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Modern Marvels: The Surprising World of Cold Cuts (S13, E43) | Full Episode

HISTORY・29 minutes read

Cold cuts are a significant part of American pop culture, with bologna as a standout favorite, while salami, pastrami, head cheese, liverwurst, and olive loaf also play important roles in the industry. Key inventions and procedures, such as the slicer design by Wilhelmus van Berkel and sanitation protocols at the Butterball Plant, ensure quality and safety in cold cut production.

Insights

  • Bologna, a popular American cold cut, is made by grinding mechanically separated chicken through a circular die, seasoning it with a blend of ingredients, smoking it for eight hours, and then slicing and packaging it for consumption.
  • The invention of Wilhelmus van Berkel's slicer design in 1898, where the carriage moves instead of the blade, revolutionized the slicing industry, allowing for easy adjustment between thick and thin cuts, and paved the way for modern slicers with added motors for convenience.

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Recent questions

  • What is bologna made of?

    Bologna is made of mechanically separated chicken, ground through a circular die, mixed with salt, sugar, corn starch, mustard, and other seasonings.

  • How is salami preserved?

    Salami is preserved through fermentation by beneficial microorganisms that cure the meat, giving it its distinctive taste.

  • What is pastrami made from?

    Pastrami is made from steer navels injected with brine, followed by a spice massage and smoking with hickory wood.

  • What is head cheese made of?

    Head cheese is made from pig head parts like tongue and snout, cooked, mixed with spices, stuffed into beef intestine casings, water-cooked, and chilled.

  • How is liverwurst prepared?

    Liverwurst is made by combining fresh pork livers with ground pork, spices, and salt, emulsifying the mixture, casing it, water-cooking, and chilling before slicing and serving.

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Summary

00:00

"Cold Cuts: A Slice of American Culture"

  • Cold cuts are a significant part of American pop culture, with a rich history and widespread consumption.
  • Americans consume over $2 billion worth of cold cuts annually, with bologna being a standout favorite.
  • Bologna production involves a mix of meat ingredients, including mechanically separated chicken, ground through a circular die.
  • Bologna seasoning includes salt, sugar, corn starch, and mustard, blended into a paste and vacuumized before stuffing into casings.
  • Bologna logs are smoked for eight hours, chilled, sliced, and packaged for consumer consumption.
  • Salami, originating from Salamis, Cyprus, is a preserved meat made with a blend of shoulder meat, fat, and secret spices.
  • Salami production involves fermentation, where beneficial microorganisms preserve and cure the meat, leading to its distinctive taste.
  • Columbus Salami Company in San Francisco creates Genoa salami with respect for the meat's texture and balance of lean and fat.
  • Pastrami production at Carnegie Deli in New Jersey involves injecting brine into steer navels, followed by a spice massage and smoking with hickory wood.
  • Pastrami is cooked, cooled, and steamed before being served at Carnegie Deli, where over 10,000 pounds are consumed weekly.

14:17

Evolution of Meat Slicing Technology in Delis

  • European Jews brought a time-honored recipe in the mid-1800s for making sandwiches with at least a pound of meat per sandwich.
  • Head cheese, a cold cut made from pig head parts like tongue and snout, was developed as an economical way to use all parts of the animal.
  • Head cheese is cooked, mixed with spices, and then stuffed into beef intestine casings before being water-cooked and chilled.
  • Liverwurst, a German creation, is made by combining fresh pork livers with ground pork, spices, and salt, then emulsifying the mixture and casing it.
  • Liverwurst is high in vitamins, minerals, protein, iron, and cholesterol, and is water-cooked and chilled before being sliced and served.
  • Olive loaf is made by combining lean beef, ground pork, flour, and ice to keep the mixture cold during chopping, then adding Manzanilla olives for flavor.
  • Olive loaf is emulsified, shaped into loaves, oven-baked, and sliced for consumption.
  • Quiznos Sub shops toast 13 million pounds of turkey and 5 million pounds of ham annually, with thin slicing being crucial for sandwich consistency.
  • Hobart Slicer Plant in Georgia manufactures slicers for delis worldwide, with meticulous polishing and assembly processes to ensure hygiene and durability.
  • Wilhelmus van Berkel's 1898 invention of the slicer design, where the carriage moves instead of the blade, revolutionized the slicing industry and is still used today.

28:19

"Turkey Processing: From Slicers to Sanitation"

  • The sharpener is used to modern slicers, requiring one to three gentle passes to sharpen the blade effectively.
  • Berkel's slicer allowed for thick or thin cuts with a simple knob adjustment.
  • The slicer was designed for easy cleaning in the 1950s, with a removable carrier for meat that could be washed and reassembled easily.
  • Motors were added to slicers in the 1950s for convenience, eliminating the need for manual cranking.
  • At the Butterball Plant, meticulous sanitation procedures are followed to process 12 to 15 million turkeys annually.
  • Employees must wear freshly laundered smocks, sanitize hands, and pass through a boot scrubber before starting work.
  • Turkey carcasses are processed, with breasts trimmed and cleaned meticulously to ensure quality.
  • The plant undergoes thorough sanitation every night to prevent bacteria like listeria and salmonella.
  • Turkey breasts are injected with a brine solution, massaged, cooked, and pasteurized to ensure safety and quality.
  • Tofurky, a tofu-based cold cut, is produced by Turtle Island Food Company, using a blend of tofu, canola oil, soy sauce, wheat gluten, and secret spices.

00:00

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  • The text does not provide any specific practical information, numerical data, or names to create a detailed summary.
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