Hung Beef. No. 1
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Cover the beef with coarse sea salt for one month.
Rub a little saltpetre over the beef two or three days before hanging it up.
Hang and dry
Strew bran or oatmeal over the beef to keep dust away, or wrap it in strong coarse paper.
Hang the beef in the kitchen, away from the fire, to dry.
Regulate drying time based on air circulation.
Cook and serve
Soak the beef in water before cooking, then half boil it in simmering water.
Roast the beef after boiling and do not cut it until it is cold.
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
- Forms the meat that is cured, dried, cooked and sliced.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the beef during the long salt cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the cured colour and adds to the curing process.
The step that matters
Regulate drying time based on air circulation. Drying too fast leaves a hard outer crust while the interior stays wet, and drying too slowly invites spoilage. Air movement controls how evenly moisture leaves the meat, so the cook must judge it by airflow rather than by a fixed time.
“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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