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To Corn Beef

A preserved beef product made by brining in a salt, sugar, and saltpetre solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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To Corn Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Make the brine

  1. Mix 1 gallon of cold water, 1 quart of coarse sea salt, 1 ounce of saltpetre, and 4 ounces of brown sugar in a large container until the salt is dissolved.

  2. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.

Prepare the meat

  1. Rub each piece of meat with salt before placing it in the brine.

  2. If the weather is hot, gash the meat to the bone and cover it with salt.

  3. Place a flat stone or weight on the meat to keep it submerged in the brine.

Alternative method

  1. For an alternative method, boil 4 gallons of water with 2 pounds of brown sugar and 6 pounds of common salt for 20 minutes, skimming off the scum.

Pack and maintain the brine

  1. Pour the brine over the packed meat in a pickling tub and let it sit.

  2. Every two months, boil and strain the brine, adding 3 ounces of brown sugar and ½ pound of common salt.

  3. Sprinkle the meat with salt the next day and wipe it dry before covering it with the brine.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it while preserving it in the brine.
Saltpetre
Helps the meat keep its pink colour and a cured flavour while inhibiting spoilage bacteria.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the salt and gives the cured meat a mellow flavour.
Common salt
Preserves the meat and seasons it when added to the alternative brine and the maintenance top-ups.

The step that matters

Keep the meat fully submerged in the brine. Meat exposed to air above the liquid can spoil or dry out, so a weight keeps every piece under the brine throughout curing.

“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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