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Drink

Hay Tea

A beverage made by steeping hay in boiling water, then fed to cows and calves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Hay Tea

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cut hay into 4-inch pieces.

  2. Pour boiling water over the hay.

  3. Let it steep until it cools to the temperature of milk.

  4. Remove the hay and feed it to the cow.

  5. Give the tea to the calf.

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

What each ingredient does

Hay
Provides the plant material that steeps into the tea, giving it flavor and aroma.

The step that matters

Let it steep until it cools to the temperature of milk.. Hot liquid can harm a young calf, so the tea must cool to about milk temperature before it is given. Steeping too briefly or serving it too hot risks an unsuitable drink.

“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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