1921.] 



Home Curing of Bacon. 



623 



to turn rusty, yellow and rank when cured. On cutting up the 

 pig it is the custom to cut a thick piece about four inches wide 

 out of the centre of the back, right down from neck to tail. 

 This is called the chine, and is cut up into four pieces, the neck 

 chine being the largest. It is also the custom to take the hams 

 oft* and cure them separately, as the hams of such large pigs 

 would weigh from 30 to 40 lb. each. 



In the south and south midlands the piece down the back is 

 as meagre as possible, being the bare amount necessary to re- 

 move the backbone, and it is called the " Lazarus," presumably 

 because it is so poor. 



There are two ways of dealing with the flitches — (1) Country 

 cut, (2) London cut. In the country cut the sweetbone, griskin 

 and sparerib are removed and used or sold separately as joints. 

 This is considered more profitable if selling the bacon, but for 

 home consumption the curer will do well to use the " London 

 cut," in which no meat at all is removed. The " sparerib," 

 however, is nearly always taken out, except in a very small pig. 



In Lincolnshire, where home curing of bacon is the rule, 

 the " putting away " of the pig is one of the most important 

 days of the year to the housewife. Every part of the 

 pig is turned to account, and a wealth of pork pies and 

 sausages as well as superior quality lard, is produced by the 

 end of the day. There is a veritable feast for the labourer and 

 his family for some days after the killing of the pig, and some 

 of the excellent pies and sausages may be sold to neighbours. In 

 the midlands and south not so much of this is done, the custom 

 being to sell the spare meat as fresh joints instead of converting 

 it into sausages and pork pies, the meat being somewhat differ- 

 ently cut out. 



Killing the Pig.— This will usually be done by the butcher 

 and cutting up should take place the next day. In some cases 

 kiUing takes place on Saturday and cutting up on the following 

 Monday. It is important to allow the meat to set. In very cold 

 weather it is possible to kill and cut up the same day, and get 

 the bacon in salt, but it is best to kill at least a day before. The 

 butcher will kill and hang up the pig, and return the next day 

 to cut it up, the housewife in the meantime preparing the 

 materials for curing. The butcher should remove the knuckle 

 bone from the hams and " draw " the shoulder blade to allow 

 the salt to work into the meat. 



Curing.. — For dry salting the sides of pork should be placed on 

 a low wooden bench the length of the pig, the bench being first 

 sprinkled with a good layer of salt. If a bench is not available 



