BACON, though intended to be a cheap article of housekeeping, is often, through mismanagement, rendered one of the most expensive. Generally twice as much is dressed as need be, and of course there is a deal of waste. When sent to table as an accompaniment to boiled poultry or veal, a pound and a half is plenty for a dozen people. Bacon will boil better, and swell more freely, if the rind is taken off before it is dressed; and when excessively salt, it should be soaked an hour or two in warm water. If the bacon be dried, pare off the rusty and smoked part, trim it neatly on the under side, and scrape the rind as clean as possible. Or take it up when sufficiently boiled, scrape the under side, and cut off the rind: grate a crust of bread over it, and place it a few minutes before the fire to brown. Two pounds will require to be boiled gently about an hour and a half, according to its thickness: the hock or gammon being very thick, will take more. See DRIED BACON. BAKING. This mode of preparing a dinner is undoubtedly one of the cheapest and most convenient, especially for a small family; and the oven is almost the only kitchen which the poor man possesses. Much however depends on the care and ability of the baker: in the country especially, where the baking of dinners is not always considered as a regular article of business, it is rather a hazardous experiment to send a valuable joint to the oven; and more is often wasted and spoiled by the heedless conduct of the parish cook, than would have paid for the boiling or roasting at home. But supposing the oven to be managed with care and judgment, there are many joints which may be baked to great advantage, and will be found but little inferior to roasting. Particularly, legs and loins of pork, legs of mutton, fillets of veal, and other joints, if the meat be fat and good, will be eaten with great satisfaction, when they come from the oven. A sucking pig is also well adapted to the purpose, and is equal to a roasted one, if properly managed. When sent to the baker, it should have its ears and tail covered with buttered paper fastened on, and a bit of butter tied up in a piece of linen to baste the back with, otherwise it will be apt to blister. A goose should be prepared the same as for roasting, placing it on a stand, and taking care to turn it when it is half done. A duck the same. If a buttock of beef is to be baked, it should be well washed, after it has been in salt about a week, and put into a brown earthen pan with a pint of water. Cover the pan tight over with two or three thicknesses of writing paper, and give it four or five hours in a moderate oven. Brown paper should never be used with baked dishes; the pitch and tar which it contains will give the meat a smoky bad taste. Previously to baking a ham, soak it in water an hour, take it out and wipe it, and make a crust sufficient to cover it all over; and if done in a moderate oven, it will cut fuller of gravy, and be of a finer