The picnic shoulder
will cure out quicker than the long cut method and makes a
convenient, handy size shoulder for small families. When
the shoulder is separated into picnic and butt the clear
plate, which is the covering of fat on the top of the
shoulder butt, is trimmed off. This fat may be cured for
seasoning or used for lard. The lean portion is known as
the "Boston" butt and can be cured or used for sausage.
When neatly trimmed up the picnic shoulder has the
appearance of a small ham.
To take off the ham, saw on a line at right angles to the
hind shank and at a point about three finger widths .in
font of the aitch bone. Finish the cut with the knife and
start shaping the ham by curving the cut on the belly side.
To remove the tail bone slip the knife under the tail bone
and continue the cut along the bone, keeping the knife as
flat as possible.
If the hams were faced when the carcass was hung up to
chill, each ham will now require comparatively little
trimming. When the tail bone is removed, the hams should be
smoothed up and all loose pieces of meat trimmed off and
put in sausage. If these corners and loose pieces are left
on the hams, they will dry up in the cure, having little
food value, and the hams will be less attractive. Hams that
are neatly trimmed cure better and are easier to wrap.
If hams are exceptionally fat, and if too much fat is
objectionable, the hams can be skinned. This is done by
leaving a collar of skin around one-third of the ham at the
shank end. The balance of the fat is trimmed off leaving
about Y4 inch of fat over the lean. Skinned hams do not
keep as well as hams that are not skinned and for that
reason skinning is not recommended as a general practice.
After hams are trimmed, saw off the shanks just below the
button of the hock.
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