CURING BACON AND HAMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3114, 19 November 1913, Page 16

CURING BACON AND HAMS.

SOME USEFUL HINTS. Hany a good ham has been cured by the following recipe:—For a ham of 16lb or l£lb take a half-pint of salt, a handful of brown sugar, and a tcaspoonful of saltpetre. Mix well together, rub the ham thoroughly, and fill the hock end. Lay on a board, and spread over it all the loose salt. In a week or 10 days this will bo absorbed then rub it again with the same amount of salt and sugar, omitting the saltpetre Lot it lie two or three weeks, then hang up in a cool, airy place. Another Excellent Recipe on a larger scale is for 1001 b of ham or shoulder: Use 41b of salt, 21b of sugar, and ilb of saltpetre. Mix well together, and divide into three equal parts. Rub onethird well into the hams, and leave on a board for three or four days until absorbed; then rub in a second amount, and the remaining third a few days later. After two or throe weeks, when the salt is absorbed, scrub the hams clean, hang up and dry: then smoke, wrap in paper, and put into bag, tying it tightly. American Methods.— A Virginian recipe is for "about 501 b of ham; Use a gallon and a-half of salt, 11b of brown sugar, one-eighth of a pound of saltpetre, an ounce of black pepper, and half an ounce of cayenne. Trim the hams neatly, and rub the skin side first with salt, and lay aside Then into the flesh aide of each ham rub two teaspoonsful of brown sugar. Rub the pepper particularly about the hock and under the bone, and then rub the whole ham over with salt- Now pack the hams, skin side down, and one upon the other, in a tub or barrel, the bottom of which has been covered with some of the remaining salt, and with the rest in layers between. The process of salting will he complete in five weeks. At the end of that time the hams arc cleansed with a brush or a dry, rough cloth, rubbed with clean hickory ashes, and then smoked. To Sugar-cure Bacon. — To 501 b allow 31b of sugar and a pint of molasses, 61b of salt, and a full tablespoonful each of saltpetre and saleratus (carbonate of soda and salt). Bo sure that your firkin or barrel is sweet and clean, then cover the bottom of it with about 21b of salt. Mix the sugar, molasses, saltpetre, saleratus, and the remaining salt into a paste, and rub each piece thoroughly with it, working it in well, then pack in the firkin, skin down. Cover with cold water

just to cover the meat: lay over a board with a weight to keep tne meat under, and leave for four weeks, turning the moat and stirring up the pickle every week. Take out, wipe, rub into each piece as much dry salt and sugar, in equal amounts, as it will take up. Pack in a dry, clean firkin, and leave for 24 horn’s, then smoke. —Farmers’ Gazette.