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Pressed Beef

A dish of boiled beef that is chopped, seasoned, boiled until it gels, then molded and sliced.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Pressed Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Boil the shank bone until you can remove the bones.

  2. Chop the meat finely.

  3. Return the chopped meat to the cooking liquid.

Season and set

  1. Add salt and sage.

  2. Boil until it jellies when cold.

  3. Mold the mixture and cut into slices when cold.

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

Shank bone
Its connective tissue breaks down into gelatin during boiling, which lets the mixture set when cold.
Sage
Adds a savoury, herbal aroma that flavours the meat.

The step that matters

Boil until it jellies when cold. The gelatin released from the bone and connective tissue only sets into a firm jelly if the liquid is boiled long enough to concentrate it. Too little boiling leaves the mixture loose when it cools.

“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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