SUBSTITUTES FOR SUCROSE IN CURING MEATS. re 8S 
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. 
