Kentish Mode of Cutting Up and Curing a Pig
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cure
Use two gallons of salt, two pounds of saltpetre, one pound of coarse sugar, and two pounds of bay-salt well dried and reduced to powder.
Set aside the hams and cheeks to be cured separately.
Salt the feet, ears, tail, and eye-parts of the head for immediate eating.
Reserve the blade-bones, ends of loins and ribs for sausage meat if desired.
Reserve the loin and spare-ribs for roasting.
Salt the pork
Mix the saltpetre, sugar, and bay-salt; rub the pork gently with them in every part.
Cover the bottom of the pickling tub with salt.
Pack the pork as closely as possible, placing a portion of the remaining salt between each layer.
(Optional) Sprinkle a very little water to help dissolve the salt into a brine, but this is better avoided.
Brine and cure
If after a fortnight the meat has not risen to almost entirely cover it, boil a strong brine of salt, saltpetre, sugar, and bay-salt; let it cool completely, then pour it over the pork.
Place a board with a heavy stone weight on top of the meat to force it down under the brine.
Leave the pork for three to four months; it will be fit for table, delicate and excellent pickled pork.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Salt
- Draws moisture out of the pork and forms the brine that preserves the meat.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives it a characteristic pink colour during curing.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cured meat.
- Bay-salt
- Adds a fine-grained salt that penetrates the meat evenly during curing.
The step that matters
Keeping the pork under the brine. Meat exposed above the brine can spoil and cure unevenly. Adding a strong brine after a fortnight and weighting the pork down keeps every part submerged for a safe, even cure.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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