Peptonised Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Combine minced beef and cold water in a pot.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it boils for a few minutes.
Pour off the liquid.
Mash the meat into a paste.
Place the meat paste in a jar.
Digest and finish
Add the reserved liquid.
Mix in extractum pancreatis and bicarbonate of sodium. Shake well.
Keep at 110°F (43°C) for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Boil quickly.
Strain.
Serve as needed.
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
- Minced raw beef
- Supplies the protein and flavour that dissolve into the liquid to make the tea.
- Extractum pancreatis
- Enzymes that break down meat proteins into smaller, more soluble pieces during the holding period.
- Bicarbonate of sodium
- Raises the pH slightly, helping the enzymes work and the proteins dissolve.
The step that matters
Keep at 110°F (43°C) for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Enzymes work only within a narrow temperature range. Too hot and they are destroyed; too cool and digestion stalls, so the tea stays weak.
“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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