The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-11-12
Curing Pork and Beef.

The season will soon be at hand when
farmers will be thinking of killing and
packing their yearly supply OF pork.
There is always more or less complaint
about pork getting rusty, or sour, or talnt-
ed. There is no reason why these COM
plants should be necessary, except from
causes that are easily Obviated. Pork will
get rusty, sour or tainted from contact with
the atmosphere, from being kept too
warm, or from alterations OF heat and
cold, especially if the salt used be not OF
the first quality. Now, since perfectly
cool and equable temperature is not avail
able to every farmer, and especially that
class which is obliged to depend. more
than any other, on salt pork for their sum-
mer meat, it is particularly necessary that
they use the best salt in the market for
curing their pork and other meat. If this
salt cannot be bought at the country town,
and it is often difficult to do so, an order
should be sent direct to the nearest COM
mercial city. This may easily be done
economically, by few farmers clubbing
together, each taking barrel; or if
there is grange, or club, the matter then
becomes still more simple. The order
| only has to be sent to the agent.
While the price of the better grades OF
salt is so little in advance of that of the
common grades, every man who salts
meat of any kind should never risk the
curing with any but the best. If he gets
the coarse solar, or diamond, there will be
no trouble.
When the pork has been killed, and
| hung in a cool place for twenty-f0ur
hours. it should be sufficiently deprived OF
the animal heat to be safely laid down in
salt. If not thoroughly deprived of this
heat. it is liable to trouble, even with the
! best salt. Therefore, this is the first and
most important step in the curing OF
pork.
Cut it into suitable pieces, and rub each
one separately with salt, hams, shoulders,
chops, bacon and side meat, and stack 1t
up so that the blood may drain for forty
eight hours. Then pack the side-meat on
its edge, in sweet barrels, as closely as
possible, always keeping the skin side
next the side of the barrel, and using one
half bushel, by measure, of coarse salt to
each barrel. When the barrel is full,
weight the meat with fiat stone, and
pour on sufficient cold water until bubbles
cease to rise and the meat is entirely COW
cred, always recollecting that fatmeat will
not take up an excess of salt. 1.-THE barrel
is TO be headed up, do this before the water
is put in, and pour it through vent in
the top. If thereafter you keep the bar
rels in a cool place, as the cellar, and upon
taking from the barrel, are careful to keep
the meet submerged, it will keep one, two,
or three years, perfectly.
For curing in the best manner, hams,
shoulders, chops and bacon, after the
blood has been drained as previously re-
commended, should be packed in a suita-
BILE cask, pretty tight; make brine of two
pounds salt, one pound sugar, and toul
ounces saltpeter to each gallon OF water
scald and skim this brine and, when cold
pour over the meat; keep in cool place,
but not so as to be frozen, for about foul
weeks. Thus cured. meat will not re
quire any freshening, and it will retain it;
red color admirably. 1t is most excel
lent way for corned beef, but it will moi
keep during hot weather. The hams anC
bacon, however, will be all right, for the
smoking will tend to preserve them.
Dry sailing is performed by rubbing the
meat with mixture, to be used warm, in
the following proportion: four pound:
salt, three OF. saltpeter, and sufficient mo-
lasses to make thick paste. If the meal
is packed in casks, and the brine allowed
to form and saturate it, it is then called
wet sailing. For home consumption, we
should much prefer the picking process;
previously given, since the meat may safe
" lie in the brine until it may be smoked
in the spring; and the brine, thoroughly
scalded and skinned, with that taker
from the corned beef, and strengthened
by the addition of one pound more OF sail
to each gallon, may be returned to the
beef, which will remain sweet until July
at ast.-WeSte77s Ratrat.