How to Pickle Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pack the meat without salt.
In a large pot, combine water, coarse sea salt, saltpetre, and molasses.
Make and cool the brine
Scald the brine mixture.
Skim off any impurities.
Let the brine cool before covering the meat with it.
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
- Preserves the meat by drawing out moisture and seasoning it throughout.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps the meat keep its colour and cured flavour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and depth of flavour that balances the salt.
The step that matters
Let the brine cool before covering the meat. Pouring hot brine over the meat can partly cook its surface and uneven the cure. Cooling the brine first lets it soak in gently and evenly.
“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.
More pickled beef recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.