Pickle For One Ham

To a gallon of water, put a pint of salt, a pint of molasses, and an ounce of saltpetre. Turn the ham over in the brine often, and let it He in it six weeks; then let it be smoked nearly as long.

How To Cure Hams

[This receipt is furnished by a person whose hams are celebrated in the eastern part of Massachusetts, for their superior quality.]

For curing fifty weight, allow three quarts of coarse salt, half a pound of saltpetre, and two quarts of good molasses. Add soft water enough just to cover the hams. Common sized hams should be kept in this pickle five weeks; larger ones six. They should all be taken out once a week, and those which were on the top laid in first, and the lower ones last. They should be smoked from two to three weeks with walnut wood or with sawdust and corn-cobs, mixed. Meat smoked with cobs is very delicate.

Pieces of beef for smoking, may be laid in this pickle, after the hams are sent to the smoke house; but more salt should be added.

The Knickerbocker Pickle, For Hams And Beef

To three gallons of soft water, put four pounds and a half of salt, coarse and fine, mixed; a pound and a half of brown sugar, an ounce and a half of saltpetre, half an ounce of saleratus, and two quarts of good molasses.

Boil the mixture, skim it well, and when cold pour it over the hams or beef. Beef laid down in this pickle, does not become hard, and is very fine, when boiled gently and long.

Some persons consider this the best of all methods for curing beef and hams.

Another Way For Curing Hams And Beef-Tongues

Allow for one gallon of water a pound and a half of salt, half a pound of brown sugar, half an ounce of saltpetre, and half an ounce of potash. Boil all together, and skim very thoroughly. Take meat that has been killed two days, and sprinkled slightly with a little fine saltpetre, and, when the pickle is cold, pour it over the meat, which should be perfectly covered. Let it remain four or five weeks, standing in a cold place. Do this only in cold weather.

How To Keep Hams Through The Summer

When they are taken from the smoke house, do not suffer them to lie a single hour where the flies can find them. Sew them up in a coarse cloth or stiff brown paper, and pack them in ashes. There is no method so sure to preserve them from insects, and the effect of the ashes is to improve the meat; but care should be taken that the hams are so secured that the ashes will not touch them. The ashes should be perfectly cold and dry, and the barrel be in a dry, cool place.

To Corn Beef (to boil within two or three days).

If a lean piece is desired, take three or four pounds, or more, according to the size of your family, from the back of the rump. Rub the meat well with fine salt, and let it lie a few hours; then add cold water just to cover it, and sprinkle in three or four spoonfuls of salt. The thin end of the sirloin is good corned. If you like some fat, take a piece of the rattle-ran. This is cheaper. Salted beef should be boiled long. A piece weighing five pounds should boil slowly four hours, and then be laid in a dish with a heavy weight on it.

See directions for salting meat.

Corned Beef With Baked Beans

Those who object to baked beans on account of the pork commonly used will find it a good way to substitute corned beef for the pork.

Corned Pork

Take a leg weighing six or eight pounds, or a part of a large leg, put it for a week or ten days in strong salt and water. Before boiling it, lay it for an hour in cold water, then boil it gently two and a half or three hours. Skim it several times. To give it a delicate appearance, boil it in a nice floured cloth. Best eaten cold.