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Classic
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page 382
TO KEEP LARD FROM MOLDING. --Use a tub that has had no tainted lard or meat in
it; scour it out thoroughly with two quarts of wheat bran to four of boiling
water, but use no lye or soap. Try the lard until the scraps are brown, but not
scorched or burned; remove from the fire, cool until it can be handled, and
strain into the prepared tub; when cold, set it away in the cellar. Lard dipped
off as fast as it melts will look very white, but will not keep through the
summer. No salt should be added, as it induces moisture, and invites mold.
A NEW WAY TO SMOKE HAMS. --Smoke the barrel, in which the hams are to be
pickled, by inverting it over a kettle containing a slow fire of hard wood, for
eight days (keeping water on the head to prevent shrinking); in this barrel,
pack the hams, and pour over them, after it has cooled, a brine made in the
proportion of four gallons of water, eight pounds of salt, five pints of
molasses, and four ounces saltpetre, boiled and skimmed in the usual manner.
They will be cured in eight or nine days, and they may be kept in the pickle for
a year without damage.
BEEF-STEAK FOR WINTER USE. --Cut the steaks large, and the usual thickness; have
ready a mixture made of salt, sugar, and finely powdered saltpetre, mixed in the
same proportion as for corning beef; sprinkle the bottom of a large jar with
salt, lay in a piece of steak, and sprinkle over it some of the mixture, as much
or a little more than you would use to season in cooking, then put in another
slice, sprinkle, and so on till jar is filled, with a sprinkle of the mixture on
top; over all, put a plate, with a weight on it, and set in a cool, airy place,
where it will not freeze. This needs no brine, as it makes a brine of its own.
Twenty-five or thirty pounds may be kept perfectly sweet in this way. Take out
to use as wanted, and broil or fry as usual.
TO CURE HAMS. --In the fall, about the first of November, people in the country
generally kill a good-sized pig, to last until "butchering time." To cure the
hams of such, first, rub well, especially around the bone on fleshy side, with
one-half of the salt, sugar, cayenne, and saltpetre, well pulverized (same
proportions as for corned beef), adding a tea-spoonful allspice to each ham;put
a layer of salt in bottom of cask, and pack in hams as closely as possible; let
stand three or four days, then make a brine of the other half of salt, etc., and
pour over meat, putting a good weight on top; when it has lain three or four
weeks it is ready for use.
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