To Cure Hams or Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pickle
To 8 gallons of water add 12 lbs. of coarse salt, 3 pts. of molasses, 4 oz. of saltpetre, and 1 shovel of ashes.
Boil the mixture until no scum arises.
Let the mixture stand until cold.
Pack and cure
Pack your meat in a tight cask gently, for fear of the cement arising.
Put a weight to press the meat, so that the pickle covers it at least 3 inches.
Make the quantity of pickle in proportion to the quantity of meat you cure.
If your hams or beef are large, cure them for 6 weeks; if small, cure for 4 weeks.
You may cure tongue in the same manner.
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
- Coarse salt (in the method)
- Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it, helping preserve the cure.
- Saltpetre (in the method)
- Helps preserve the meat and gives cured meat its characteristic colour.
- Molasses (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and flavour that balances the saltiness of the cure.
The step that matters
Boil the pickle until no scum arises. Boiling brings impurities and proteins from the mixture to the surface as scum. Skimming them off keeps the pickle clean, so it cures the meat evenly and does not spoil the flavour.
“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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