Dutch Hung Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Rub the beef with treacle and turn it frequently for three days.
After three days, wipe the beef dry and rub it with salt and saltpetre, turning it every day for fourteen days.
Press and smoke
Roll the beef tightly in a coarse cloth and place a heavy weight on it.
Hang the beef to dry in smoke from wood, reversing it every day.
Cook and serve
Boil the beef in spring water, press it while hot, and grate or rice it as desired.
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
- Provides the dense meat structure that is cured, pressed and sliced or grated.
- Treacle
- Adds sweetness and a dark colour to the surface during the initial rub.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the meat during the long salt cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and keep its colour during curing.
The step that matters
Turning the beef daily during the salt cure. Salt penetrates meat slowly and unevenly. Turning it every day spreads the cure over all surfaces, so the centre is preserved and the flavour and colour develop evenly.
“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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