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Bacon, to Smoke

Bacon and hams may be smoked at home by being hung up in the chimney of a fire in which wood only is burnt. Fir or deal must not be used. The best is oak, and its sawdust, if it can be procured. But the operation is best--because more slowly and uniformly--performed in buildings specially constructed for the purpose. The Westphalian hams, principally cured at Hamburg, are smoked in extensive chambers in the upper storeys of high buildings. The smoke is conveyed to these rooms through tubes from fires in the cellar. The vapour is condensed and the heat absorbed; so that the smoke, when it reaches the meat, is dry and cool, and communicates a flavour far superior to that obtained by the common method.