Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove fat and skin from the beef and shred it finely.
Place the beef in a well‑tinned or enamelled saucepan with the cold water, bicarbonate of soda, and salt.
Cook and serve
Stir over moderate heat for 30 minutes without boiling, ensuring it reaches 140°F (60°C).
Strain the mixture and let it cool slightly.
Add the liquor pancreaticus, reheat, and serve with slices of toasted bread.
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 beef
- Provides the meat flavour and the protein that is slowly drawn out into the liquid.
- Cold water
- Slowly extracts flavour and juices from the shredded beef as it heats.
- Liquor pancreaticus
- Contains enzymes that partly break down the beef's proteins into smaller pieces.
The step that matters
Heat gently without boiling. Holding the mixture below boiling lets flavour and juices come out of the beef gradually. Boiling tightens and toughens the meat proteins and makes the liquid cloudy and greasy.
“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.
More beef tea recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.