Cassell's dictionary of cookery

recipes :— Boil half a pound of common salt, a quarter of a pound of salt prunelle, a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, one and a half pounds of loaf sugar, and two poimds of bay-salt, in two gallons of water for half an hour. Skim the liquor well, and when cold put it into the tub. Or boil six pounds of common salt, a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, and one and a half pounds of moist sugar, in two gallons of water, as above. When the meat is put into either of these pickles, put a weight upon it to keep it covered with the brine. It will keep good for four or five months. Pork, Pickle for (another way).— See Pickle for Beef, Pork, and Tongues. Pork, Pickled. — As pork will not keep unless it is salted, it should be cut up as soon as it is cold, and in such pieces as will He quite flat in the pan. Strew a layer of salt and a slighter one of sugar at the bottom of the salting-pan. Rub the sides of the pork over with sugar and salt, lay the pieces, skin downwards, in the pan, and put a layer of sugar and salt between the layers. When the pan is fuU, cover the whole with a layer of salt sufficiently thick to exclude the air. Lay a cloth over the pan, and put a board with a weight upon it over the cloth to keep the meat in the brine. Leave it for a week or ten days. If at the end of that time the salt has not dissolved into a brine, sprinkle a little warm water over the top layer of salt. It is better, however, to avoid doing this if possible : it should only be found necessary in very di-y weather. Pork pickled in this way will be ready for use in three or four months, and will be found excellent. If excluded from the air, it will keep good for two years. Although saltpetre is more commonly used than sugar in pickling meat, the latter imparts a finer flavour, though there is no reason why both should not be used for pork as well as beef. Pork, Pickled (American method). — Dissolve an ounce of saltpetre and half an ounce of saleratus in a small quantity of boiling water. Put this into a large saucepan containing three gallons of water, and add two and a half pounds of common salt, two pounds of baysalt, and one pound of moist sugar. Boil the liquid, and skim well until it is quite clear, then pour it into the pickling-pan, and when it is cold it is ready for use. Pork which is to be boiled should be put into this pickle, and kept under the brine, by means of a board and a weight laid upon it, until it is wanted. The time required for pickling will of course depend upon the size of the meat and the taste of those who are to eat it. Usually it will be found that two days is suflicient for the streaky parts, four days for the hand and spring, and five or six days for a moderatesized leg. The pickle may be used again and again if boiled occasionally. Pork, Pickled (an easy way). — When pork is to be dressed in a shoi-t time, it may be pickled in the following easy way : — Take the pig as soon as it is cold, cut it into convenient-sized pieces, and rub it well with common sidt. Lay it in the salting-pan, and turn and rub it every day till it is required for POR (610) POR