No. 3. 



To Cure Hams, fyc. 



85 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 To Cure Hams, &c. 



In a late number of the Public Ledger, 

 a writer who signs himself S. S., complains 

 much and justly, of the " imperfect manner 

 in which pork, bacon and lard are general- 

 ly prepared for market, by those who make 

 it a business in the west." And certainly 

 he might with great propriety, have included 

 butter in his catalogue, as is shown by your 

 correspondent, " Sarah F.," in No. 1, page 20, 

 vol. 7, of the Cabinet. It is a fact, that first- 

 rate hams — good Jersey hams, for instance, 

 will command in this market, from 30 to 50 

 per cent, more than those cured in the west. 

 Now, need this be the case J Where hogs are 

 fatted entirely upon the mast of the woods, 

 or at the distilleries, I believe the pork is not 

 equal to that fatted upon corn. But the great 

 grain growing districts of the Mississippi are 

 also prolific in hogs, which I suppose are 

 fatted like our own, upon that delight of the 

 grunter, Indian corn. Why then should the 

 article be inferior to our own'.' Some years 

 ago, it was common among the pork dealers, 

 whom we are now finding fault with, to cure 

 all parts of the hog, alike — hams, shoulders 

 and sides, all with one process, packing them 

 promiscuously in one cask. But I believe 

 they now bestow more care upon the hams. 

 They are, however, still an inferior article, 

 and of course bring an inferior price. On a 

 late occasion, when a large amount of mili- 

 tary stores was needed by the British govern- 

 ment, for their troops in India, it was intend- 

 ed to procure American salted provisions — 

 but on examination, it was found that they 

 were so inferior in quality, and so badly put 

 up, that they would not at all answer. And 

 you will remember, as well as myself, to have 

 seen it stated, sometime ago, a year or more, 

 perhaps, — that a considerable amount of 

 wretched stuff, shipped from this country for 

 butter, was sold in the London market for 

 common grease, it being entirely unsuitable 

 for the table ! 



The writer, S. S., above alluded to, gives 

 the following directions for curing hams, 

 shoulders, rounds of beef, tongues, &.C., for 

 drying, which he says he has followed suc- 

 cessfully for twenty years, and that hams 

 thus cured, were sold this last spring for 11 

 cents per lb. to sell again ; when, as we all 

 know, thousands were bought of the grocers 

 for 6^ cents. Now, with this difference 

 in price, between a good and an indifferent 

 article, is it not well worth while for all en- 

 gaged in its preparation, to secure to them- 

 selves, by their care and skill, a good remu- 

 nerating price, and leave the half priced 

 article to be furnished by the careless, the 



unskilful, and the unthrifty \ The directions 

 are as follow : H. M. 



" To one gallon of water, add eight pounds 

 coarse rock salt, one pint of molasses, and 

 two ounces saltpetre (nitre), mix the ingre- 

 dients in these proportions well together, and 

 let them remain until dissolved, say twelve 

 hours, and then assort your hams so as to 

 have them of the same or similar sizes in the 

 same tubs, packing them either end down- 

 wards, but not flat or horizontally, until the 

 cask is full — then pour the brine, as above 

 prepared, over them, and your work is about 

 done. Hams of about ten pounds weight 

 should remain in this pickle about four 

 weeks, and larger ones in proportion, and 

 no longer — (six weeks in common being quite 

 long enough for pretty large hams) — or they 

 will become too salt, a great fault indeed for 

 this article. All the various laborious and 

 tedious methods we hear of, such as dry rub- 

 bing with saltpetre, sugar, and so forth, may 

 be very good indeed, but quite unnecessary, 

 inasmuch as precisely the same end is attain- 

 ed by the .above process, with comparatively 

 little trouble. After the hams have lain a 



ufheient time in pickle, take them out and 

 let them drain for a day or two, before hang- 

 ing them up to smoke — for which purpose 

 hickory wood is much the best; and when 

 brought to a proper colour, they may be pack- 

 ed in casks of any size, in dry saw-dust, in 

 medium coarse salt, (as they will take no 

 nore salt,) or any compact article — or they 

 may be packed without any thing, if not in- 

 tended for export; in which case it is better 

 to interlay them with something to keep 

 them solid and compact, and to keep out flies. 

 The above recipe is unsurpassed for cur- 

 ing rounds of beef, beef tongues, &c, for 

 drying; but they must not remain in the 

 pickle more than ten days ; then to be taken 

 out, washed, and hung up to dry. I do not 

 profess to be acquainted with the best mode 

 of putting up beef for shipping. But pork 

 seems simple enough — cleanliness, despatch 

 and plenty of salt, are the principal requi- 

 sites. By despatch I mean, that the meat 

 should not be suffered to remain unpacked 



o long as to become partially tainted before 

 being salted. It is thought by some, that it 

 is sometimes left to lay too long in bulk be- 

 fore salting, which accounts for so much un- 

 saleable meat received from the interior. To 

 obviate all this, let the pork remain as short 

 a time as convenient after. becoming perfect- 

 ly cool, before it is cut up into proper sizes, 

 and begin to pack in sweet casks, by first 

 putting in the bottom, salt to the depth of two 

 inches ; then begin to put down a layer of 

 pork, in a circular form round next the staves, 



