Strength of Pumping Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine
Dissolve the sugar in water to create a syrup.
Combine the syrup with the 100 degree plain pickle and saltpetre, then thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
Pump
Pump the mixture at a rate of 2 ounces per stroke.
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
- Plain pickle
- Forms the liquid base that carries the other ingredients through the meat.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the meat and give it a pink colour.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the salty, curing flavour of the brine.
The step that matters
Thoroughly mix all ingredients together. The sugar and saltpetre must fully dissolve and spread evenly before pumping. Undissolved solids can clog the pump needles and leave uneven pockets of cure in the meat.
“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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