10 Jov., 1916.] Curing Bacon. 667 



CURING BACON. 



A good method of curing bacon is the following: — The side is cut 

 into three pieces — ham, flitch, and shoulder. The rind of each is well 

 rubbed Avith fine, dry salt, the pieces being then placed on a stone slab 

 or in a shallow water-tight wooden box, and sprinkled with salt. The 

 curing of the flitch is effected by (1) applying a thin covering of salt; 

 (2) a slight sprinkling of saltpetre; (3) a sprinkling of granulated 

 sugar (a single handful) ; and (4) a final sprinkling of salt. The 

 flitch is then left for four days, when the rind is again rubbed with 

 salt, a very thin layer of Avhich is also sprinkled over the surface. 



In eight to ten days from the commencement of curing the salt is 

 brushed from the flitch, which is then hung up to dry for ten to fourteen 

 days, and finally covered with fine nuislin and stored in a cool, dry 

 room. The ham and shoulder are treated in the same way as the flitch, 

 but are left " in salt " fourteen to twenty-one days, and sprinkled with 

 salt at intenals of four or five days. The ham, especially, should be 

 disturbed as little as possible. From a carcass weighing 280 lbs. the 

 approximate amounts required are : — Fine, dry salt, 20 lbs. to 24 lbs. ; 

 saltpetre, 1 lb. to 1^ lbs. ; sugar, 2^ lbs. to 3 lbs. 



To smoke bacon after it is cured it is placed in water just warm 

 enough to bear one's hands in it, and is then brushed over, which 

 removes all fat, sugar, or slime from the surface. It is then placed in 

 a tank or A-at, and covered with clean cold water, in which it is allowed 

 to remain for from 18 to 24 hours. This takes a lot of the salt out, 

 and renders it a mild-cured bacon. The bacon is next hung up in a 

 well-ventilated room to dry. If the weather is favorable, the days 

 being fine and dry, with a slight breeze of wind during the greater part 

 of the time, the bacon is generally sufficiently dry in from six to seven 

 days. 



In trimming the bacon, the sharp points of the rib bones are saAvn 

 oflF, and the remaining part of the foreleg also saA^ai off level with the 

 shovdder. The knife is theti run over the belly part of the rib bones, 

 and any loose pieces removed. The sweat skin is scraped off Avith a 

 sharp knife, and the side is then rubbed over Avith a little olive oil, 

 which gives it a nice glossy appearance. The bacon is then placed in 

 the smokehouse. Tho Ix^st smokehouse is avIum'c the fireplace is outside 

 tlie smokehouse, and the smoke is couA'eyed through a flue to the 

 interior. This allows of the bacon being smoked in a cool state, Avhich 

 {<?, of course, a great advantage. From four to five days' smoking is 

 given, care being taken not to smoke too much, as this greatly affects 

 the flavour. 



The application of lime in mod'^rate quantities to tlie soil a.ssists the 

 beneficial proce-Jse^ jilwavs going on in fertile soils. d)ie to the action 

 of bacteria, tliU'^ helping the conversion of ammonia and other 

 coni|»onnds containin*'' nitrotren <lerived fr(un decaying organic matter 

 and nitrotrenons fertiliser"* into iiitrat(>s, the form in which ]dants 

 niaiidv, if not mi iielv, utilize nitrogen. 



