§ 34. Preparing the Meat for Curing
Meat should be thoroughly cooled before it is cured, or it will spoil. The proper time to begin curing is when the meat is cooled and still fresh. Twenty to thirty hours after killing is the proper time to begin the cure. If salted before the animal heat has left it, the shrinkage of muscles causes a retention of gases, and gives an offensive odor to the meat. The meat should not be frozen, as the cure will not penetrate such meat evenly, and an uneven curing will result. Tainted meat may be cured so that it will keep, but no system of curing will bring back the natural flavor of the meat, if it is once lost.