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A Common Receipt for Salting Beef

A method for salting beef using saltpetre, coarse sea salt, and optional sugar over 7 to 10 days.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,435 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

A Common Receipt for Salting Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cure

  1. Dry the saltpetre and coarse sea salt well, then finely powder them.

  2. If desired, mix 1 to 2 ounces of sugar with the saltpetre to enhance tenderness.

Cure the beef

  1. Rub the saltpetre evenly over the beef.

  2. Apply the coarse sea salt thoroughly to all parts of the beef.

  3. Rub the beef with the mixture and turn it daily for 7 to 10 days.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,435 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef
The main meat that the cure penetrates and firms as it cures.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the meat and sets its characteristic pink colour during curing.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping it cure.
Sugar
Adds a mild sweetness that balances the salt and may soften the meat's texture.

The step that matters

Applying the salt and saltpetre thoroughly. Every part of the beef must be evenly coated, because uncured spots can spoil and the cure only works where it contacts the meat. Turning the beef daily keeps the cure distributed as it penetrates.

“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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