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To Pot Beef, Veal, Game, or Poultry

A method of cooking beef with saltpetre, salt, and water to produce a strong consommé.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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To Pot Beef, Veal, Game, or Poultry

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Cure the beef

  1. Rub the beef with saltpetre and coarse sea salt.

  2. Let it sit in salt for 2 days, rubbing it daily.

Bake the beef

  1. Place the beef in an earthen pan or stone jar that fits it snugly.

  2. Cover the beef with the skin and fat, then pour in the water.

  3. Seal the jar with paste and bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 4 hours.

Finish the consommé

  1. After baking, drain the gravy into a basin, remove gristles and skins, and mince the beef finely.

  2. Moisten the minced beef with some of the gravy to make a strong consommé.

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

Lean gravy beef
Provides the meat that is cooked slowly and then minced to make the consommé.
Saltpetre
Cures the beef, helping it keep a firm texture and a reddish colour.
Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the beef and seasons it during the curing period.
Skin and fat from the beef
Covers the meat during baking, adding richness and moisture to the gravy.

The step that matters

Let it sit in salt for 2 days, rubbing it daily. Curing needs enough time and even contact with salt and saltpetre to penetrate the meat. Daily rubbing keeps the cure spread evenly, so the beef cooks to a uniform texture and colour.

“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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