HOW TO CURE HAMS AND BACON.

Patea Mail, Volume V, Issue 422, 3 May 1879, Page 2

HOW TO CURE HAMS AND BACON.

(American Paper.) Therr are different methods of curing Bacon and hams. The essential thing is to have the meat absorb a sufficient amount of salt to prevent putrefaction. This is the science of preserving meat, and salt produces this chemical effect. If there is too much salt, the meat is rendered tough and hard, and unpalatable, while at the same time enough salt must be used to ensure the preserving of the meat. The common and safe method is to make a brine strong enough to swim a ham or to float a potato, and immerse the meat in this until enough salt is absorbed. For hams of the' average size, twenty-five days is long enough to leave them in this pickle. Large hams should be left from a full month to six weeks, according to size. The relative proportions for making the brine are—six pounds salt for every 100 pounds meat, with a fourth of a of saltpetre. The saltpetre is put in to preserve the red and fresh color of the meat, as it is also beneficial to arrest and prevent putrefaction. It is a dangerous thing to use, and no larger quantity should ever be put into the mixture than one-fourth of a pound for every 100 pound of meat, or else persons who eat the meat may be injured, as saltpetre is destructive to the coats of the stomach. On this account some careful people do not use it, but the hams of commerce are impregnated with it, and it is this which gives them their rosy and fresh appearance. Brine can be made by pouring cold water upon the salt, and letting it slowly dissolve; or it may be made much sooner by using boiling water. Care must always be had in curing meat, in any form, or by any method, that it is not frozen, as frozen meat will not absorb either salt or brine. The meat will often freeze in the brine when the brine is not frozen, and when in this condition it will not cure.

Bacon is usually cured by dry salting,, that is, it is not put into a pickle, but the salt is put on the surface and allowed to penetrate, which it will do. Six pounds of salt to 100 pounds of bacon i& also the rule with the one-fourth of a pound of saltpetre, made fine and mixed with it. Hams can be cured in the same way. The pieces of bacon are first washed with brine to moisten the surface, and then the salt is sprinkled om and the pieces are piled one above the other as high as convenient. Wetting the surface with brine makes the salt stick to the meat, and as it gathers dampness from the meat it soon molts, or dissolves, and is taken off by the meat. The pieces should remain for eight days undisturbed after the salt is put on, and at the end of this time they should be sprinkled again. If the bacon is light and thin by this time it will be salt enough; but if it is thick and heavy it should be treated again, and left a week longer. When sufficiently cured, the meat will be dry on the surface, or at all events, not slimy and wet. It is an easy matter to test the degree of saltness by tasting the meat raw, or by cooking a small piece. The hams or pieces of bacon should be washed in warm water to make them look neat and clean before being smoked. When the meat is found to be frozen, which may be known by running a sharp Iron through it, it must be thrown in fresh water. When cured in the summer time, the salt is rubbed into the bacon to insure its active absorption. This is not necessary in cold weather, as the low temperature will arrest putrefaction until the salt has taken effect. Molasses and sugar are often added to the salt, or mixed with the pickle, to impart a sweet taste to the meat. To get just the right degree of saltness to meat, so as to insure its preservation, and at the same time not have it too salt, requires experience and skill, at least to get it perfect. One dealer used to pack bis hams in tight barrels, and fill them half full of brine, and then turn them down on the sides every day, rolling them over. This plan kept the hams in the brine half of the time, and had the effect of making them softer and more This was his secret, and others havemodes differing, which each one claims to be superior, which makes his wares preferable to others. Close observation and experience will enable anyone to secure success. If meat is to be kept a long time, it requires more salt, as the action of the air upon it will draw out a portion of the salt. Many dealers have a special trade, and fit their meat to suit the tastes of their customers, and adapt it to the conditions required. Bacon, that is the sides of a pig, is not generally used by farmers in the North, in this form, but as pork,, kept in pickle. When cured and smoked, these parts of a pig are more palatable, and decidedly more fashionable. A breakfast on bacon is considered recherche , while a plate of pork is styled vulgar and common. At all events bacon would make a change now and then for farmers ; and for breakfast, or as a side dish for dinner, help the good houswife to make her table more attractive. All of the lean on the sides should be left on, as it makes the bacon much better. Bacon is improved like other meats, by being broiled. Pigs weighing not more than 401b when dressed make choice bacon, which will sell for twice as much as pork will bring. This is the minimum weight, while larger ones may be used in the same way with more profit than to go into pork.

The Taranaki Herald, of the 28th mst., Bvys: —“During the time the surveyors were engaged ou the Wairnate Plains, a coasting craft was seen hanging on and off the land between Opunake and the Waingongoro River, and finally was observed at anchor in a direct line with the Maori fishing . station at Omuturangi. She was first noticed at anchor in the evening. The next morning she had moved further to the north, and appeared to be taking shelter near Oeo. At this latter place a small boat or canoe was seen to be plying between the vessel and the shore. Being no stores or any inhabitants thereabouts, the wonder is what the craft could want there, and more particularly what object there could be in a boat or canoe plying backwards and forwards between the vessel and the shore. Could any explanation be given it would allay fears or suspicions which from this circumstance have arisen.”

Well-dressed Men. —Among those habitual errors of conduct which are common in both careful and careless persons, not one is more often met with than disregard of the •advantages derivable from being well dressed; yet whoever lives observantly in such a County as Patea, is soon convinced that this mistake is fruitful of mischievous results. All of us instinctively judge from first impressions; we proceed from the exterior to the interior; a well-dressed man gratifies our fondness for beauty and our appreciation of neatness; and there is no one, however cynical or unobservant, but is pleased when a well-dressed person, even if a stranger, passes by, and disposed to think favorably of him. This universal disposition cannot safely be offended. To be habitually a sloven is to constantly, though unconsciously, offend numerous persons, among whom the favour of some may be valuable; and therefore a shrewd man is not content to make himself neat now and then, but always will appear well dressed. He keeps his clothes in good order, and is careful in the selection of a tailor. In bringing this maxim before public notice, R. A. Adams, Cardigan House, is gratified by remembering that the disposition of a great many of his customers to appear in public well dressed has been met by the combination in his goods of selection, material, good fit, and low price. He obtains his cloths in the most advantageous markets; he employs first-class cutters and workmen; he avoids obsolete fashions; and he is content with moderate profits in the place of tne exorbitant percentage which only a few years ago was universal, and still is frequent in the tailoring trade. His gloves, hats, shirts, hosiery, ties, and scarfs, are also such as will please the most fastidious. Whatever experience, capital, care, and good taste can effect on the tradesman’s side, is done by E. A. Adams, in order that all his customer’s may realise the substantial advantages of being well-dressed; and that his efforts give satisfaction, is shown by the rapid and steady increase in the number of those who deal with him. Attentive to the changes of costume necessitated by varying seasons, and of style by the dictatee of fashion, R. A. Adams has now on hand a largo and carefully selected stock of cloths suitable for all seasons.—R. A, ADAMS Cardigan House, Carlyle.—ADVT. Holloway's Ointmentand Pills.— Reliable Remedies.—ln wounds, bruises, sprains, glandular swellings, enlarged veins, neuralgic pains and rheumatism, the application of this soothing Ointment to the affected part not only gives the greatest case, but likewise cures the complaint. The Pills wonderfully assist in banishing the tendency to rheumatism and similarly painful disorders, whilst the Ointment cures every local ailment. The Pills remove all constitutional disturbance and regulate every impaired function of any organ throughout the human body. The cure is neither temporar} 7 nor superficial, but permanent and complete, and the disease rarely recurs, so perfect has been the purification performed by these searching yet harmless operations.