Name: To Keep Cider
Ingredients: 8 ounces powdered mustard; 2 ounces prepared chalk; 2 ounces coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')

To Keep Cider

sufficient for 40 gallons of cider

Ingredients

8 ounces powdered mustard
2 ounces prepared chalk
2 ounces coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')

Directions

Prepare the barrel

Place your barrel on its side with the bung-hole at the top.
Make a bag from unbleached muslin, half a yard long and two inches wide.
Rack off the cider into a clean barrel before adding the mixture.

Add the mixture

Push the bag through the hole and pour in the mustard, chalk, and salt using a funnel.
This mixture is sufficient for 40 gallons of cider and should be kept tightly closed.

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

Powdered mustard: Adds a pungent flavour and helps keep the cider stable while it sits.
Prepared chalk: Neutralises acidity in the cider, helping to balance its sourness.
Coarse sea salt: Adds savour and helps preserve the cider by limiting unwanted microbial activity.

“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.