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To Pickle Beef or Tongues

A method for pickling beef or tongues in a brine of salt, sugar, molasses, and saltpetre.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

To Pickle Beef or Tongues

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Use fresh, high-quality beef and wipe each piece to remove blood and moisture.

Make the brine

  1. Mix the coarse sea salt, fine salt, saltpetre, brown sugar, and molasses in a pot.

  2. Boil the mixture for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum that rises.

  3. Once clear, remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Cure the beef

  1. Place the beef in a large tub or barrel and gradually pour the brine over it, rubbing it into the meat.

  2. Cover the meat with a thick cloth and check it frequently, skimming off any scum and basting with brine.

  3. The beef will be ready for use in about six weeks; it should remain in the brine for two to three months before smoking.

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. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Beef + molassestop 35% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together606 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,435 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
The main meat; the cure firms its texture and seasons it throughout.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping preserve it.
Fine salt
Dissolves quickly into the brine, penetrating the meat and helping preserve it.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the meat and gives cured beef its characteristic pink colour and flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the saltiness of the cure.
Molasses
Adds depth, colour and a rich caramel-like flavour to the brine.

The step that matters

Let the brine cool slightly before pouring it over the beef. Very hot brine can partly cook the surface of the meat and uneven rubbing leaves some areas less cured, so the brine should be cooled slightly and worked evenly into every piece.

“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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