A bacteriological study of ham souringMcBryde, Charles Neil
Science
A bacteriological study of ham souring
McBryde, Charles Neil
Ham -- Microbiology
Result: When tested at the end of the cure all of the hams
in this tierce save one were found to be sour. In 10 of them
the souring was very marked throughout the body of the ham
and extended into the shank as well. In six the souring was
very marked in the body of the ham, but did not extend into
the shank. In three there was slight but well-marked souring
in the body of the ham with no souring in the shank, and one
remained sweet. The probable explanation of the variation in
the degree and the extent of the souring will be discussed
later. The bone marrow of the femur or middle bone was tested
in all of the hams and found to be sour in 18. In one of the
hams which showed only slight souring in the body the souring
did not extend through to the bone marrow, and in the ham which
remained sweet the bone marrow was also sweet. The fact that
one ham in this tierce remained sweet was in all likelihood
due to an oversight in making the inoculations. In making the
inoculations the hams were spread out in a row on a table by a
packing-house assistant, who removed the hams as soon as they
were inoculated and placed them in tierces; and it is more than
probable that the assistant removed one of the hams before it
was inoculated in the interval when the writer was busy filling
the syringe for the next inoculation.
_Tierce No. 2 (fancy cure)._—This tierce contained 20 hams of
the same average weight as the preceding. They were pumped in
the shank only, but were not injected with culture, being put
down to serve as checks on the hams in tierce No. 1. These
hams, therefore, were subjected to exactly the same cure and
were held under exactly the same conditions as those in tierce
No. 1, the only difference being that the hams in this tierce
were not injected with culture.
Result: When tested at the end of the cure all of the hams in
this tierce were found to be perfectly sound and sweet, showing
that the curing in this instance was properly carried out and
that the souring of the hams in tierce No. 1 was undoubtedly
due to the injections of culture which they received.
_Tierce No. 3 (regular cure)._—This tierce contained 20 hams
weighing from 14 to 16 pounds each. These hams were pumped in
the shank and also in the body. Immediately after pumping they
were each injected in the same manner as those in tierce No. 1
with 10 cubic centimeters of culture. The hams were then packed
in tierce and placed in cure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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