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To Pot Beef or Mutton

A method of curing and baking beef with saltpetre, salt, pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Pot Beef or Mutton

Oven, in the book's wordsA very cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very cool 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 let it sit overnight.

  2. Salt the beef with coarse sea salt and cover it with water for four days in a small pan.

Bake the beef

  1. Dry the beef with a cloth and season with black pepper.

  2. Place the beef in a small pan, cover with coarse paste, and bake at 300°F (150°C) for five hours without adding any liquid.

Make the paste and pot

  1. Once cooled, remove strings and fat, then finely beat the meat with warm butter and enough gravy to form a paste.

  2. Pack the mixture into small pots and cover with melted butter.

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 + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the meat that becomes firm, sliceable, and richly flavored after curing and baking.
Saltpetre
Helps cured meat keep a pink colour and a firmer texture during long curing.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the beef, helping preserve it during curing.
Fine butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the beaten meat a smooth, spreadable texture.

The step that matters

Baking under coarse paste without liquid. The salt paste seals the meat while it cooks slowly for hours at low heat, so it becomes tender without drying out. Adding liquid would change the texture and reduce the concentrated flavour.

“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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