Why it works: Beef and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,435 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
How to Cure Beef Tongues
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tongues
Cut the tongues from the heads and scrub them with warm water and a stiff brush to remove slime and dirt.
Hang the tongues in a cooler for at least 24 hours.
Trim off excess fat and square the tongues at the gullet.
Soak the tongues in a strong salt brine for 10 to 20 hours.
Remove the tongues from the brine, rub off any slime, and apply dry salt to the gullet.
Make the cure
For a small batch, mix 5 gallons of water with 1 lb. of Freeze-Em-Pickle, 2 lbs. of sugar, and 7 lbs. of salt to create a pickle.
For larger batches, weigh out 285 lbs. of tongues and mix 3 lbs. of Freeze-Em-Pickle, 6 lbs. of sugar, and 21 lbs. of salt.
Cure
Rub each tongue with the mixture and pack them loosely in a container, using half of the mixture for rubbing and half for brine.
Dissolve the remaining mixture in about 14 gallons of water and pour over the tongues, adding more water if necessary to cover them.
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
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,435 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef tongues
- The main meat that the cure penetrates and firms as it sets.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping the cure penetrate.
- Freeze-em-pickle
- A curing agent that preserves the meat and gives it its characteristic pink color.
- Granulated sugar
- Balances the saltiness and softens the harsh edge of the cure.
The step that matters
Rub the tongues and pack them loosely with the cure. The cure must reach every part of the tongue, and loose packing lets brine circulate around each piece so the salt and curing agent penetrate evenly instead of leaving spots that spoil or cure unevenly.
“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.
You might also like
Beef Tea69 recipes
Raw Beef Tea23 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.