=Stripping Beef Hams.=--In preparing “beef hams” the rounds are cut by what is known as the “packing house cut,” which leaves a piece of meat from the rump on the round, as compared to the ordinary cut. This piece is what is known as the “knuckle” piece of the set. Rounds cut this way are considered regular. When rounds, cut for market purposes, are stripped, they are known as short knuckled rounds and are not accepted as regular. Before the round is stripped, the fell, or covering, is skinned off, and the seam of the knuckle followed around by the knife, cutting clear to the bone. The round is hung on a hook and an incision made just above the stifle joint and the knuckle piece peeled from the bone. The round is then turned on the hook and opened to the bone, making what is known as the “inside-and-outside piece” of the round. In opening the round, what is known as the “kernel fat” should be equally divided. These three pieces are what is known as regular beef hams when packed in sets. When separated they are known as “insides,” “outsides” and “knuckles.” These hams are cured and smoked and are sold at retail as dried beef, the largest sale for this kind of meat being in warm weather. The piece that is left is the shank. =Curing.=--On the manner in which beef hams are cured depends, to a great extent, their sale. The object in curing is to have them not too salty, thoroughly cured through, and of a bright and attractive color when smoked. The hams when cut from the cattle should be either spread out or hung up in a room held at a temperature of from 33° to 35° F., for twenty-four hours, thereby insuring proper chilling. They are then best cured in vats holding 1,000 pounds each; many, however, cure them in tierces or barrels. =Formulas for Curing Beef Hams.=--Two formulas for the pickle follow: _First Formula._--To 1,500 gallons of 80-degree strength pickle, add 300 pounds granulated sugar, 105 pounds saltpetre. Where a smaller amount of pickle is wanted make it proportionately. As the meat is packed in vats, sprinkle in a little fine salt. The vat should then be filled with above pickle, and a rack and weight put on to keep the meat submerged. The hams should be overhauled three times, first in ten days, again twenty-five days later and again forty days after the second overhauling. Beef hams should be considered fully cured in from seventy-five to eighty-five days. If cured in tierces or barrels, they should be rolled at the same periods as in the case of overhauling in the vats, giving the pickle a chance to thoroughly reach all parts of the meat.