Preparation / Directions:
Fourteen pounds of good salt, half a pound of salpetre, two quarts of
molasses or four pounds of coarse brown sugar, with water enough to
dissolve the salt, and a pint of good beer or of vinegar, if you command
either. Bring this liquor to a boil, and scum off all the impurities that
may rise to the surface. When cold, pour this over your hams,which should
be cold, but not frozen. The addition of pepper, allspice, and cloves is
made by some who like a high flavour to the hams. The hams should remain in
this pickle six or eight weeks; being turned and basted every two or three
days, and then hung in the smoke house. The best woods for smoking are:
sugar maple chips, hickory, birch, corn cobs, white ash, and beech. Wehn
removed from the smoke house, sew each ham in any old linen or cotton
cloth, and if you give this covering a coating of whitewash, with a
whitewash brush, it well preserve it from the flies.
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