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The Dutch Way to Salt Beef

A method of salting a large lean beef using treacle or brown sugar, salt, and optional saltpetre, then drying and boiling.

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 ↓

The Dutch Way to Salt Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Cure

  1. Rub the beef well with treacle or brown sugar, turning it often for 3 days. Wipe the beef.

  2. Rub the beef with common salt and finely beaten saltpetre. Turn the beef every day for a fortnight.

Dry and press

  1. Roll the beef tightly in a coarse cloth. Press the beef under a heavy weight.

  2. Hang the beef to dry in wood smoke. Turn the beef upside down daily.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil the beef in pump water. Press the beef again before serving.

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
Is the main cut that is cured, pressed, smoked and then boiled.
Treacle or brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture to the surface during the first rub.
Common salt
Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it during curing.
Saltpetre
Helps the curing process and gives the cured meat its pink colour.

The step that matters

Turning the beef daily through the fortnight cure. Salt penetrates unevenly if the piece is not turned, so some areas can stay underseasoned or cure too unevenly. Regular turning keeps the brine and salt spread through the meat.

“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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