good keeping qualities is an art and accomplishment worth striving for.  A pride in this work is just as fine and worth while as the housewife’s pride in her culinary skill or the pride of any other professional in his or her line of work.  To-day we are thinking of food and its problems as never before and it behooves us all to put more time, thought, care and skill on all things that pertain to foods.  And as meat is such an essential item in our diet, meat problems should receive their due attention.

All meat that is to be cured should always be thoroughly cooled and cut into the desired convenient sizes before it is put into the brine or packed in dry salt.

The pieces most commonly used for curing are the ham, shoulder and bacon pieces from pork.  From beef we use the cheaper, tougher cuts such as the plate, shoulder and chuck ribs.  Mutton is seldom cured and preserved.

The ham should be cut off at the hock joint, the spare ribs taken out of the bacon, and the ragged edges trimmed off smooth.  If ragged edges or scraggy ends are left these portions will become too dry in the curing and will practically be wasted.

After all the animal heat is removed from the meat and it is properly cut it is then ready for the curing.  If salt is put on the meat before the animal heat is all removed, it will have a tendency to shrink the muscles and form a coating on the outside which will not allow the generating gases to escape.  Meat should never be in a frozen condition when the salt is added as the frost will prevent the proper penetration of the brine and uneven curing will be the result.

METHODS OF CURING MEAT

The two most common methods of curing meat are first the brine or sugar cure process and second the dry-curing process.  For general farm use the brine cured process is the better.  It requires less time, less effort and not such an exacting place for the work.  On most farms it is impossible to secure a desirable place in which to do the dry-curing as the meat is exposed to rats, cats, flies and other insects.  The dry-curing requires considerable time to rub and salt the meat at different times while the only attention that is necessary for brine-curing is to properly prepare and pack the meat in the vessel and prepare the brine for it.

UTENSILS FOR CURING

If possible use a round container for the curing.  It is easier to put the meat in tightly, and the space can be used to better advantage.  A hardwood barrel of some kind is excellent.  Sirup, molasses or lard barrels which have been thoroughly cleaned are very satisfactory.  If you use a vinegar or an oil barrel it should be well burned on the inside before using.  Stone crocks or jars are sometimes used but they are expensive and cumbersome to handle besides the constant danger of loss of brine from breakage.