IinSIt HAMS.] 



AND Tlli:iU VAIilOUS BKEEDS. 



[lUlSU BACON. 



wood must be lonpjer than the flitch is wide, 

 80 that their ends may rest upon a beam. 

 They may bo put so near to each othi-r as not 

 to touch. The width of eacli will hoKl twenty- 

 four flitches in a row, and there will bo five 

 rows, which will contain 120 flitches. As 

 many liains may bo hung at the same time 

 above the flitches, arran£!;ed in the best 

 manner you can. The lower end of the 

 flitches will be within two-and-a-half or three 

 feet of the floor, which must be covered five 

 or six inches thick with sawdust ; this should 

 be kindled at two diflorent sides. It will 

 burn, but not cause any flame to injure the 

 bacon. The door must be kept close, and the 

 liut must have a small hole in the roof, so 

 that part of the smoke may ascend. This lot 

 of bacon and hams will be ready to be packed 

 up in a hogshead, and sent off in eight or ten 

 days, or a little longer, if required, with very 

 little loss of weight. After the bacon is salted, 

 it may lie in the salt- house until an order 

 is received." 



THE IRISH MODE OF CURING HAMS 

 AND BACON. 



In Limerick, hams have long had celebrity ; 

 and their excellence is supposed to arise princi- 

 pally from the sparing use of salt, and the 

 substitution for it, to a large extent, of coarse 

 sugar, accompanied with a judicious plan of 

 smoking. Some of the rooms in which this 

 process is carried on, have a height of upwards 

 of thirty feet. To extract the superabundant 

 salt from the meat, Mr. Richardson recom- 

 mends the following : — " Put your meat to 

 steep in tepid water ; and after it has lain in it 

 for some hours, add a small quantity of sul- 

 phuric acid. In three or four hours take it 

 out, and wash it two or three times in water; 

 to the third water add a small portion of car- 

 bonate of soda. Take your meat out, wash it 

 again, and boil it for dinner. Tou will find 

 the salt nearly, if not wholly discharged ; but 

 you need not be surprised, should the colour 

 of the meat be somewhat darkened ; the dete- 

 rioration does not extend further ; the flavour 

 remains the same as when first corned, and 

 the article becomes as wholesome as fresh 

 meat. It is possible tiiat this simple process 

 may be found useful in long voyages ; for a 

 long- continued diet of salted animal food, 



without a tiro ubo of vegotableB, is found to 

 contribute to the production of many diseaaea. 

 A much more himplo ])roce38 in the utecping 

 of the bacon over-niglit in cold water. So 

 great is tho alllnity of salt for water, that a 

 twenty-four, or even eighteen hours' steep 

 will generally remove any degree of superabun- 

 dance of salt. It intorfcres less with the fla- 

 vour than any other chemical mixture whatever; 

 and is, on this account, and its easy mode of 

 being effected, by far the preferable plan." 



The following communication was sent by 

 IVfr. .1. Hawkins, Dublin, to ]\Ir. Jiichardson, 

 and explains tho Irish mode of curing hams 

 and bacon : — 



" The hog is usually kept fasting for twenty- 

 four hours previous to being killed. Ho is 

 then brought to the slaughter-house, and dis- 

 patched in the following manner: — The 

 butcher takes a maul (a hammer with a long 

 handle, like those used for breaking stones on 

 a road), and with it strikes the pig on the fore- 

 head. If he be an expert hand, a single blow 

 will suflice to knock the hog down, and ren- 

 der him quite senseless. A knife is then 

 taken, and the butcher sticks the animal in 

 the lower part of the throat, just between the 

 fore legs. A boiler, or tub, full of very hot, 

 or boiling water, is iu readiness, in which 

 the hog is immersed until the hair becomes 

 so loose that it can be scraped off with a knife 

 quite clean. When there is no convenience 

 of this kind, the same effect may be produced 

 by pouring boiling water over the pig. The 

 hog is then hung up by the hind legs, cut up 

 the middle, and the entrails taken out ; after 

 this, the carcass is left there for about twelve 

 hours, to cool and become firm, when it is fit 

 for boning or cutting up. Sometimes, instead 

 of scalding, the pig is swalcd by fire : burnt 

 straw is generally used for this purpose ; and 

 this is called ' singed pork.' 



" The following is the mode of boning or 

 cutting : — The pig is placed on a strong table 

 or bench ; the head is then cut off close to the 

 ears, and the body opened down the back. 

 A cleaver or saw is used for the purpose, and 

 both back-bone and hip-bones are taken out, 

 except in one or two places, yet to be spoken 

 of, where a different system is pursued. The 

 hind feet are then cut oft', so as to leave a 

 shank to the ham. Tiie fore legs are next cut 



791 



