Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1876 — Curing and Keeping Pork. [ARTICLE]

Curing and Keeping Pork.

Although we Cannot class the products of the hog as food quite as high in the scale as we do beet and poultry, vet if hogs are judiciously fed and the pork, hams, sausages and lard are all well prepared and thoroughly cured, they make a valuable addition to the family stores, especially of those who live at an inconvenient distance from a retail market-or a butcher’s stall. Pork, unlike beef, can be kept for a long time in strong brine without growing over-salt and unwholesome. Some housekeepers are always having trouble with their pork barrel. The brine scums over, becomes tainted, and soon the pork is spoiled, or it gets oily am| “ rusty,” and anything but palatable; while others are successful in keeping pork nice and sweet till it is all consumed, whether it be a longer or shorter time. As the season is now at hand when the majority of farmers are laying up pork and pork products for the year, perhaps a few words about curing it may notcome amiss. To have pork keep well for a long time it is only necessary to have good, sweet, wholesome pork to begin with, a clean, tight barrel, plenty of pure, clean, coarse salt, and a cbol place for keeping it when packed. To keep pork a year, first cut out most of the lean meat, as this contains more blood to discolor the brine, and besides it taxes salt very freely and soon becomes hard like old salt beef. Procure a tight, clean oak barrel and scatter coarse salt a half inch deep over theM>ottom. Then, haying cut the pork into strips of nearly uniform width, pack them on edge, with the rind to the barrel, and follow round till the bottom is covered by a layer of strips so close and solid that no single piece can rise without bringing up the wliple layer. Then fill all tlie interstices with salt, and spread it a half inch thick over the top of tlie layer; then pack another layer, and so on till the barrel is full of the pork, all packed. Fine salt may be used for filling the spaces between the strips, but coarse salt is better between the layers, as it keeps the several layers far enough apart to admit the brine to both edges of the pork. If pork were to be packed absolutely solid it would spoil before the brine could have time to penetrate it. Pork should be packed so solid that it will remain in layers, but so loosely that the brine can reach it all immediately. On the toplayer place enough clean, flat stones to keep it from floating after the water or brine is added. After the pork is all packed it may remain a day-or two before the brine or water is added, or it may be finished up at first. In warm weather, the sooner pork is in bpne, after becoming thoroughly cool, the better, but in cold weather there is less need of haste. Some people always make a brine to turn on the pork after packing, and others are very particular to use old brine that has seen service. Old brine is as good as new, if it is perfectly sweet, but it is no better. Our own practice is to pour away the old brine as not worth the trouble of scalding and skimming. Salt is cheap now, only about a cent a pound. If there was much undissolved salt in the old brine we

save that by, washing it in clean water and pouring oft all the sediment and floating bits of pork. There is but one objection to the use of water instead of brine for filling the barrels after the pork is packed. It takes some time for the salt to dissolve, and the pork may taint before it becomes salted; out if plenty of fine salt is used between the strips and on the top of the last layer there should be no risk in pouring on fresh water. It is necessaiy in this case that the barrel be shaken a little every day for a week, to agitate the salt and help it to dissolve quicker. Always use more salt than the water can take up. It will not be wasted, as it can be used another year. Keep the pork under brine all the time. The atmosphere will injure salted pork in a short time. If little bits of pork no larger than peas are allowed to float on the brine they will become impure, and will Injure the brine after a time. This is especially true if pork is left untouched for several weeks in warm weather. Pork keeps heat where the brine is stirred often, as this keeps all the little floating bits saturated with brine. Salt-dealerrec ommend to use salt enough to cover the brine. There is no need of this if the brine is agitated every week. Hams may be kept in brine that is saturated with salt, but they soon become so hard and salt that they are unfit for the table. They may be kept soft by using plenty of sugar or molasses instead of salt, and by shaking the pickle two or three times a week, and by taking them up and repacking them two or three times. In curing hams we aim to use just as little salt as possible and have them keep. An old rule that has served us well is to have salt enough in the pickle to just float a potato. The common rules are often worthless, because they tell how much salt, sugar, etc., to use for 100 pounds of meat. There must be brine enough to cover the meat, and, if the barrel is deep and the hams pack well, less brine will be needed than if they are spread out in a shallow tub and consequently a smaller quantity of salt and sugar will be needed. That housekeepers most successful in keeping meat who examines it oftenest. Before putting the hams into the pickle it is well to run a knife around the bones in two or three places, as this will let the pickle work on the inside where they are most likely to taint. This precaution is particularly necessary if the hams are very large. If the pickle is but just strong enough to keep the hams, they may remain in it all winter, or they may be taken out and packed awav for summer use. The best way to keep liams in warm weather, that we ever tried, is to cut them in slices ready for the pan and then pack in stone jars, pouring hot lard over the whole after the jar is filled. This keeps flies away and prevents mold and there is the advantage of having the meat all ready for cooking at a moment’s warning. —New England Farmer.