.

give the meat a desirable red color, but is harmful, if used too freely. Sugar
sweetens the product, and prevents excessive hardening. Less sugar should
be used if curing is done in warm weather.

Both methods of curing have advantages, and there is little difference
in the quality of the products. Maggots cannot attack meat submerged in
brine, and, in some cases, this is an advantage, but brine, spoiling in warm
weather, is a serious hazard and, therefore, the dry method is usually selected,
when the weather is at all uncertain.

When properly cured by either method, the meat is ready for simple
applications of Standard Liquid Smoke.

The Brine Cure

Make a brine of the following: 8 pounds of salt, 2 pounds of sugar,
2 oz. of saltpetre, 41/2 gallons of soft water. This is sufficient for 100
lbs. of meat. Mux the ingredients well and bring to a boil. Boil only long
enough to make sure they are well dissolved. Take off all scum, which
rises to the surface, and cool the mixture. Pack the pieces of meat into a
clean, water-tight, wood barrel, stone jar, or galvanized tank. See that it is
thoroughly scalded and scoured first, then pack the pieces of meat into the .
container, as closely as possible, putting the hams on the bottom, and the
lighter pieces on the top. Then, pour the cold brine over the meat, and be
sure that the top pieces are well covered. Place a plate, or cross pieces
of wood, weighted with a stone, on top of the meat to keep the meat sub-
merged in the brine. Bacon and shoulders will cure in from two to four
weeks. Hams two weeks longer.

About six weeks are required for curing hams from average size hogs,
although unusually large hams may require ten weeks, but average size
bacon and shoulders will cure in about four weeks. In the case of hams,
three to four days in the brine should be allowed for each pound of
weight, and two to three days should be allowed for each pound of weight
in bacon.

After hanging pieces to rafters, to drip, for a day or two, the meat is
ready for applications of Standard Liquid Smoke.

The Dry Cure

Allow 8 pounds of salt, 2 pounds of brown sugar and 3 ozs. of salt-
petre for every 100 lbs. of meat. Thoroughly mix these ingredients.
Moisten the surface of the meat by washing it well, as this will cause the

STANDARD LIQUID SMOKE—Increases Keeping Qualities

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