MEAT. In no one thing has the general consumer gained over his predecessors more than in the matter of fresh meats. It is not so many years ago that residents in small towns and country districts were dependent for fresh meat on an uncertain and fluc tuating supply from the occasional or periodic slaughtering of one or two animals by local butchers—the result being that dried or salted meats were the mainstay of a large percentage of the population. To-day, owing to the many improvements in transportation, the invention of refrigerator-cars and other commercial developments, fresh meat can be obtained all the year round even in the most remote sections.
Groceries and meats are a good combination for a retailer, provided that the store is so arranged and equipped that the two lines do not conflict. People must buy gen eral groceries frequently, and if they can secure their meats at the same place, there will be a saving of time and convenience, which must, if well managed, result profitably to the merchant.
It is, however, very unwise for a grocer to attempt to sell meats unless he has his store well fitted with proper refrigerators or cooling rooms, so that he can carry them without risk of deterioration.
The arranging and handling of the stock in order to make the most favorable impression on the buyer, is also of the greatest importance. Nothing is more detri mental to an establishment doing a critical business than dirty hands, bloody or soiled apron, greasy cloths and general untidiness on the part of the meat salesman. It is essential to hold in persistent remembrance the fact that the goods he is selling are those which customers expect to eat and that they should therefore be handled with scrupulous care and cleanliness.
The dealer who slights or overlooks these leading principles, will find his better class of trade going to other stores where employees endeavor to please a customer's eyes as well as his palate.
As a rule, it pays the grocer best to handle only the finer grades of meat. In sell ing, it is advisable to get the poor cuts disposed of as speedily as possible—the prime parts usually sell without special effort. From the standpoint of profit, the customers who buy the cheaper parts are just as important as those who pay high prices for the best cuts.
The correct temperature for the meat refrigerator or cooling room is a trifle above the freezing point—the result being "chilled" meat, which will remain in prime con dition for a long time. Freezing or placing the meat in direct contact with the ice, results in loss of flavor. When meat has been frozen, it is best not to thaw it until near the time of actual use, as it spoils more easily than chilled meat.
In hot weather, the great enemy of the butcher is the fly, which leaves its eggs in moist crevices of unprotected meat. The eggs hatch and become maggots with sur prising rapidity, hence a keen watch is necessary in order to arrest their development. Their presence does not necessarily signify that the whole piece is bad, but it is imperative to cut off the part into which they have obtained access and to rub all the exposed surface with brine or vinegar. The best preventive is to keep all, or nearly all, the stock in the refrigerator, only taking it out as required to show or cut.
The housewife who in warm weather finds that her meat has become tainted, can restore its freshneis by cutting off and throwing the fat away and washing the lean in a solution of borax or bicarbonate of soda and cold water—a teaspoonful to a quart —and then sponging off with fresh water.
A summer household preventive of taint is to wash all meat as received in vine gar or to rub it over with salad oil.
Following are the U. S. Department of Agriculture definitions of the various classifications of meat : Fresh meat is meat from animals recently slaughtered or preserved only by refrig eration.
Salted, pickled and smoked meats are unmixed meats preserved by salt, sugar, vine gar, spices or smoke, singly or in combination, whether in bulk or in packages.
Manufactured meats are meats not included in the preceding definition, whether simple or mixed, whole or comminuted, in bulk or packages, with or without the addition of salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, smoke, oils or rendered fats.
See also articles on FOOD VALUES, BEEF, LAMB, MUTTON, VEAL, etc.