The Morton Salt Book: Curing Meat at Home

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on January 1, 1973
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A selection of the pork cutlets you could make when you're curing meat at home.
A selection of the pork cutlets you could make when you're curing meat at home.
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The process of separating the loin from the backbone. 
The process of separating the loin from the backbone. 
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For the many varieties of sausage, use a good electric sausage stuffer like this one.
For the many varieties of sausage, use a good electric sausage stuffer like this one.
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A hand-cranked meat grinder, with liner and plate at left.
A hand-cranked meat grinder, with liner and plate at left.
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A curing box with a hinged lid and slat tray.
A curing box with a hinged lid and slat tray.
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A healthy slab of fat back, used when making lard or for seasoning other cooking.
A healthy slab of fat back, used when making lard or for seasoning other cooking.
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Domestic geese, ducks, turkeys and chickens may be cured together where it is desirable. They should be cleaned, drawn and dressed in the usual manner with head and feet removed then hung up to chill or chilled out in ice water.
Domestic geese, ducks, turkeys and chickens may be cured together where it is desirable. They should be cleaned, drawn and dressed in the usual manner with head and feet removed then hung up to chill or chilled out in ice water.
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Bacon is just one of the many delicious types of cured meat that you can make at home.
Bacon is just one of the many delicious types of cured meat that you can make at home.

OK, Homesteaders . . . here’s the third installment of Morton Salt’s superior booklet, A COMPLETE GUIDE TO HOME MEAT CURING. This section takes you the rest of the way through preserving pork and into curing poultry. We’ll be serializing more from the Morton Salt handbook in future issues .

Again, our special thanks to Murray J. Pearthree, Morton Salt Regional Sales Manager, for granting us written permission to reprint from the booklet.

Curing Ham

BONING AND ROLLING A HAM Boning a Ham: Lay ham skin side down with butt end toward you. With boning knife remove meat from around aitch bone and disjoint aitch bone from straight leg bone. Then remove entire leg bone and shank bones by cutting through top of ham along these bones and trimming around them. When the bones have been removed, mold ham back into shape, and tie with heavy white cord. The cord should be tied around the ham crosswise about every inch. 

Canadian Bacon

A delight to the palate and a treat that you can now enjoy. Canadian Style Bacon is one of the highest quality and most delicious pork cuts that you can cure. It is made by curing the loins then tightly wrapping them.

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