Modern Meat

Industrializing pork changed the character of this meat, as well as the types favored by Americans. At the same time that they were improving production technologies and systematizing barrel-pork varieties, national packing companies were seeking to expand the consumption of branded pork meats, principally ham and bacon. By pursuing this branding strategy, meatpacking companies transformed the pork Americans ate.

The focal points for innovation, bacon and ham, occupied different places in the pork hierarchy. Hams were the elite pork products. Fine differences among hams could be produced by the foods fed to the pigs, the cut and trim of the raw meat, and the ingredients in the curing solution. Most nineteenth-century hams were fully cured in a liquid brine solution after an initial dry-curing period. Consistently, though, hams were subsequently dried and smoked.