CURING.] 



PIGS, 



[cueing. 



slice off the first rib next the shoulder, where 

 he will find a bloody vein, which must be taken 

 out ; for if lei't in that part it is apt to spoil. 

 The corners should be squared off when the 

 hara is cut out." 



For curing bacon, there is, literally, no end 

 of recipes ; and in Yorkshire, Westmoreland, 

 and Cumberland, no sugar is made use of. 

 Mr. Eowlaudson's plan for saltiug is thus 

 described : — " Having cut up a well-fed hog, 

 which absorbs much less salt than an ill-fed 

 animal, and runs very little risk of having been 

 over-fed, salt and saltpetre, in the proportions of 

 about one pound and a-half of salt, and one of 

 saltpetre, to 41 lbs. of meat, must be sprinkled 

 over the flitches, &c. ; and then they must be 

 liid, one over the other, in a slate trough, or 

 a wooden trough lined with lead, to the num- 

 ber of half-a-dozen. In the course of twenty- 

 four or forty-eight hours, according as the salt 

 is converted into brine (and this will depend 

 on the atmosphere ; in frosty weather the meat 

 will not take the salt, and in moist weather 

 it is apt to spoil), tiie sides are removed, 

 rubbed, replaced in inverse order, the top at 

 the bottom, with a little fresh salt sprinkled 

 between each course, and the brine thrown 

 over the whole. In favourable weather for 

 curing, once turning and replacing \%ill be 

 found enough, and will not occupy more than 

 a vreek. Packed dry with layers of salt, and 

 covered with canvas, bacon is thus prepared 

 ' green' for the Loudon markets, and thence 

 drawn to be smoked as required for consump- 

 tion." To this Mr. Eowlandson adds, "that 

 nothing makes better hams or bacon than a 

 well-bred sow, spayed after producing four or 

 five litters." 



The most approved method of curing bacon, 

 as practised by a majority of extensive curers, 

 is thus given by Mr. Eiehardson : — " If the 

 swine you design killing have been a recent 

 purchase, and have been driven from a distance, 

 so as to have become winded or jaded, it is 

 right that they should be kept up for a week, 

 or perhaps more, until the eill'cts of the jour- 

 ney have been entirely removed, and the 

 animals restored to their original tranquillity 

 and primeness of condition. During this in- 

 terval they should be fed upon meal and water. 

 A difference of opinion exists, as to whether 

 this food should be given in a raw state or 

 788 



boiled. I have taken some pains to ascertain 

 the truth, and have no hesitation in pronounc- 

 ing in favour of the latter. At the same time, 

 however, the mess should be given in a per- 

 fectly cold state, and not of too thick con- 

 sistence. Some recommend that a small dose 

 of nitre should be given daily in the food for a 

 fortnight previous to killing. Others pro- 

 nounce this to be unnecessary ; but all unite 

 in recommending a very considerable reduc- 

 tion in the animal's food for two days before 

 killing, and a total deprivation of food for at 

 least the last twenty hours of life." 



For dosnestic purposes, bacon is cured by 

 well rubbing into the flitches a sufficient quan- 

 tity of salt with a little nitre, either with the 

 salting-glove or the bare hand. The flitches 

 are then placed on the floor of an outhouse, and 

 covered with straw, with the rind downwards- 

 straw being laid above this ; then another flitch, 

 and so on. Over the whole is placed a board ; 

 and, above all, heavy stones or weights. In 

 three weeks, or a month, the meat is suffi- 

 ciently salted, and is hung upon hooks in the 

 kitchen rafters. The general practice of burn- 

 ing wood and turf, in some kitchens, imparts a 

 sweetness to the bacon not to be met with in 

 any which can be purchased. Another mode 

 is to prepare a pickle, by boiling common salt 

 and nitre in water. ]\Iix, for a single pig of 

 tolerable size, 1 lb. of coarse brown sugar with 

 half a pound of nitre: rub this well in with 

 the salting-glove; then put the meat into the 

 pickle, and let it lie there for two days ; after- 

 wards take it out, and rub it with salt alone ; 

 then put it back into the pickle. A sweet 

 pickle may be formed by boiling molasses with 

 salt and water. In using this, rub the meat 

 with sugar and nitre ; add a small portion of 

 strong pickle to the meat ; put the meat into 

 this, and let it lie in it for three weeks. If 

 there be any spare room in the cask, fill it up 

 with molasses. Eight pounds of salt, one pound 

 of nitre, and sis pints of molasses, will about 

 suffice for each hundredweight of meat, and 

 will take about five gallons of water. In about 

 three weeks — less or more time being required, 

 according to size — take the meat out of pickle, 

 and hang it in the drying-house. While 

 kept there, the flitches should be hung neck 

 downwards. The ham and the flitch may 

 be cut out and trimmed, according to fancy. 



