Pumping Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 106°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the pumping mixture
Dissolve the sugar in water to create a syrup.
Add saltpeter until the mixture reaches 106°F on a salometer.
Mix thoroughly and keep agitated while pumping.
Pump and cure
Pump the mixture into meats, using one stroke every four inches under the rib for heavy cuts.
Pack joint meats in a 72°F pickle and backs and bellies in a 65°F pickle.
Allow to cure for about three days.
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
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the sharp saltiness of the cure.
- Full strength pickle
- Serves as the salty brine base that seasons and cures the meat.
- Saltpeter
- Supports curing and helps the meat keep its pink color.
The step that matters
Pump the mixture into the meat at even spacing. Brine spreads through muscle only as far as it is injected. Strokes spaced every four inches under the rib distribute the cure evenly, so the meat cures throughout rather than only near the injection points.
“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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