The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1915-03-11
Methods of Preparing
Supply of Summer Meat

AS the time of year approaches
~ when farmers prepare their SUM
mer meat supply, the following rec
ipes for curing and smoking are of
special interest.
Professor William Hislop, animal
husbandman of the State Experiment
Station at Pullman, states that it IS
highly essential that meat intended
for curing be thoroughly cooled, be-
cause if the surface of meat comes in
contact with salt before all the ami
nal heat is removed, it will have
tendency to shrink the muscles and
form coating on the outside which
will not allow the generating gases
to escape. Meat, however, should
never be frozen when salted because
the brine will not penetrate uniform
ly and uneven curing will result. The
hams and sides should be trimmed
smoothly and no tag ends left, care
being taken to expose as little lean
meat as possible. For best results,
the meat must be fresh. Earthen-
ware jars give good satisfaction, but
oak barrels with wooden hoops are
less cumbersome to handle.
100 Pounds by Sugar Cure Recipe.
Eight pounds of salt, two pounds
of brown sugar, two ounces Of salt
peter.
Dissolve the ingredients in four
gallons of water, and boil the brine,
but always pour the brine cold on
the meat. Ordinarily, meat takes
from six to eight weeks to cure, de-
pending upon it's fatness and quality
Before the meat is placed in the
barrels, rub each piece with saltpeter,
and pile them up. In this way, some
blood is drawn out. The next day
pack them tightly in barrels, pour
in the brine and weight down. AL
ways pack the hams and shoulders
on the bottom of the barrel. II the
brine sours, take out the meat, wash
it thoroughly and pour in new brine.
After the necessary time has elapsed
take out the meat, wash it and hang
it up to drip for two days previous
to its going into the smokehouse.
Dry Cure for 1000 Pounds.
Forty pounds of salt; 10 pounds
of New Orleans or brown sugar; foul
pounds of black pepper; one and one
half pounds of saltpeter; one-hal
pound of cayenne pepper.
Mix the above ingredients very
thoroughly and apply half of the mix
ture to the meat, rubbing it all ovel
very carefully, but especially arount
the hip, hook and stifle joints lie
it lie in the barrel for 10 days tt
two weeks, then re-rub the meat will
the remainder Of the mixture ant
leave it for four to eight weeks in ;
cool, dry place when it will be read.
to smoke. The slow cure will Civ
) better results than the fast cure.
Salt Cure for 100 Pounds.
= Ten pounds OF salt, two ounces. o
3 saltpeter, four gallons of water.
Cut the carcass into smaller part
7 than for the brine cure. Pieces abou
six inches square will be best. Pou
the brine over the meat. When cold
cover and weight down to keep ther
: under the brine. The pork shoul
s be kept in the brine until used.
Smoking the Meats.
: Picked and cured meats ar
:, smoked to aid in their preservation
The smoke seals up the pores, act
as vermifuge, aids in drying, an
;. adds flavor to the product.
The smokehouse should be six t
: eight feet high for ordinary farm ust
q Small openings under the caves, @
a chimney in the roof will provid
the essential free circulation. A fire
pot built outside of'the house propel
with flue through which the smok
may be conducted to the meat chan
Der, gives the best results. A fiji
may be built on the floor Of the h0us
when the former method cannot b
adopted.
Brick houses are best, but lare
drygoods boxes and even barrels ma
be made to serve as sm0kehOust
where only small amounts Of me;
are to be smoked However, the Gu
ing Of meat in such substitutes