Liebig S Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Finely mince the raw lean beef.
Steep and strain
In a glass or earthenware vessel, combine the minced beef with ¾ pint of water, 4 drops of muriatic acid, and ¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt.
Stir well and let it stand for 1 hour.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and rinse the residue with ¼ pint of water.
Serve
Serve the liquid cold or warmed, ensuring it does not exceed 120°F (49°C).
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Raw lean beef
- Provides the meat flavour and dissolved protein that give the tea its body and savoury taste.
- Water
- Extracts soluble flavour and nutrients from the minced beef into the liquid.
- Muriatic acid
- Its acidity helps draw flavour and nutrients out of the meat fibres into the liquid.
The step that matters
Keeping the serving temperature at or below 120°F (49°C). Heating the liquid much above this point can cook and coagulate the dissolved proteins, making the tea cloudy and altering its texture and flavour.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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