Bacon

In December, Abe did some welding for a friend. In exchange, when they butchered their pig, they gave us a 25lb ham and an 8lb bacon. We put them in a brine soak, made up of 5 gallons boiled water, 8 lbs salt and 2 lbs sugar.

The bacon is now cured, so we removed it today. We wrapped it in cheese cloth and buried it in a bag of wood ash that we had saved from our fires this winter. This will dry it out.

We will have to do the ham next month. Cured in this way, a ham can last for years and years. In England, a family would often cure a ham when a baby girl was born and then eat it at her wedding!

At each stage of this process we will post photos here.