Ch. XLI,] ON BACON AND HAM. 525 



occasioned by the too free use of salt. It has also a good effect on bacon ; 

 and perhaps were molasses used in the pickling of pork, it would improve 

 the flavour. 



In fp'estmoreland — which county is famous for its hams — the mode is, to 

 rub them very hard with bay-salt ; after which they are left on a stone 

 bench to drain off the brine. After four or five days this friction is again 

 repeated, with an addition of about an ounce of finely-powdered saltpetre to 

 each ham, mixed with the salt. They are afterwards suff"ered to lie for 

 about a week, and are then hung up in the chimney to dry. In this latter 

 process, however, there is a difference of practice ; some persons hanging 

 them so that they may be dried solely by the heat of the fire, without being 

 at all exposed to the smoke ; while others suspend ihem in the midst of the 

 smoke, whether arising from wood or peat, and leave them there until the 

 weather becomes warm, when they are packed up in oat-chaff; though, to 

 prevent them from being fly-blown, they ought to be covered with bags of 

 coarse linen or paper. 



In Hampshire, Berkshire, and some of the neighbouring districts, when 

 a hog is killed, the first process is to " swale" him, or singe off the bristles ; 

 which is done by laying the dead animal on one side and covering it thinly 

 with straw, to be lighted on the windward side, and renewed as it burns 

 away ; taking care, however, not to scorch the skin : the other side is then 

 turned, and when the process of singeing is completed, the bristles are 

 scraped ofl:' dry. This is considered far preferable to the common 

 method of scraping them off with the assistance of warm water, which 

 softens the rind, and is thought to injure the firmness of the fat. He is 

 next cut into flitches, which are eff'ectually rubbed with a mixture of salt- 

 petre and common salt*, and laid in a trough, where they continue for 

 three weeks or a month, in proportion to their size, and are during that 

 time frequently turned ; after which they are dried in the manner already 

 detailed, and when comj^letely cured, are either packed in chaff, or 

 deposited upon the kitclien rack, for home consumption. They should be 

 kept quite dry, and neither bacon, nor ham should ever be kept in cellars 

 or damp places f. 



The Wiltshire bacon — which is more esteemed than any other, as being 

 more commonly prepared in that and the adjoining county of Somerset, 

 from dairy-fed pork — is cured in the following manner. The flitches are 

 laid in large wooden troughs, and sprinkled over with bay-salt, after which 

 they are left for twenty-four hours in, order to drain off the blood and 

 superfluous juices: they are then taken out and wiped thoroughly dry, 

 and some fresh bay-salt, previously heated in a frying-pan, is rubbed into 

 the flesh until it has absorbed a considerable quantity. This process is 

 continued for four or five successive days, during which the flitches are 

 turned every day ; and, if the hog be large, they should be kept in strong 

 brine for five weeks, turning them every second day, until they are hung 

 up to dry J. 



In some places a practice prevails which is common in many parts of the 

 Continent, of stripping off the skin : the hide being much used by saddlers, 

 as well as the bristles by brush-makers, affords some profit, and the flesh 

 is said to take the salt better than in the former methods ; but, if cured 

 in this manner, w'e are assured that the bacon is subject to become rusty, 

 and to waste in the boiling. 



* See some observations on Salt, chap, xxxvii., pp. 418 and 424, 

 t Complete Grazier, Gth edit., p. 310. | Ibid. 



