Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Dried Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Buy the best of beef, or that part which will be the most lean and tender.
The tender part of the round is a very good piece.
Cut up a quarter of beef.
Lean pieces of beef, cut properly from the hind-quarter, are the proper pieces for being smoked.
There may be some fine pieces cut from the fore-quarter.
A large crock or jar is a good vessel to prepare the meat in before drying it.
Make the cure
For every twenty pounds of beef use one pint of salt, one teaspoonful of saltpetre, and a quarter of a pound of brown sugar.
Mix them well together, and rub the beef well with one-third of the mixture for three successive days.
For each hundred weight take half a peck of coarse salt, a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, the same weight of saleratus and a quart of molasses, or two pounds of coarse brown sugar.
Mace, cloves and allspice may be added for spiced beef.
Strew some of the salt in the bottom of a pickle-tub or barrel, then put in a layer of meat, strew this with salt, then add another layer of meat, and salt and meat alternately, until all is used.
Let it remain one night.
Dissolve the saleratus and saltpetre in a little warm water, and put it to the molasses or sugar; then put it over the meat, add water enough to cover the meat, lay a board on it to keep it under the brine.
Rather more salt may be used in warm weather.
The meat is fit for use after ten days.
Towards spring take the brine from the meat, make it boiling hot, skim it clear, and when it is cooled, return it to the meat.
This recipe is for winter beef.
Spiced brine for smoked beef or tongues will be generally liked.
Smoke and dry
Let it lie in the liquor it makes for six days, then hang up to dry.
After the beef has been in brine ten days or more, wipe it dry, and hang it in a chimney where wood is burned, or make a smothered fire of sawdust or chips, and keep it smoking for ten days.
Then rub fine black pepper over every part to keep the flies from it, and hang it in a dry, dark, cool place.
After a week it is fit for use.
A strong, coarse brown paper, folded around the beef, and fastened with paste, keeps it nicely.
Beef tongues and smoking pieces are fine pickled in this brine.
Beef liver put in this brine for ten days, and then wiped dry and smoked, is very fine.
Cut it in slices, and fry or broil it.
The brisket of beef, after being corned, may be smoked, and is very good for boiling.
Tongues are smoked in the same manner.
Hang them by a string put through the root end.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef (in the method)
- Lean, tender cuts give the finished dried meat its texture and chew.
- Salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and preserves it through the cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the meat keep its reddish colour during curing.
- Brown sugar
- Adds mild sweetness and balances the saltiness of the cure.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, colour and a rich flavour to the brine.
The step that matters
Keeping the meat under the brine. Any part of the meat left above the liquid can spoil or dry unevenly, so the board must hold it fully submerged while the cure works.
“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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