A Brine to Preserve Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the brine
Make a brine of about three gallons, strong enough salt to bear up an egg; add half a teacupful of pure white sugar and one tablespoonful of saltpetre.
Boil the brine, then strain it carefully when cold.
Pack and cover
Work butter into small rolls, wrapping each one carefully in a clean muslin cloth and tying them with string.
Pour the strained brine over the rolls so as to cover them more than fully, excluding air.
Place a weight over all rolls to keep them under the surface.
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
What each ingredient does
- Butter (in the method)
- Is the fat being preserved; the brine keeps it submerged and excluding air to slow spoilage.
- Salt
- Draws out water and inhibits microbial growth, preserving the butter in the brine.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps inhibit spoilage bacteria during long brine storage.
- Pure white sugar (in the method)
- Adds a little sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the salt in the brine.
The step that matters
Keep the rolls fully submerged. Any butter above the brine surface is exposed to air, which allows oxidation and spoilage microbes to grow. Covering the rolls completely and weighting them keeps air out and preserves the butter.
“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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