1921.] 



Home Curing of Bacon. 



fortnight. Clean and dry off, and sew up in a thin caUco bag. 



A Wiltshire recipe for bacon for a pig of S score : — Sprinkle 

 the flitches with salt and let drain 24 hours; then mix 1^ lb. of 

 coarse sugar, IJ lb. of bay salt, 6 oz. of saltpetre and 4 lb. of 

 common salt; rub the mixture well into the bacon, turning and 

 rubbing every part daily for a month ; dry off and smoke 10 days. 



A Berkshire recipe for curing a ham of about 16 lb. : — } lb. 

 of coarse moist sugar, J lb. of common salt, 1 oz. of saltpetre, 

 1 oz. of bay salt, 1 oz. of gi'ound black pepper. Dissolve over a 

 slow fire and put the paste on the fleshy part of the ham as w^arm 

 as the hand can bear it. When the paste is dissolved baste twice 

 daily for a month, wipe well and dry off. 



Curing a bacon pig of 14 score : — 1 lb. of saltpetre, IJ lb. of 

 coarse brow^n sugar, IJ lb. of salt; first day sprinkle wdth salt- 

 petre, then mix remainder wdth- sugar and salt ; rub in well, finish 

 with a good layer of salt ; leave about three w^eeks, and during the 

 last tw^o days rub with a little pepper. 



The Lard. — For lard which has to be rendered down for use, 

 the leaf fat will have beeii carefully removed, also the apron 

 fat and trimmings. The leaf fat is the finest and best and is 

 rendered down separately. It is cut up into small pieces of about 

 an inch and the fat boiled out, then it is passed through a fine 

 strainer and poured into the bladder, which should have been 

 thoroughly cleaned. This is done by turning the bladder inside 

 out, scrubbing it well and soaking in salt water, subsequently 

 drying. The apron fat and trimmings are also cut up, boiled 

 down, and strained into jars or basins. Eaten with bread the 

 scrap fat that remains after straining makes a pleasant and whole- 

 some food for children, and is very popular with the young 

 people. It is known as " crumps " in some parts. The leaf 

 lard in a well-fed pig should weigh in lb. the weight of the pig 

 in stones. Thus, for a 25 stone pig there should be about 25 lb. 

 of leaf lard. If w^ell boiled it will keep for a year. 



The meat trimmings can be turned into pork pies and sausages 

 and will make a pleasant change for breakfast fare. The whiter 

 pieces are used for sausages and the darker for pies. 



In Lincolnshire, parts of the pig are used in the Christmas 

 mincemeat and it must not be forgotten that the fry, consisting 

 of the liver, sweetbread and pluck, makes a variety of savoury 

 dishes w^hich are a welcome relief to the monotony of the poor 

 man's daily fare. It will be readily seen that a pig is a mine 

 of wealth to the poor man, who should be encouraged b}^ every 

 means to keep pigs of his own. 



D 



