FACING HAMS AND PULLING LEAF LARD IN A MODERN PACKING HOUSE. (Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden.)

The first two figures in the above cut show two men Facing Hams. The first man faces the Ham at his right hand side and the second man faces the Ham on his left hand side, as the Hogs pass by.

The advantage of Facing Hams right after the hogs are dressed, is this. The knife can be drawn through the skin and through the fat close to the meat, and the fat will peel right off the fleshy part of the Ham. Between the fat and lean meat of the Ham, between the legs, there is a fibrous membrane which is very soft and pliable. When the knife is run through the skin and fat, it will run along the side of this membrane, making a clean face for the Ham. That part remaining on the Ham will shrink to the Ham and will form a smooth coating over the lean meat, which closes the pores and makes the Ham look smooth and nice when it is smoked. It also makes a much smoother cut along the skin. The skin when cut warm will dry nicely and look smooth when cured, whereas if it is trimmed after the meat is chilled, it looks rough and ragged. Facing Hams also allows the escape of the animal heat more readily. If Hams are not faced until after the Hogs have been chilled, this fat must be trimmed off and the Hams will not look nearly so smooth as they will if this tissue and fat is removed while the hog is warm.

The second two men in the opposite illustration are Pulling Leaf Lard. The Leaf Lard should always be pulled out of the hogs in summer, as it gives the hogs, as well as the Leaf Lard, a better chance to chill. During the winter months it can be pulled loose, but can be left hanging loosely in the hog, from the top. In this way it will cool nicely, and it will also allow the animal heat to get out of the hog. Most of the large packing houses pull out the Leaf Lard in the winter as well as summer, and hang it on hooks in the chill room to chill. Leaf Lard that is properly chilled, with the animal heat all taken out of it, makes much finer lard than when pulled out of the hog and put into the rendering tank with the animal heat in it.