374 
Dec. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Domestic Economy, I&e<cape § 9 &c. 
Curing Provisions, 
As this is the season of the year when farmers are 
engaged in packing their stores of meat, we offer the 
following recipes, the value of which we have proved 
by our own experience. 
Hams.— -The following mode of preparing hams, we 
have practiced for several years, and can with confi- 
dence recommend it to others. 
For eveiy one hundred pounds of meat, take five 
pints of good molasses, (or five pounds brown sugar,) five 
ounces saltpetre, and eight pounds rock salt—add three 
gallons of water, and boil the ingredients over a gentle 
fire, skimming off the froth or scum as it rises. Conti¬ 
nue the boiling till the salt, &e. is dissolved. Have the 
hams nicely cut and trimmed, packed in casks with the 
shank end down, as the pickle will thus strike in better. 
When the pickle, prepared as above, is sufficiently cool, 
pour it over the hams. They may lie in pickle from 
two to six weeks, according to the size of the pieces, 
or the state of the weather, more time being required 
in cold, than in warm weather. Beef or mutton hams, 
intended for smoking and drying, may be cured accord¬ 
ing to this mode, and will be found excellent. 
Much of the goodness of hams depends on smoking. 
They should be hung at such a distance from the fire, 
as not to be heated. They should also be hung up with 
the shank end downward, as this will prevent the es¬ 
cape of their juices by dripping. Small hams, wanted 
for immediate use, will answer with two weeks’ smok¬ 
ing, but larger ones, and those wanted for keeping, 
should be smoked four weeks or more. 
Different articles are used for smoking. Perhaps 
saw-dust from hard wood, where it can be conveniently 
had, is on the whole to be preferred. Corn cobs are 
first rate, and are said by some to make the “ sweetest” 
smoke of anything. Chips of maple and hickory, or 
the small twigs and branches of those kinds of wood, do 
well. 
Hams are sometimes cured by adding pyroligneous 
acid to the pickle, but having had no experience with 
this mode, we cannot speak of its advantages. Ano¬ 
ther mode, which we have seen practiced, is to smoke 
the barrels or casks in which the hams are to be kept, 
and let them remain in pickle till wanted, only taking 
them out a sufficiently long time before using, to allow 
them to drain properly. The barrels are smoked by 
being placed over small fires of chips, cobs, &c. for sev¬ 
eral hours. The essence of smoke which is thus imbibed 
by the barrel, is imparted to the pickle, and thence to 
the meat. 
Westphalia Hams. —The following compound will 
give to any common ham the taste so much appreciated 
in that sold as Westphalia, and is recommended to them 
who prefer that flavor. In one hundred parts of water 
dissolve four parts of salt, two parts of brown sugar, 
one part Barbadoes tar, and one part spirits of wine. 
After it has been -well mixed and stood for several days, 
three tablespoonfuls may be mixed with the salt neces¬ 
sary to cure an ordinary ham. 
Beef. —The best pieces for corning, are the plates, 
ribs and briskets. Pack the pieces in casks, giving a 
very slight sprinkling of salt between each piece. Then 
cover the meat with a pickle made by boiling together, 
in 4 gallons of water, 8 lbs. salt, 3 lbs. brown sugar, 3 
oz. saltpetre, 1 oz. pearlash, for 100 lbs. meat. Keep 
a heavy flat stone on the meat, that it may be well 
immersed in the pickle. Beef packed in this manner 
will keep a year, and will rather improve than grow 
worse. 
Another mode recommended by a gentleman of long 
experience in the packing of beef and pork, is the fol¬ 
lowing : For 100 lbs. beef take 4 lbs. brown sugar, 4 
oz. saltpetre, and 4 quarts fine Liverpool salt, mix all 
intimately together, and in packing, sprinkle it evenly 
over the meat. Add no pickle, the dissolving of the 
salt, &c. with the juices of the meat, will be suffi¬ 
cient. Keep the meat closely pressed together by a 
good weight. We are assured that this is the best 
mode of packing beef that is intended for keepiug over 
the summer, and that the quality of the meat is unex 
ceptionably fine. 
Clear Pork —For this we prefer clear salt and water. 
After having divided the hog, take off the shoulders 
and hams, and all the lean meat, cut the sides cross¬ 
wise into strips, four or five inches wide, and after cov¬ 
ering the bottom of the cask with salt, pack the strips 
in layers set edgwise as closely as possible round the 
cask, with plenty of salt between each layer. When 
the cask is full and has settled for a day or two, put in 
cold water enough to fairly cover the pork. There is 
no danger of using too much salt for clear pork—no 
more will be taken up by the meat than is needed, and 
the remainder is safely left, and may be used in packing 
a new parcel. 
Gather up the Fragments. 
Families who kill their own beef and pork, always 
have various odds and ends which may be worked up 
in such a way as to form some of the most wholesome 
and palatable dishes. 
Tripe. —Take the tripe as soon as practicable after 
it comes from the animal, rinse it well in cold water, 
and immediately sprinkle a thick coating of air-slacked 
lime over the inside—roll it up and let it lie till the 
next day. Then cut it in pieces eight or ten inches 
square, scrape it, and put in soak in salt and water, 
where it should remain seven or eight days, or till the 
strong smell is entirely gone, changing the salt and 
water every day. Then boil it tender. It may be 
soused like pigs’ feet, or it r may be broiled, fried with 
sausages, or dipped in batter and fried alone. 
Souse. —Take pigs’ feet, the*]head, &c., and after 
bieng well cleaned, boil them in water with a little 
salt, till the meat drops off. Then slip out the largest 
bones, and put the meat in a stone jar, or well-sea¬ 
soned wood firkin. Make a liquor to cover them, as 
follows: Take one quart of the liquor they were boiled 
in, two quarts of vinegar, spiced with cloves, allspice, 
pepper, and cinnamon. While the meat is still warm, 
pour the liquor, boiling hot, upon it. In a few days it 
is fit for use, and may be either rolled in flour and 
fried in lard or sausage fat, or warmed in a little of the 
liquor, or eaten cold. The feet and shanks of cattle , 
cleansed in the same manner as pigs’ feet, are excellent. 
When sufficiently boiled, all the bones should be taken 
out, the meat and sinews immediately chopped fine, and 
seasoned with salt, pepper, allspice, summer-savory 
and sage. When wanted for use, they may be warmed 
over in a little butter, and are nice, delicate eating— 
scarce inferior to oysters, which they somewhat resem¬ 
bles. They make equally as good souse as pigs’ feet. 
The jelly which is left after they are boiled, makes ex¬ 
cellent blanc mange. 
Sausages. —Chop 6 lbs. of lean with 2 lbs. of fat 
pork, 4 table-spoonsful of salt, 6 do. of powdered sage, 
4 of black pepper, and 2 of cloves—a litttle rosemary 
may be added. If not stuffed, keep the meat in a tin 
vessel, tied down close; and when to be used roll it 
into cakes, dust them with flour, and fry. 
Pickled Cabbages. —Take the heads of red cab¬ 
bage, and quarter them. Then pack them in a cask 
or stone ware vessel, giving each layer a good sprink¬ 
ling of salt, and place some weight on them. After 
remaining about a week, prepare some vinegar by ad¬ 
ding to each gallon one ounce each of mace, cinnamon, 
