are that by so doing the meat becomes unpleasantly hard and pungent in the process of salting, and by being more opposed to the action of the air, becomes sooner and more extensively rusted. Notwithstanding its superior efficacy in completing the process of curing, the flavour which smoke-drying imparts to meat is disliked by many persons, and it is therefore by no means the most general mode of drying adopted by mercantile curers. A very impure variety of PYROLIGNEOUS acid, or vinegar made from the destructive distillation of wood, is sometimes used on account of the highly preservative power of the creosote which it contains, and also to impart the smoke-flavour; in which latter object, however, the coarse flavour of tar is given, rather than that derived from the smoke from combustion of wood. A considerable portion of the bacon and hams salted in Ireland is exported from that country packed amongst salt, in bales, immediately from the salting process, without having been in any degree dried. In the process of salting above described, pork loses from 8 to 10 per cent. of its weight, according to the size and quality of the meat; and a further diminution of weight, to the extent of 5 to 6 per cent., takes place in drying during the first fortnight after being taken out of salt; so that the total loss in weight occasioned by the preparation of bacon and hams in a proper state for market, is not lesson an average than 15 per cent., on the weight of the fresh pork.
1134.—TO CURE PIG'S CHEEKS.
Ingredients.—Salt, ½ an oz. of saltpetre, 2 ozs. of bay-salt, 4 ozs. of coarse sugar.
Method.—Cut out the snout, remove the brains and split the head, taking off the upper bone to make the jowl a good shape. Rub it well with salt; next day take away the brine, and salt it again the following day. Cover the head with saltpetre, bay-salt and coarse sugar in the above proportion, adding a little common salt. Let the cheeks be often turned, and when it has been in the pickle for 10 days, smoke it for 1 week or rather longer.
Time.—To remain in the pickle, 10 days; to be smoked, 1 week. Average Cost, 6d. per lb.
1135.—TO CURE OR PICKLE PORK.
Ingredients.—¼ of a lb. of saltpetre, salt.
Method.—As pork does not keep long without being salted, cut it into pieces of a suitable size as soon as the pig is cold. Rub the pieces of pork well with salt, put them into a pan with a sprinkling of it between each piece, and as it dissolves on the top, sprinkle on more. Lay a coarse cloth over the pan, and over it a board, and place a weight on the board, to keep the pork down in the brine. If the air be excluded, it will continue good for nearly 2 years.
