SUBSTITUTES FOR SUCROSE IN CURING MEATS. 19 



SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF SWEET-PICKLE BACON EXPERIMENTS. 



1. Nineteen tierces of bellies were cured in four establishments. 



2. The corn sugars were absorbed as completely by the meat dur- 

 ing the process of curing as was the cane sugar. 



3. As an average of the results obtained at establishments A, B, and 

 C, it appears that the old pickle from the cured bellies contained 64.57 

 per cent of the salt, 65.75 per cent of the sodium nitrate, and 75.50 

 per cent of the sugar originally present in the new pickle. The 

 waste of curing materials occasioned by throwing away the old 

 pickle from sweet-pickle bellies is apparent. 



4. No unsound bacon was found in any of the tests. 



5. The quality of the bacon cured with the several sugars did not 

 differ widely. As an average of the results of the tests conducted 

 at establishments A, B, and C, it appears that the bacon should be 

 ranked in approximately the following order, according to the kind 

 of sugar used: First, dextrose; second, cerelose; third, 70 per cent 

 corn sugar; fourth, granulated sugar; and, fifth, refiners' sirup. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH BOX-CURED BACON. 



A large proportion of the fancy breakfast bacon on the market is 

 cured by the so-called " box-cure " method. The bellies cured in this 

 way are especially selected for quality and size and are trimmed to 

 rectangular form. The chilled bellies are packed in specially made 

 metal-lined wooden boxes provided with hinged, tight-fitting covers. 

 The boxes are usually lined with waxed paper before packing with 

 bacon. The bottom is sprinkled with a thin covering of the curing 

 mixture consisting of salt, sugar, and sodium nitrate, and a layer 

 of bacon bellies is then carefully packed on the bottom, flesh side up, 

 and a thin covering of the curing mixture is sprinkled over the meat. 

 Successive layers of bacon and curing mixture are packed until the 

 box is filled. The top layer is finally covered with paper and the 

 cover is fitted into place with the aid of pressure. A definite weight 

 of bacon and curing mixture is packed in each box. The capacity 

 of the boxes used by different establishments varies. Some estab- 

 lishments use boxes holding approximately 625 pounds ; others have 

 boxes holding 1,000 pounds. Bacon cured in this way is not over- 

 hauled. The curing mixture abstracts moisture from the meat and 

 before the end of the curing period the bellies should be entirely 

 covered with the pickle formed in this way. 



PLAN OF WORK. 



The experiments with box-cured bacon were carried on at estab- 

 lishments A, B, and C, three boxes of bacon being cured at each 

 plant. Granulated sugar, dextrose, and cerelose were the sugars 

 used. A brief record of the experiments is presented in Table 16. 



