Brine for Corning Beef

Ingredients

• twenty pounds of coarse salt
• two pounds of sugar
• half a pound of saltpetre
• fourteen gallons of water

Method

1. 1

   Combine salt, sugar, saltpetre, and water in a kettle.

2. 2

   Boil and skim until clear.

3. 3

   Cool and pack beef in a barrel, covering with brine.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The home cook book (1905) by Christine Frederick, page 47. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

BRINE FOR CORNING BEEF When you have your beef ready for corning be sure it is perfectly cold and free from animal heat. It should lie pro- tected from flies or any attacking insect and become solid. Two full days of cool weather should be allowed for this. Have your corning firkin or barrel of clean, sweet, firm wood. Then have it perfectly scoured, and set upon logs so that air can pass between its bottom and the cemented floor of the cellar. Have also flat, square, scoured boards to put in over the meat to keep it from floating. Smooth, large, clean stones should be at hand for weights on the boards. In making the brine use a big kettle, or take the wash- boiler, scour it perfectly, and use that. Weigh out twenty pounds of coarse salt, two pounds of sugar (or two quarts of pure New Orleans molasses), and use half a pound of saltpetre. Measure fourteen gallons of water

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.