The Method Of Curing Malines Bacon, So Much Admired For Its Fine Flavor

Cut off the hams and head of a pig, if a large one; take out the chine and leave in the sparerib, as they will keep in the gravy and prevent the bacon from rusting. Salt it first with common salt, and let it lie for a day on a table that the blood may run from it; then make a brine with a pint of bay-salt, a quarter of a peck of common salt, about a quarter of a pound of juniper-berries, and some bay-leaves, with as much water as will, when the brine is made, cover the bacon; when the salt is dissolved, and when quite cold, if a new-laid egg will swim in it, the brine may be put on the bacon, which after a week must be rubbed with the following mixture:- half a pound of saltpetre, two ounces of sal-prunella, and one pound of coarse sugar; after remaining four weeks it may be hung up in a chimney where wood is burned; shavings, with sawdust and a small quantity of turf, may be added to the fire at times.