The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1840-12-09
From the Agriealturalist.
AZ MAKING GOOD BACON.

time for Putting up Pork lot baCo,,' %
this standing dish in the West nave
concluded to give you the result OF thirty
years experience upon this important
snbiect. The first thing necessary to
make good Bacon is to have lat hogs
slauobter them in the beginning OF the
SseS en- that YOU can take care OF the
of,l before Saturday night; otherwise
If warm day or two should intervene
part of it may be lost. 1t is highly i'm
.por,ant that hogs, slaug htered for bacon'
Should be we'll bled-the more complete
" the vessels are emptied of blood, the
less disposition there is in meat to ta'nt.
or purify. As soon as the hog is well
cleaned and hung up, it should be free'y
washed with warm water, wiped with a
towel, and carefully scraped with a snarp
Knife especially the head cars and ieeI' IL
vou wish 10 have good souse OF h"gs'
head cheese. These parts are genefaiiy
neglected. and thrown by for more
conven;ent season, and then taken up
hr no co,k or some idle chap about
10 cs,ablishment, and then hair signed
aF .nJ the skin burned until it be-
comes black and bitter; thereby impart..
ing its color and taste TO the souse ,s s" anu
hos. s.head-cheese. After cutting the hog
the inside should be carefully and ireeiy
washed with cold water, with the NOUN
omen, 50 the whole may pass through the
throat and remain in this condition until
completely cool, which will generally
49, nlsce even in moderate weather, in
.ahe r r:sh, Jf the weather should be so
ro;ld hat it will not coul in orc night 1t
had better be cut up and spread upon
bfick and stone pavements previously wei
with cold water; if the meat Is sun sol'
dash cold water upon it and it Will soon
~ re,dv for the salt, but in all cases AZ
sbould be perfectly cool if practicable. In
80 or two instances, | have made as
o o"od bacon as | have ever made out OF
ss,e., frozen so hard that it had TO be cut
uu entirely with an axe. AS 10 tne
n,oJe np Of sailing and the quantity OF salt
necessary to cure pork, so as 10 make
rood bacon, every man thinks that ne
,suows better than his ncighbor. l have
ernerimented for the purpose OF ascef'
ts;n;ng the best mode of sailing down
nnrk as also the proper quantity Of salt
and other ingredients, such as sugar mo.
l.sses rcd nepper and saltpetre, all OF
which have their advocates an" nave
settled down and pursued the following
nractice for the last twenty years. inca
sure a bushel of salt-spread II upon
table, weigh pound of sallpelre--puiVer'
;ze it carefully and mix it thoroughly with
.I 80, Tb;s mixture is sufficient for q |,
thousand weight of small meat, or eight
hundred of large, to be we'll rubbed upon
every piece, and more especially upon
the aeshy surface, and taking care to pack
vour Joints at the bottom and hli up the
lille inlers,ices with jowies. chine and
rounds-the latter piece is made by cut.
,;ng The neck off at the sholder and
;owles. The length Of time necessary to
Ieen nork in salt to make bacon, depends
mon the weather and the size Of the meat.
If the weather is mild and the meat small
q weeks will he long enough; but II me
weather is cold and the meat large II
should remain in salt from six to eight
weeks. and should be taken up at the END
of four weeks and well rubbed and sPrink- |
ied with salt, in case the first has
dissolved. 1t is then to be hung up in
dark smoke house, and the darker the bet. I
ter. for the purpose of excluding files-E
ro,, will never find flies in a room where
The light is completely shut out The
hiehe. your smoke house the BETTER So
that YOU may hang your meat out OF the
influence of the heat-every joint and
iowls should be hung by the thick end, aud
every middIing by the thick edge, or that
mart of the middling which was cut from
the back bone; this know to be a mat
ter of the first consideration in making
rood bacon by attending strictly to this
Sule, you will retain all the juices of the
meat. as well as the salt that has been abb
sorbed-or in nolher words your meat will
not drip; whereas, if you reverse the po- |
sition and hang it by the small end. it |
will drip, become dry, and hard, and
loose in weight; and what l conceive to
be of some importance, its hne fiavor.-l
Some who make good bacon, say that IL
is important to smoke your meat with !
some particular kind of wood, but l ina. |
zine the only secret about this matter, is
The bitterness impaired to the meat, there
by rendering the taste unpleasant to the
fly, and Keeping up a continual smoke
YOU create an atmosphere that the fly can.
not 1.-Two in-vievinq the matter thus, we