The Rural Voice, 1983-03, Page 15coats. Also standard equipment is a
hair net and a safety hard hat. Even
bearded employees wear hair nets over
their beards to ensure the product is
free from contamination.
The first stop is the primary cutting
room. Looking down the catwalk, visi-
tors will see four lines of tables. The
carcasses are sawed in two and then
each line will cut either the hams.
shoulders, backs or belly sections.
Protected by mesh aprons under their
white coats, workers also wear mesh
lined gloves. The meat sections move
on a conveyor. down the centre of the
table and each cutter will pick up a
piece and quickly cut out bone, gristle,
and trim off excess fat.
Large plastic bins receive the pieces
of meat and are wheeled into the next
area.
The large ham muscles used in
making old fashioned hams are mas-
saged in the curing solution. Working
similar to a slow mixer, the meat is
methodically kept moving in a very full
stainless steel vat. This helps cure the
meat more evenly. The hams are en-
cased in netting and put on multiple
tiered racks, then pushed into the
smoke house for six hours.
Bergen has been with the company
45 years and has seen a lot of moderni-
zation. In the old smoke houses, the
smoke enters by way of a floor grate.
The newer smoke houses are computer -
controlled and smoke enters by way of
vents located along both the ceiling
edges of the smoke house. "Only
hardwood sawdust or hardwood blocks
are used in the smoking process.
.�
Bergen said�No artificial smoke."
Schneiders produce a wide selection
of processed meats like hotdogs, sau-
sages, and luncheon meats. Contrary to
popular belief, no organ meats are used
in these products or in any other
products,Bergen said.
Liver is used for the liver sausage.
sold fresh, and exported along with
kidney to England and Europe. Other
organs are sold to other plants.
The cold cuts use only combinations
or beef, pork and fresh spices with a
small portion of dextrose, used for
binding the product together.
Weiners were a real surprise. The
meat is encased in artificial casing. The
weiners are in long 125 foot ropes and
are loaded onto a rack. None of them
are touching each other. Carefully the
automatic rack moves through the
smoke house and then through a blast
cooler, to chill the meat quickly.
Through a small opening, visitors can
see weiners flying out of a machine into
a bin. Over 600 pounds of hotdogs are
made per hour. Including the one hour
to smoke the weiners.the whole process
! fi�J��/�r.I�1�►�� I►f►If►�►f� f 1►f►.I^I ii►�►►�-►I��I�►►►JJ�►II�I
from stuffing to packaging takes one
and a half hours.
The whole tour of a processing plant
shows just how fast-moving the busi-
ness is and just how clean. Floors and
equipment are sanitized daily and to
ensure ongoing cleanliness and quality
stock. there are 38 government inspec-
tors in the plant, including the seven
veterinary doctors monitoring the
dressed carcasses.
None of the hog is wasted. Pieces
inedible for humans, like bones and
gristle. are rendered into feed and fer-
tilizer; skin is used in gelatin manu-
facturing.
Because of the size of the plant and
the enormous quantity of water used for
cleaning, Schneiders installed their own
primary sewage treatment plant. A
costly addition, the plant helps the city
cope with the massive sewage problem
Solids are screened out and sent on, to
be made into soap products. Operating
for ten years. the plant is still consid-
ered to be an innovative idea.
While the number of employees is
impressive. there is very little handling
of the product. Handlers wear surgical
gloves and use a disinfectant wash on
their hands,
lcont on next pagej
Hill LNJI Hill
FARMS
LIMITED
VARNA ONT.
(519) 482-3218
Forward contracting
for
CORN
BARLEY
SOYBEANS
f
First Line Seeds
also available
THE RURAL VOICE. MARCH 1983 PG 15