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Peptonized Meat, Broths, and Teas

A broth made by simmering minced beef with bicarbonate of soda, pancreatic liquor, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Peptonized Meat, Broths, and Teas

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 140°F (60°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the broth

  1. Mix the minced beef, bicarbonate of soda, pancreatic liquor, and water in a pot.

  2. Simmer slowly for 1.5 hours.

Peptonize and finish

  1. Once cooled to 140°F (60°C), add the pancreatic liquor again.

  2. Keep covered in a warm place for 2 hours, shaking occasionally.

  3. Strain off the liquid and boil for 5 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Lean beef
Provides the protein that the enzymes break down into soluble peptides, giving the broth its body and flavor.
Bicarbonate of soda
Makes the mixture slightly alkaline, which helps the enzymes break down the meat protein.
Liquor pancreaticus
Supplies digestive enzymes that break the meat's protein into smaller, soluble peptides.

The step that matters

Add the pancreatic liquor after cooling to 140°F (60°C). Digestive enzymes are heat-sensitive and lose activity when hot. Adding the liquor only after the mixture cools lets the enzymes survive and work during the warm holding period.

“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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