To Can Whole Ox Tongues
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tongues
Select and trim the ox tongues, then wash them well.
Chill the tongues before placing them in the mild sweet pickle for 4 to 5 weeks.
Remove the tongues from the pickle and wash them in fresh water.
Blanch the tongues for 2 hours to remove the tough outer skin.
Remove the wing bones from the end of the tongues.
Pack and process
Place the tongues in round flat cans according to their sizes.
Seal the cans and wipe them clean.
Process the cans in a retort at 3 lbs. pressure for 1 hour and 45 minutes with the exhaust closed.
Slowly release the pressure, remove the cans, and stop the vents.
Return the cans to the retort and boil for 2 hours at 3½ lbs. pressure with the exhaust open.
Cool and finish
After boiling, cool the cans in a shower room, wash, dry, lacquer, and label 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
What each ingredient does
- Whole ox tongues
- Form the main meat; their dense muscle becomes tender during pickling and long retort cooking.
- Mild sweet pickle (75° salometer)
- Brine that seasons the tongues and adds salt-cured flavor and firmness over the weeks of soaking.
The step that matters
Blanching the tongues to remove the outer skin. Blanching loosens the tough outer skin so it can be removed cleanly before canning. Skipping or under-blanching leaves a tough, unpleasant skin in the finished can.
“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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