Hung Beef,
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Rub the beef well with salt and saltpetre.
Place the beef in a cask or tub and cover with a board and weights.
Leave it for about two weeks.
Dry
Remove the beef and hang it in the kitchen to dry for about three weeks.
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
- Beef
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming firm and dense as it cures and dries.
- Saltpetre
- Preserves the meat and gives cured beef its characteristic pink colour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and slows spoilage during curing.
The step that matters
Rubbing the beef well with salt and saltpetre. Salt and saltpetre preserve the meat only where they touch it. Thorough, even coverage prevents spoilage and uneven curing, so every part of the beef needs the cure.
“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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