ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 287 



LARD, to Bleach. — Lard may be 

 bleached by applying a mixture of bichro- 

 mate of potassa and muriatic acid, in 

 minute proportions, to the fat. 



LARD, to Try Out—This should be 

 done in the open air. Set a large kettle 

 over the fire, in some sheltered place, on 

 a still day. It will cook much quicker in 

 large quantities. Put into the kettle, 

 while the lard is cold, a little saleratus, say 

 one tablespoonful to every twenty pounds ; 

 stir almost constantly when nearly done 

 till the scraps are brown and crisp, or un- 

 til the steam ceases to rise ; then there is 

 no danger of its moulding; strain out 

 into pans, and the first will be ready to 

 empty into crocks when the last is 

 strained. 



LARD, Making.— Cut the fat up into 

 pieces about two inches square; fill a 

 vessel holding about three gallons with 

 the pieces ; put in a pint of boiled lye, 

 made from oak and hickory ashes, and 

 strained before using; boil gently over a 

 slow fire, until the cracklings have turned 

 brown ; strain and set aside to cool. By 

 the above process you will get more lard, 

 a better article, and whiter than by any 

 other process. 



MEAT, to Keep Fresh in Winter.— In 

 Minnesota, where winter thaws are not 

 much to be feared, it is quite common to 

 hang up a porker or a leg of venison or 

 beef, and cut from it as it hangs, week 

 after week. It seems to us that meat so 

 kept must greatly deteriorate in flavor. 

 We like best to cut the beef or veni- 

 son into good pieces for cooking in vari- 

 ous ways, and pack them down in snow. 

 Of course they feeze, but thawing a piece 

 brought in to cook is a simple matter. 

 Put frozen poultry or meat in cold water, 

 and all the frost will shortly leave it. A 

 coating of ice will be found on the out- 

 side, which will easily cleave oft*. 



MEAT, to Protect from Fly.— An ef- 

 fectual way of excluding the fly is by 

 using a wire meat-safe, or by covering 

 the joints with a long loose gauze, or 

 some thin cloth, and hanging them from 

 the ceiling of a dry room. Pepper and 

 ginger should be sprinkled on the parts 

 likely to be attacked by the fly, but 

 should be washed off before the joint is 

 put to the fire. 



MEAT, to Cure. — To one gallon of 

 water add one and a half pounds of salt, 



half a pound of sugar, half an ounce ot 

 saltpetre, half an ounce of potash. In 

 this ratio the pickle to be increased to 

 any quantity desired. Let these be boiled 

 together until all the dirt from the sugar 

 rises to top and is skimmed off. Then 

 throw it into a tub to cool, and when cold 

 pour it over your beef or pork, to remain 

 the usual time, say four or five weeks. 

 The meat must be well covered with 

 pickle, and should not be put down for at 

 least two days after killing, during which 

 time it should be slightly sprinkled with 

 powdered saltpetre, which removes all 

 the surface blood, etc., leaving the meat 

 fresh and clean. Some omit boiling the 

 pickle, and find it to answer well ; though 

 the operation of boiling purifies the pickle 

 by throwing off the dirt always to be 

 found in salt and sugar. If this recipe 

 is properly tried it will never be aban- 

 doned. There is none that surpasses it, 

 if so good. 



MEAT, Preserving in Cans. — A new 

 method of preserving meat in tin cans, 

 which is favorably commented upon, is 

 that of Mr. R. Jones, of London. In 

 this process the meat is first packed in 

 its raw state into tins of any desired size. 

 The lids are then soldered down, the top 

 of each lid having a small tin tube in- 

 serted into it, which communicates with 

 the interior of the tin. These tubes are 

 next inserted into the exhauster, which is 

 a receptacle connected with a machine 

 designated a "Torricellian vacuum," an ap- 

 paratus in which the air is exhausted by 

 the action of water. The tins are then 

 placed in the cooking-bath, and at the 

 proper juncture the vacuum is created and 

 the meat most thoroughly cooked, at a 

 temperature varying from 180 to 228 de- 

 grees. At this stage another feature of 

 the invention comes into play. The vac- 

 uum having been created, a supply of 

 gravy is turned on from a receptacle, and 

 the tins filled with a nutritious fluid. The 

 feed-pipes of the tins are then nipped and 

 the cases heremetically sealed. By thus 

 filling the tins with the gravy the difficul- 

 ty of collapse, which has always hitherto 

 prevented large tins from being used, is 

 obviated, while the whole space of the 

 package is utilized. Testimonials, from 

 captains of ships and others who have 

 used it, are furnished by the inventor, cer- 

 tifying to the excellent quality of the 



