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Re: Salt/Pickled Beef
Hallo!
Here is a loose "collection" of snippets and pastings from my beef and pork notebook folder:
PREPARING SALT BEEF
The Action of Salt on Meat according to Beeton's Book of Household Management (London, 1861):
"By its strong affinity, salt extracts the juices from the substance of meat in sufficient quantity to form a saturated solution with the water contained in the juice, and the meat then absorbs the saturated brine in place of the juice extracted by the salt. In this way, matter incapable of putrefaction takes the places of that portion in the meat which is most perishable. Such is not the only office of salt as a means of preserving meat. Also, it acts by its astringency in contracting the fibres of the muscles, and so excludes the action of air on the interior of the substance of the meat. The last-mentioned operation of salt as an antiseptic is evinced by the diminution of the volume of meat to which it is applied. The astringent action of saltpetre on meat is much greater than that of salt, and thereby renders meat to which it is applied very hard; but, in small quantities, it considerably assists the antiseptic action of salt, and also prevents the destruction of the florid colour of meat, which is used by the application of salt. Thus, the application of salt and saltpetre diminishes, in a considerable degree, the nutritive, and to some extent, the wholesome qualities of meat. Therefore, the quantity applied should be as small as possible, consistent with the perfect preservation of the meat."
Authentic Salt Beef (Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861)
1/2 round of beef, 4 oz sugar, 1 oz saltpetre, 2 oz black pepper, 1/4 lb. bay salt, 1/2 lb. common salt.
Rub the meat well with salt, and let it remain for a day, to disgorge the slime. The next day, rub it well with the above ingredients on every side, and let it remain in the pickle for about a fortnight, turning it every day. It may be boiled fresh from the pickle, or smoked.
Note: the smaller the beef, the less time it takes to salt it. A joint of 8 or 9 lbs. will be sufficiently salty in a week.
Corn Beef (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
To each gallon of cold water, put 1 quart of rock salt, 1 ounce saltpetre and 4 ounces of brown sugar (it need not be boiled). As long as any salt remains undisolved, the meat will be sweet. If any scum should rise, scald and skim well; add more salt, saltpetre and sugar; as you cut each piece of meat into the brine, rub it over with salt.
Authentic Beef Pickle (Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861)
6 lbs. salt, 2 lbs. sugar, 3 oz saltpetre, 3 gallons water.
Boil all the ingredients gently together. Remove from heat. When quite cold, pour it over the meat, every part of which must be covered with the brine. This may be used for pickling any kind of meat, and may be kept for some time. A ham should be kept in the pickle for a fortnight; a piece of beef weighing 14 lbs. for 12 or 15 days.
Salt Beef or "Salt Horse" (Pequot Mess)
Take a chuck roast of the desired size. Rub thoroughly with sugar first, then with saltpetre (obtainable from your local pharmacy) and then with salt. Let the meat sit for a day and drain off the accumulated juices. Prepare a brine of the following proportions; three handfuls of salt per one quart of water. Bring brine to boil until salt dissolves. Let cool and pour over meat. Soak meat in brine for, at least, two weeks turning meat over daily. Keep the meat in refrigerator unless you wish to re-enact dysentery also. Before using, soak meat in fresh water for about twelve hours and use as you would any beef. Expect it to be salty. A salt beef ration was usually boiled.
B. Boiling Salted Meats
Boiled Salt Beef
Soak for several hours. Dump water and refill with fresh water. Bring to hard boil. ADD SALT BEEF. When meat becomes whitish/gray (should occur quickly), remove from direct heat and simmer. This Hard Boil Then Simmer method seals the juices in the beef and makes it tender. If the meat is hard boiled for too long, it becomes hard and inedible.
If the meat is added with the cold water and brought to a boil, then you are making soup. All the flavors will be leached from the meat and into the water. Adding the meat to cold water and bringing it to a boil makes your meat as tough as shoe leather.
Boiled Salt Pork
Soak for several hours. Dump water and refill with fresh water. Add salt pork. Bring to a boil. After it has thoroughly cooked, remove the fat and enjoy the meat (what little there is of it.)
C. Fried Salted Meats
Salt Beef
Soak for several hours. Cut into small strips. Fry in grease or butter if available. Great when added with fried potatoes.
Salt Pork
"The westward migration owes much to salt pork. For pioneers, it was considered a staple in every larder. [ ] Homesteaders prized it above hard money. [ ] Saltpork begins as the fatty parts from the back, side, or belly of a hog. [ ] Fattier than bacon, it was cured by the dry-salt method but not smoked. Western cooks used it a flavor and as a supplement to meat. [ ] Unlike meat, salt pork would keep awhile without spoiling. [ ] The flavor imparted to foods is unique to itself. At a time when spice racks were usually unavailable, salt pork served heroically with bland foods. [ ] [Soldiers] often carried salt pork. They fried it, sopping hardtack in the grease, thereby softening what was an otherwise jawbreaking form of bread. Cowhands in line camps generally dredged slices of salt port in flour and then fried it. The grease served as a substitute for butter. By modern taste standards, it sounds pretty dreadful. Old-timers were damn glad to get it. The alternative was to go hungry. Off in the wilderness, several days might pass before some form of game found its way into the cooking pot. Salt pork, bread, and coffee provided a welcome supper and sustenance for tomorrow's hardships." From Matt Braun, Western Cooking.
Salt Pork Suggestion (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
Soak salt pork (cut into slices for broiling or frying) in a one to two quarts milk and water; soak it over night if it is for breakfast, and for several hours before any other meal. The milk maybe either fresh or sour, and it is diluted with an equal quantity of water. Before cooking the slices, rinse them in water until it is clear. It will be found a very excellent method, and when once adopted will invariably be the choice of preparation.
Salt Pork and Sour Apples (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
This makes a very satisfying summer dinner when served with Boiled New Potatoes. Cut the slices of pork; lay them in cold water in the spider (a spider is a frying pan with legs on the bottom - ed.); boil them for 2 to 3 minutes; then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals; now dredge the slices in cornmeal seasoned with pepper and brown them on both sides in the spider. In another spider, fry 1/2 inch slices of good tart cored but unpeeled apples in butter or drippings after dredging them in a little flour mixed with a pinch of cinnamon or ginger. Serve the pork and apples together.
Floured Bacon (Matt Braun, Western Cooking)
Use thick sliced bacon. Lightly flour each side of the bacon. At medium heat, fry strips until brown on side. Flip and brown on other side.
This makes for exceptionally crispy bacon.
Ham and Red-Eye Gravy (Matt Braun, Western Cooking)
Fry ham in skillet. Remove ham but leave drippings. For each pound of ham, add 1/2 cup strong black coffee to pan drippings. Stir constantly and bring to boil. Serve over ham and biscuits.
This works well for all types of pig fat. You will be surprised how good it tastes.
Salt Beef and Spruce Beer:
Provisions for the British Navy
[from the Brigade Dispatch v26 No. 1]
The Swedish navy regularly sent officers to train with
other navies, and part of their duty was to submit an
account of their experiences. Two such men,
midshipmen Hans Frederick Wachtmeister and Frederick
Herman von Walden, served as volunteer midshipmen on
the H. M. S. Phoenix in America in 1776 and 1777.
They not only kept a journal of events, but also included
descriptive and insightful commentary about how and
why things were done. Their writings were reprinted in
The Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, V.7 No. 3
(July 1956).
Of particular interest to us is the method used to
produce salt beef and spruce beer, two major staples in
the diets of sailors and soldiers alike. While spruce beer
was often produced "in the field," by men sent on shore
for the task, salted meat was purchased from contractors
(casks were marked with the number of pieces inside;
when a cask was opened, the pieces were counted, and
a notation made in the ships log of how many pieces
short or extra were in it; these records are preserved in
the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England).
It is not known whether the army used the same contrac-
tors as the navy, or whether their salt beef was produced
by the same method.
"The best method to preserve meat is the following: After the
meat has cooled, it is cut into 5lb. pieces which are then
rubbed well with fine salt. The pieces are then placed
between boards, a weight brought to bear on the upper board
so as to squeeze out the blood. Afterwards the pieces are
shaken to remove the surplus salt, packed rather tightly in a
barrel, which when full is closed. A hole is then drilled into
the upper end and brine allowed to fill the barrel to the top,
the brine being made of 4 lbs. of salt, 2 lbs. of brown sugar
and four gallons of water with a touch of saltpeter. When no
more brine can enter, the hole is closed. This method of
preserving meat not only assures that it keeps longer but also
gives it a rather good taste. Joints and bones are boiled to
make a soup and used with peas, lb. for each man and is
to be recommended as an anti-scurvy diet. The same thing
can be said for sauerkraut. The English seaman is also given,
from time to time, an ale called porter. Captain Cook
recommends in his latest travel book the use of wort, which
he manufactured on board from malt. Sometimes he even
made beer. The least expensive, however, and which is
believed to be the most healthy, is spruce beer. It is made
from the first shoots of the spruce, when they are about six
inches long. They are kneaded and boiled into a liquid which
is poured through a sieve while it is yet warm. When it has
cooled, yeast is added and the same system is used as with
other forms of beer. This drink is used in the most famous
inns in London, tastes good, and is easily brewed on board.
For the sake of convenience one can also take along the
essence on board. English sailors are not given brandy when
they receive beer."
The method for salting beef has similar elements to
those found in period cookbooks for "hung beef," hams
and other preserved meats. Salt, sugar, "pump-water,"
and a touch of saltpeter are common ingredients with
which to soak or rub the raw meat, after it has cooled
from slaughtering.
It is important to notice the recommendations for
cooking salted beef. The Compleat Housewife (Eliza
Smith, London, 1758; reprinted London, 1994) gives
"General Directions for Boiling" which mentions that
All salt meat must be put in when the water is cold; but fresh
meat, not till it boils; and as many pounds as your piece
weighs, so many quarters of an hour it will require in boiling.
The directions "To do the fine hanged Beef" read,
"...when you use it, boil it in hay and pump-water, very
tender: it will keep boiled two or three months, rubbing it with
a greasy cloth, or putting it two or three minutes into boiling
water to take off the mouldiness."
Directions for boiling hams and other preserved meats
also mention tying the meat in clean hay.
Title: Spruce Beer Categories: Yield: 1 Servings 2 oz Hops 1/2 ga Water 8 ga Warm water 1 ga Molasses 4 oz Essence of spruce 1 pt Water 1/4 pt Yeast Molasses Put hops and water in a kettle and boil for 30 minutes. Strain; add 8 gallons warm water, molasses and spruce essence. Put in a clean cask, shake all well together and add yeast. Let stand and work for 6-7 days, or less if the weather is warm. When drawn off, add 1 teaspoon molasses to each bottle.
"Side bacon" ("American Bacon"), is the type most often found already sliced and packaged in the grocery stores. Bacon is the cured and oten times smoked meat and fat from the lower sides and belly of the pig. To make bacon, machines now inject brine (salt solutions and nitrates) into the meat, then either smoke it or inject artificial smoke "flavoring." For sliced bacon, the rind is trimmed from slab bacon and the meat is sliced into 36 pieces per pound for thin-sliced styles, 16 to 20 for regular, and 12 to 16 for thick-sliced. Side bacon (without the rind) also comes precooked.
"Slab bacon" is pork that is still attached to the rind. Side bacon (without the rind) also comes precooked and canned. I have seen it "whole" as well as sliced, and the local butcher shop/meat market hereabouts will set the "slicer" to cut slices as the customer wants.
"Salt pork" is salt-cured, but not smoked, meat from the belly of a pig.
There are not a whole lot, or much of any for that matter on "salt pork" in the 18th century that I know of. One of the best, albeit 19th century comes from an 1886 Grocer's Handbook:
"Mess (ed. salt) Pork shall be packed from sides of well-fatted hogs, cut in strips not exceeding six and one half inches wide and flanked according to diagram as nearly as possible, and not back-stripped, 196 pounds of green [not cured] meat, numbering not over sixteen pieces, including only the regular portion of flank and shoulder cuts; four layers to be packed in each barrel, with not less than forty pounds of Turk’s Island, St. Utes, or Trepanné, or 45 pounds of other good qualities of foreign or domestic coarse salt, and clear brine as strong as the salt will make it.”
“Clear Pork shall be packed from sides of extra heavy, well-fatted hogs, cut, selected and packed in the same manner as Mess Pork, the backbone and half the rib next to it be taken out.”
“Extra Clear Pork. Same as clear, except that all the ribs and backbone shall be taken out.
“Mess Ordinary, or Thin Mess. Of hogs reasonably well-fatted to light for Mess Pork, cut, selected, and packed in the same manner as Mess, no restrictions whatever as to the number of pieces to the barrel.”
“Extra Prime Pork shall be made from heavy, untrimmed shoulders, cut into three pieces, according to the diagram, the leg to be cut close to the breast; to be packed 200 pounds of green meat in each barrel, with the same quantity and quality of salt as Mess Pork.”
“Prime Mess Pork shall be made of shoulders and sides of nice, smooth and fat hogs, weighing 120 to 170 pounds each net, regularly cut into square pieces, as near 4 pounds each as possible, the shank to be cut off close to the breast; each barrel to contain 200 pounds of green meat, the proportion of 20 pieces of shoulder and 30 pieces of side cuts, and to be packed with the same quality and quantity of salt as Mess Pork. The prime pieces shall be cut free of blade bone. The shoulder pieces are not to exceed 90 pounds in each barrel. When re-salted, the brine shall be drawn off and new brine added.”
From Miss Beecher’s Receipt Book, 1858:
“Directions for Salting Down Pork. Cover the bottom of the barrel with salt an inch deep. Put down one layer of Pork, and cover that with salt, half an inch thick. Continue thus till the barrel is full. Then pour in as much strong pickle as the barrel will receive. Also see that the Pork does not rise above the brine. When a white scum, or bloody-looking material rises on top, scald the brine and add more salt.
Leave out the bloody and lean pieces for sausages.
Pack as tightly as possible, the rind next to the barrel; and let it be always kept under the brine. Some use a stone for this purpose. In salting down a new supply, take the old brine, boil it down and remove all the scum, and then use it to pour over the Pork.”
If I understand the recipe, "Salt pork" then would have been soaked pale in brine/salt and "limp" compared to the modern salted version which is stiff or "firm."
From my understanding of the period reference, since salt pork was brined it would have been pale in color and somewhat floppy rather than salted firm modern version of salt pork. I'm not sure that there is a adequate modern substitute.
And as an aside...
In the 1911 Food Companion, there is also "Fat Back" which is defined as:
“Often confused with salt pork (which comes from the sides and belly of a pig) fat back is the fresh layer (not salted or smoked) of fat that runs along the animal’s back. It is used to make lard and cracklings and used for cooking.”
and, Salt Pork is:
“So named because it is salt-cured, this is a layer of fat (usually with some streaks of lean) that is cut from the pig’s belly and sides. Salt pork is often confused with fat back, which is unsalted.... It’s [salt pork] similar to bacon but much fatter and unsmoked.”
Please be careful at the grocery store, there are some brands of slab and sliced bacon that is not salt or smoked cured, but is just "regular" bacon to which salt and artifical smoke flavouirng has been added. Since it is not salt or smoked cured, it is NOT cured meat, and will spoil and poison one in short order.
Curt
Hallo!
Here is a loose "collection" of snippets and pastings from my beef and pork notebook folder:
PREPARING SALT BEEF
The Action of Salt on Meat according to Beeton's Book of Household Management (London, 1861):
"By its strong affinity, salt extracts the juices from the substance of meat in sufficient quantity to form a saturated solution with the water contained in the juice, and the meat then absorbs the saturated brine in place of the juice extracted by the salt. In this way, matter incapable of putrefaction takes the places of that portion in the meat which is most perishable. Such is not the only office of salt as a means of preserving meat. Also, it acts by its astringency in contracting the fibres of the muscles, and so excludes the action of air on the interior of the substance of the meat. The last-mentioned operation of salt as an antiseptic is evinced by the diminution of the volume of meat to which it is applied. The astringent action of saltpetre on meat is much greater than that of salt, and thereby renders meat to which it is applied very hard; but, in small quantities, it considerably assists the antiseptic action of salt, and also prevents the destruction of the florid colour of meat, which is used by the application of salt. Thus, the application of salt and saltpetre diminishes, in a considerable degree, the nutritive, and to some extent, the wholesome qualities of meat. Therefore, the quantity applied should be as small as possible, consistent with the perfect preservation of the meat."
Authentic Salt Beef (Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861)
1/2 round of beef, 4 oz sugar, 1 oz saltpetre, 2 oz black pepper, 1/4 lb. bay salt, 1/2 lb. common salt.
Rub the meat well with salt, and let it remain for a day, to disgorge the slime. The next day, rub it well with the above ingredients on every side, and let it remain in the pickle for about a fortnight, turning it every day. It may be boiled fresh from the pickle, or smoked.
Note: the smaller the beef, the less time it takes to salt it. A joint of 8 or 9 lbs. will be sufficiently salty in a week.
Corn Beef (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
To each gallon of cold water, put 1 quart of rock salt, 1 ounce saltpetre and 4 ounces of brown sugar (it need not be boiled). As long as any salt remains undisolved, the meat will be sweet. If any scum should rise, scald and skim well; add more salt, saltpetre and sugar; as you cut each piece of meat into the brine, rub it over with salt.
Authentic Beef Pickle (Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861)
6 lbs. salt, 2 lbs. sugar, 3 oz saltpetre, 3 gallons water.
Boil all the ingredients gently together. Remove from heat. When quite cold, pour it over the meat, every part of which must be covered with the brine. This may be used for pickling any kind of meat, and may be kept for some time. A ham should be kept in the pickle for a fortnight; a piece of beef weighing 14 lbs. for 12 or 15 days.
Salt Beef or "Salt Horse" (Pequot Mess)
Take a chuck roast of the desired size. Rub thoroughly with sugar first, then with saltpetre (obtainable from your local pharmacy) and then with salt. Let the meat sit for a day and drain off the accumulated juices. Prepare a brine of the following proportions; three handfuls of salt per one quart of water. Bring brine to boil until salt dissolves. Let cool and pour over meat. Soak meat in brine for, at least, two weeks turning meat over daily. Keep the meat in refrigerator unless you wish to re-enact dysentery also. Before using, soak meat in fresh water for about twelve hours and use as you would any beef. Expect it to be salty. A salt beef ration was usually boiled.
B. Boiling Salted Meats
Boiled Salt Beef
Soak for several hours. Dump water and refill with fresh water. Bring to hard boil. ADD SALT BEEF. When meat becomes whitish/gray (should occur quickly), remove from direct heat and simmer. This Hard Boil Then Simmer method seals the juices in the beef and makes it tender. If the meat is hard boiled for too long, it becomes hard and inedible.
If the meat is added with the cold water and brought to a boil, then you are making soup. All the flavors will be leached from the meat and into the water. Adding the meat to cold water and bringing it to a boil makes your meat as tough as shoe leather.
Boiled Salt Pork
Soak for several hours. Dump water and refill with fresh water. Add salt pork. Bring to a boil. After it has thoroughly cooked, remove the fat and enjoy the meat (what little there is of it.)
C. Fried Salted Meats
Salt Beef
Soak for several hours. Cut into small strips. Fry in grease or butter if available. Great when added with fried potatoes.
Salt Pork
"The westward migration owes much to salt pork. For pioneers, it was considered a staple in every larder. [ ] Homesteaders prized it above hard money. [ ] Saltpork begins as the fatty parts from the back, side, or belly of a hog. [ ] Fattier than bacon, it was cured by the dry-salt method but not smoked. Western cooks used it a flavor and as a supplement to meat. [ ] Unlike meat, salt pork would keep awhile without spoiling. [ ] The flavor imparted to foods is unique to itself. At a time when spice racks were usually unavailable, salt pork served heroically with bland foods. [ ] [Soldiers] often carried salt pork. They fried it, sopping hardtack in the grease, thereby softening what was an otherwise jawbreaking form of bread. Cowhands in line camps generally dredged slices of salt port in flour and then fried it. The grease served as a substitute for butter. By modern taste standards, it sounds pretty dreadful. Old-timers were damn glad to get it. The alternative was to go hungry. Off in the wilderness, several days might pass before some form of game found its way into the cooking pot. Salt pork, bread, and coffee provided a welcome supper and sustenance for tomorrow's hardships." From Matt Braun, Western Cooking.
Salt Pork Suggestion (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
Soak salt pork (cut into slices for broiling or frying) in a one to two quarts milk and water; soak it over night if it is for breakfast, and for several hours before any other meal. The milk maybe either fresh or sour, and it is diluted with an equal quantity of water. Before cooking the slices, rinse them in water until it is clear. It will be found a very excellent method, and when once adopted will invariably be the choice of preparation.
Salt Pork and Sour Apples (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
This makes a very satisfying summer dinner when served with Boiled New Potatoes. Cut the slices of pork; lay them in cold water in the spider (a spider is a frying pan with legs on the bottom - ed.); boil them for 2 to 3 minutes; then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals; now dredge the slices in cornmeal seasoned with pepper and brown them on both sides in the spider. In another spider, fry 1/2 inch slices of good tart cored but unpeeled apples in butter or drippings after dredging them in a little flour mixed with a pinch of cinnamon or ginger. Serve the pork and apples together.
Floured Bacon (Matt Braun, Western Cooking)
Use thick sliced bacon. Lightly flour each side of the bacon. At medium heat, fry strips until brown on side. Flip and brown on other side.
This makes for exceptionally crispy bacon.
Ham and Red-Eye Gravy (Matt Braun, Western Cooking)
Fry ham in skillet. Remove ham but leave drippings. For each pound of ham, add 1/2 cup strong black coffee to pan drippings. Stir constantly and bring to boil. Serve over ham and biscuits.
This works well for all types of pig fat. You will be surprised how good it tastes.
Salt Beef and Spruce Beer:
Provisions for the British Navy
[from the Brigade Dispatch v26 No. 1]
The Swedish navy regularly sent officers to train with
other navies, and part of their duty was to submit an
account of their experiences. Two such men,
midshipmen Hans Frederick Wachtmeister and Frederick
Herman von Walden, served as volunteer midshipmen on
the H. M. S. Phoenix in America in 1776 and 1777.
They not only kept a journal of events, but also included
descriptive and insightful commentary about how and
why things were done. Their writings were reprinted in
The Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, V.7 No. 3
(July 1956).
Of particular interest to us is the method used to
produce salt beef and spruce beer, two major staples in
the diets of sailors and soldiers alike. While spruce beer
was often produced "in the field," by men sent on shore
for the task, salted meat was purchased from contractors
(casks were marked with the number of pieces inside;
when a cask was opened, the pieces were counted, and
a notation made in the ships log of how many pieces
short or extra were in it; these records are preserved in
the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England).
It is not known whether the army used the same contrac-
tors as the navy, or whether their salt beef was produced
by the same method.
"The best method to preserve meat is the following: After the
meat has cooled, it is cut into 5lb. pieces which are then
rubbed well with fine salt. The pieces are then placed
between boards, a weight brought to bear on the upper board
so as to squeeze out the blood. Afterwards the pieces are
shaken to remove the surplus salt, packed rather tightly in a
barrel, which when full is closed. A hole is then drilled into
the upper end and brine allowed to fill the barrel to the top,
the brine being made of 4 lbs. of salt, 2 lbs. of brown sugar
and four gallons of water with a touch of saltpeter. When no
more brine can enter, the hole is closed. This method of
preserving meat not only assures that it keeps longer but also
gives it a rather good taste. Joints and bones are boiled to
make a soup and used with peas, lb. for each man and is
to be recommended as an anti-scurvy diet. The same thing
can be said for sauerkraut. The English seaman is also given,
from time to time, an ale called porter. Captain Cook
recommends in his latest travel book the use of wort, which
he manufactured on board from malt. Sometimes he even
made beer. The least expensive, however, and which is
believed to be the most healthy, is spruce beer. It is made
from the first shoots of the spruce, when they are about six
inches long. They are kneaded and boiled into a liquid which
is poured through a sieve while it is yet warm. When it has
cooled, yeast is added and the same system is used as with
other forms of beer. This drink is used in the most famous
inns in London, tastes good, and is easily brewed on board.
For the sake of convenience one can also take along the
essence on board. English sailors are not given brandy when
they receive beer."
The method for salting beef has similar elements to
those found in period cookbooks for "hung beef," hams
and other preserved meats. Salt, sugar, "pump-water,"
and a touch of saltpeter are common ingredients with
which to soak or rub the raw meat, after it has cooled
from slaughtering.
It is important to notice the recommendations for
cooking salted beef. The Compleat Housewife (Eliza
Smith, London, 1758; reprinted London, 1994) gives
"General Directions for Boiling" which mentions that
All salt meat must be put in when the water is cold; but fresh
meat, not till it boils; and as many pounds as your piece
weighs, so many quarters of an hour it will require in boiling.
The directions "To do the fine hanged Beef" read,
"...when you use it, boil it in hay and pump-water, very
tender: it will keep boiled two or three months, rubbing it with
a greasy cloth, or putting it two or three minutes into boiling
water to take off the mouldiness."
Directions for boiling hams and other preserved meats
also mention tying the meat in clean hay.
Title: Spruce Beer Categories: Yield: 1 Servings 2 oz Hops 1/2 ga Water 8 ga Warm water 1 ga Molasses 4 oz Essence of spruce 1 pt Water 1/4 pt Yeast Molasses Put hops and water in a kettle and boil for 30 minutes. Strain; add 8 gallons warm water, molasses and spruce essence. Put in a clean cask, shake all well together and add yeast. Let stand and work for 6-7 days, or less if the weather is warm. When drawn off, add 1 teaspoon molasses to each bottle.
"Side bacon" ("American Bacon"), is the type most often found already sliced and packaged in the grocery stores. Bacon is the cured and oten times smoked meat and fat from the lower sides and belly of the pig. To make bacon, machines now inject brine (salt solutions and nitrates) into the meat, then either smoke it or inject artificial smoke "flavoring." For sliced bacon, the rind is trimmed from slab bacon and the meat is sliced into 36 pieces per pound for thin-sliced styles, 16 to 20 for regular, and 12 to 16 for thick-sliced. Side bacon (without the rind) also comes precooked.
"Slab bacon" is pork that is still attached to the rind. Side bacon (without the rind) also comes precooked and canned. I have seen it "whole" as well as sliced, and the local butcher shop/meat market hereabouts will set the "slicer" to cut slices as the customer wants.
"Salt pork" is salt-cured, but not smoked, meat from the belly of a pig.
There are not a whole lot, or much of any for that matter on "salt pork" in the 18th century that I know of. One of the best, albeit 19th century comes from an 1886 Grocer's Handbook:
"Mess (ed. salt) Pork shall be packed from sides of well-fatted hogs, cut in strips not exceeding six and one half inches wide and flanked according to diagram as nearly as possible, and not back-stripped, 196 pounds of green [not cured] meat, numbering not over sixteen pieces, including only the regular portion of flank and shoulder cuts; four layers to be packed in each barrel, with not less than forty pounds of Turk’s Island, St. Utes, or Trepanné, or 45 pounds of other good qualities of foreign or domestic coarse salt, and clear brine as strong as the salt will make it.”
“Clear Pork shall be packed from sides of extra heavy, well-fatted hogs, cut, selected and packed in the same manner as Mess Pork, the backbone and half the rib next to it be taken out.”
“Extra Clear Pork. Same as clear, except that all the ribs and backbone shall be taken out.
“Mess Ordinary, or Thin Mess. Of hogs reasonably well-fatted to light for Mess Pork, cut, selected, and packed in the same manner as Mess, no restrictions whatever as to the number of pieces to the barrel.”
“Extra Prime Pork shall be made from heavy, untrimmed shoulders, cut into three pieces, according to the diagram, the leg to be cut close to the breast; to be packed 200 pounds of green meat in each barrel, with the same quantity and quality of salt as Mess Pork.”
“Prime Mess Pork shall be made of shoulders and sides of nice, smooth and fat hogs, weighing 120 to 170 pounds each net, regularly cut into square pieces, as near 4 pounds each as possible, the shank to be cut off close to the breast; each barrel to contain 200 pounds of green meat, the proportion of 20 pieces of shoulder and 30 pieces of side cuts, and to be packed with the same quality and quantity of salt as Mess Pork. The prime pieces shall be cut free of blade bone. The shoulder pieces are not to exceed 90 pounds in each barrel. When re-salted, the brine shall be drawn off and new brine added.”
From Miss Beecher’s Receipt Book, 1858:
“Directions for Salting Down Pork. Cover the bottom of the barrel with salt an inch deep. Put down one layer of Pork, and cover that with salt, half an inch thick. Continue thus till the barrel is full. Then pour in as much strong pickle as the barrel will receive. Also see that the Pork does not rise above the brine. When a white scum, or bloody-looking material rises on top, scald the brine and add more salt.
Leave out the bloody and lean pieces for sausages.
Pack as tightly as possible, the rind next to the barrel; and let it be always kept under the brine. Some use a stone for this purpose. In salting down a new supply, take the old brine, boil it down and remove all the scum, and then use it to pour over the Pork.”
If I understand the recipe, "Salt pork" then would have been soaked pale in brine/salt and "limp" compared to the modern salted version which is stiff or "firm."
From my understanding of the period reference, since salt pork was brined it would have been pale in color and somewhat floppy rather than salted firm modern version of salt pork. I'm not sure that there is a adequate modern substitute.
And as an aside...
In the 1911 Food Companion, there is also "Fat Back" which is defined as:
“Often confused with salt pork (which comes from the sides and belly of a pig) fat back is the fresh layer (not salted or smoked) of fat that runs along the animal’s back. It is used to make lard and cracklings and used for cooking.”
and, Salt Pork is:
“So named because it is salt-cured, this is a layer of fat (usually with some streaks of lean) that is cut from the pig’s belly and sides. Salt pork is often confused with fat back, which is unsalted.... It’s [salt pork] similar to bacon but much fatter and unsmoked.”
Please be careful at the grocery store, there are some brands of slab and sliced bacon that is not salt or smoked cured, but is just "regular" bacon to which salt and artifical smoke flavouirng has been added. Since it is not salt or smoked cured, it is NOT cured meat, and will spoil and poison one in short order.
Curt
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