_Query.--Messrs. S. B. write: “We render our tallow and other slaughter house offal all together in the regular tanks, and we would like to inquire whether you have anything that will whiten it after it is rendered.”_
Ans.--You can treat the tallow and whiten and purify it after you have rendered it in the regular manner in your tank if you are willing to go to the additional labor of treating it in your open jacket kettle. The proper way to do is to fill your open jacket kettle or caldron, whichever you may use, about one-third full of hot water; dissolve in this a one-pound package of our Lard and Tallow Purifier, then on top of this put the tallow after you have rendered it. It will make no difference whether the tallow is hot or whether it is cold. Get the water boiling hot; stir the water and the tallow frequently, about two minutes each time. This stirring should be at intervals of about five minutes for from fifteen to twenty minutes; then turn off the heat and permit the tallow to settle; next skim off the tallow from the top. More tallow can be treated in the same solution in the same manner; in fact, you can use the same solution in the jacket kettle two or three times. It should then be renewed with a fresh solution because the water will become impure, as the impurities of the tallow remain in the water and contaminate it; while in this condition the Tallow and Lard Purifier will exhaust its strength. Of course, more Lard and Tallow Purifier could be added to the same solution, but it is advisable to change the water occasionally as it will aid materially in purifying the tallow.
_Query.--M. & S. Co.: Please forward to us one of your brine tester hydrometers. Ought fresh beef to mould in a cooler where the temperature is 36 degrees, after being in there ten to fourteen days? We have lost meat this way in a cooler with three coats of white lead throughout and the temperature maintained by ice. Not only has meat moulded, but it has had a pine taste._
Ans.--As requested, we have sent you a hydrometer by express. You wish to know if fresh beef stored in a cooler ten or twelve days should begin to become mouldy. You say that your cooler is cooled by ice and that its temperature is 36 degrees. We are inclined to believe that your thermometer is not accurate. It would be very difficult to get the temperature of a cooler down to 36 degrees with ice. If an ice box is kept closed from Saturday night until Monday morning the temperature runs down to 36 or 37 degrees, but where it is in constant use, and opened from time to time throughout the day it is almost impossible to reduce the temperature to 36 degrees, unless the cooler is a very small one and a large amount of ice is packed in the ice chamber above. Try another thermometer. It is important to have one that is right. Do not buy a cheap thermometer for a cold storage tester. If your cooler is constructed properly it should be perfectly dry and all the drip water drained without entering the storage chambers. A cooler, even when cooled with ice, should be so dry on the inside that a match might be struck on the sides. If the cooler is moist, there is no need to search further for the cause of your meat moulding. If the cooler is perfectly dry then the beef will keep about two weeks without moulding, then it is liable to mould slightly, but not enough to do any harm. It is frequently stored three weeks before it is consumed, and when kept that long it is tender and juicy--in other words, it is “ripe.” You say that your meat tastes of pine. You did not state whether or not your cooler was a new one or not. If it is a new one and has been properly constructed it should not give meat a taste; if it has been made from boards not thoroughly dry it will cause meat to taste of pine and it might even be responsible for some mould. Then again the walls may have been stuffed with green pine sawdust, and this will cause trouble. It may be that your cooler is a home-made one, not properly constructed; perhaps the circulation is not right. You merely state that the meat moulds and tastes of pine, whereas you should have given full details. If you will send us a drawing of your cooler and full details we will be able to give you the cause of your trouble and the remedy as well.