Yet Another Salt Pork Question Thread

[Obi316]

Okay, so my pard and I are trying our hand at Salt Pork. I have looked through all the articles available. Many have links to older threads but those are no longer available or do not answer my question.
On a older thread someone suggested using "Jas Townsends" video on Youtube as the basis. As many of the recipes are similar this is what my pard and I went with. I have a couple questions however.

1) How long do you keep the pork in the brine cure? Two weeks?

2) What do you do with the pork when it comes out? Do you rinse the pork and hang it to dry? (put it in the fridge?) This would be similar to what CWDD did with their dry cure salted pork.

3) What was the standard way the military at the time transported large quantities of salt pork to men in the field? Was it generally just left in the brine filled barrels?

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Yet Another Salt Pork Question Thread

Based on this: https://books.google.com/books?id=c5...page&q&f=false

1) eight to ten days

2) sometimes it was eaten raw, including as a "sandwich" between two pieces of hardtack; but in the old army it was meant to be soaked till most of the salt was gone then simmered as a base for soup with the meat sometimes taken out and served separately; Augustus Meyers mentioned the young musicians at Governor's Island in the '50s smearing their bread with lard served in lieu of butter. Scott's "Military Dictionary" has an extensive section on cooking that includes several ideas.

3) barrels -- the link discusses the method of construction, dimensions, and weight.

Hope this helps. Pardon me if you already have Kilburn's "Notes".

[Obi316]

Re: Yet Another Salt Pork Question Thread

Thank you for the reply!

1) 8 to 10 days is the minimum amount of days to leave the meat in the cure correct?

2) I guess I should have clarified a little better. I meant once the pork is done curing and before use in the field. I'm guessing since they were delivered in barrels it would be up to the individual soldier to allow the pork to dry out a bit before they would cook it up.

3) I did find a thread where a gentleman recreated the barrels used for curing and transporting the pork. Pretty neat, and something I hope to do myself in the future.

Thanks again!

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Yet Another Salt Pork Question Thread

About the curing time, I took that directly from Kilburn's "Notes on Preparing Stores" -- I linked to the Google Books copy so you could download it. His whole first chapter is called "Pork" so you'll find lots of interesting stuff there, including how the barrels were made. Other chapters deal with beef, hardtack, etc. It's a great reference.

I don't have a definitive answer on drying time. The rations would be distributed down the chain of command and the way Kilburn describes it you could probably get 250-300 meat rations from a barrel, each barrel having fifty pieces weighing about four pounds each. Once at regiment, if not earlier, the barrels would be opened and details sent from companies to get their share based on company returns and requisitions for those present for duty.

If the orders are to issue "three days cooked rations" the pork needn't dry beforehand. If it was simply doled out to the men, mess by mess, they might be left to their own devices as far as handling.

William Ray, in "Four Years in the Iron Brigade" wrote after the battle of Bristoe Station on October 14, 1863: "I was verey unfortunate today. I lost all the meat we had. We had it in a bag and carried it in turns & I forgot to pick it up when starting after resting." He wrote earlier that they had eight days rations on hand for a mess of three and had been drawing both beef and pork, so that bag might have weighed twenty pounds, and some of it had been around for at least four days (they'd drawn last on that morning, but previously on the 10th).

Your imagination will do as well as mine in envisioning how the raw pork and beef dried in that bag, but you don't have to look far in personal accounts for lurid descriptions of the insides of haversacks... :)

I once attended a living history "catered" by Charles Heath, who served quite a smorgasbord of ration items, including his own home made salt pork. My memory of it is that it was encrusted with salt, but I'd come prepared with some paper to wrap the issue in. I parboiled it in a canteen half that night, but it took a bit more to make it edible the following evening. Theodore Ayrault Dodge mentions wrapping boiled beef in cartridge paper, so I used that as my excuse for packaging.

I hope you post your findings when you're done with your labors -- we could all certainly benefit from hearing the results!

[Obi316]

Re: Yet Another Salt Pork Question Thread

I not only did I download the book you sent but also printed it out. I am a bit old fashion and like to have a hard copy to flip through. Thank you for the information!

I would imagine based off what you have quoted and a basic understanding of the war. That it kind of depended on when and where a soldier found themselves. I've understood some men would even boil or soak the ration before even stowing it away. This would make a lot of sense because once the army started moving, prepping the meat would be much more difficult.

The William Ray entry made me think two things. One, this sounds like something I would do, and I would feel awful about it. And two, if I hadn't done it and it was one of my comrades, I would be thoroughly ticked off and bitter! But it is a good example of men pooling their rations together to lighten the collective load. I bet they didn't ask William to carry the rations again!

I think my pard and I are going to leave the pork in the barrel and take a piece out every so often. We will let it dry slightly before the event and then stow it away. I am curious to try different methods of prepping, transporting and cooking the pork. We have 7 pounds between the two of us so there should be plenty of product and time to try different methods. I may take a piece out this weekend (Week 2 of it curing) and try some stuff. I may make a short video about the results as well.

[logonfrench]

Re: Yet Another Salt Pork Question Thread

I have recently "salted my own pork" in a wet brine, and recently took it to an event. It was a rather cold event, and my and a pard slept out with no tent because he forgot his tent, and the first night we were there we boiled our pork, and i wrapped it in a piece of cloth, the next day i reheated the pork on a canteen half and ate it. I did not get sick from it, nor did my pard. hope this helps!

L. E. Barnes 8th kansas vol.