MEATS. 411 



hig a little more salt. Is certainly desirable for keeping meat over summer in 

 the pickle. 



Curing Ham, or other Meat for Smoking, without Pickle- 

 Warranted to Keep all Summer. — This plan is from Mrs. S. Weaver 

 of Columbiana, O., who says it has been in u^ in their family eight years, 

 while, if not good, one year would have been sufficient. I will give it in her 

 own language. She says: 



"Take 1 lb of saltpeter, 1 lb. of pepper, 3 lbs. of brown sugar and 10 

 qts. of salt to 1000 weight of pork Dissolve the saltpeter in a very little hot 

 water; mix all the ingredients well, and then rub it on and into the meat — 

 hams, etc. — with the hand, until it is everywhere covered. Insert your finger 

 under the center bone in hams and shoulders, and then fill that opening with 

 the mixture. Then lay in a cool place for alx)ut two weeks, not allowing it to 

 freeze, when it will be ready to smoke. This recipe has been tried and tested 

 by a number of people, and is a preventive in keeping off all troublesome 

 Insects, and the meat will be sweet and tender, and warranted to keep all 

 summer." 



Remarks. — The plan of pushing the finger in alongside the bone, and fil- 

 ling with the salt mixture, is valuable. A butcher-knife pushed in along-side 

 of the bone, would be the easier way for many to do. If used on beef, one 

 week would be long enough to lay instead of two for pork, as it takes salt or 

 other seasoning quicker than pork. 



Pork and Beef for Farmers, or Others, to Have Fresh in 

 Hot Weather, Without Cooking to Keep it, as Heretofore — 

 Tested for Several Years.— It has been known for some time past that 

 If fresh meat was pretty well cooked, seasoned as for present eating, and packed 

 In jars in its own fat, it would keep a whole season as well as canned fruit, ''^ 

 being upon the air-tight principle; but a writer in the New York Times, after a 

 fair test, gives us the following plan, without the cooking, which most persons 

 will, no doubt, prefer, then do the cooking when it is wanted for the table. 

 He says: 



" There is no good reason why farmers and their families should eat so 

 much salt pork, leaving all the fresh to the inhabitants of cities and villages, 

 when the following method will keep meat fresh for weeks even in the warmest 

 weather. I have tried it for several years. As soon as the animal heat is out 

 ©f the meat, slice it up ready for cooking. Prepare a large jar by scalding it 

 well with hot salt and water (strong brine). Mix salt and pulverized saltpeter. 

 Cover the bottom of the jar with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Put down a 

 layer of meat, sprinkle with the salt, saltpeter and pepper the same as if it was 

 just going to the table, and continue in this manner until the jar is full. Fold 

 a cloth or towel and wet it in strong salt and water in which a little of the salt- 

 peter is dissolved. Press the cloth closely over the meat and set it in a cool 

 place. Be sure and press the cloth in tightly, as each layer is removed, and 

 your meat will keep for months. It is a good plan to let the meat remain over 

 night, after it is sliced, before packing. Then dram off all the blood that oozes 

 from it. It will be necessary to change the cloth occasionally, or take it off and 

 wash it first in cold water, then scald in salt and water as at first. In this way 

 farmers can have fresh meat all the year round, I have kept beet that was 

 killed the 12th of February till the 21st of June Then I packed a large jar of 

 veal in the same way during the dog days, and it kept six weeks. This recipe 

 alone is worth the price of any newspaper in the land." 



N. B. — If you have not a cool dry place to keep the jar, run about two 

 inches of lard over the top of the meat and then put on the c^r\^h 



