Recipes for Curing Meats
§ 37. Corned Beef
Any piece of beef can be used for corning, but the cheaper cuts are the parts generally used for this purpose. The plate, rump, and parts of the chuck are generally used, although the ribs, loin, and round may also be used. The pieces for corning should be cut into pieces of convenient size, say four or five inches square. If they are cut much larger, they well not cure very well as the pickle will not work in soon enough. They should be cut as nearly the same size as is possible so they will pack in even layers in the barrel or jar.
When as the meat is thoroughly cooled, it should be corned as quickly as possible. Weigh the meat and allow 10 pounds of salt for each 100 pounds of meat. Sprinkle a layer of salt a half inch deep over the bottom of the jar in which the meat is to be placed. Rub each piece of meat with good, clean salt. Pack each layer of meat closely in the bottom of the jar, and sprinkle a layer of salt one-fourth to one-half inch deep on each layer of meat before the following layer of meat is placed in the jar, and cover the top layer of meat with a good layer of salt. After it has stood over night, cover with a brine made as follows: for each one hundred pounds of meat, use four pounds of sugar, six ounces baking soda, and eight ounces of saltpeter. Dissolve in a gallon of water that has been boiled and cooled until it is tepid. Three gallons more of boiled, tepid water should then be added. Meat from fat animals makes choicer corned beef than that from poor animals. Under no circumstances should meat be corned while it is frozen.
In case of more or less than one hundred pounds of meat to be corned, make the brine in the proportion given. The meat should be weighted down with a board and stone so that all the meat is well beneath the surface of the brine. In case any of the meat projects above the surface, decay will commence in a short time.
It is best to cook the brine, or the water used in making the brine solution. If the weather is warm, the brine is apt to get sour and ropy. In that case, wash each piece of meat in cold water, scald the vessel and repack in a new brine. If the brine is reboiled every few days before it gets ropy, it is not necessary to make new brine so frequently. To test the brine for freshness, dip the fingers into it, and if it does not drip freely from the fingers, but appears stringy or ropy, it should be turned off, the meat washed, and new brine added. In the spring of the year, the brine should be watched closely, as it is more likely to spoil at that time than during the cold winter months. If kept in a cool place, with a uniform temperature of below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and above freezing, there should be little trouble from this source. To secure thorough corning, the meat should be kept in the brine for twenty-eight to forty days, the exact length of time depending on the size of the pieces of meat and on the weather.
§ 38. Dried Beef
The round and shoulders are the parts most commonly used for dried beef. The pieces should be cut with the grain, so that the muscle fibers will be cut crosswise when the dried beef is sliced for table use. It should be cut in about the same sizes as for corned beef, and packed in vessels in the same manner. The pickle should be made as follows: for each one hundred pounds of meat, weigh out six pounds table salt, three pounds of granulated sugar, and two ounces of saltpeter. Mix these pieces thoroughly. Before the meat is placed in the jar, each piece should be well rubbed with the spice mixture. Dissolve the remainder of the spices in four gallons of boiled water that has been allowed to cool. Pour this pickle solution over the meat in the jar until it is completely covered. Weight the meat down, as in the case with corned beef. The pickle solution should be watched and, in the case of tendency to become ropy, should be handled as in corning beef.
After ten days, the meat should be removed from the pickle and hung up in an airy out-house to drip and dry. When dry, which should be in about 24 hours, it can be smoked, as in the case of smoking ham. The drier the climate, the more easily can the meat be dried and smoked. It is difficult to dry and smoke meat in the Canton region unless done in December and January, before the rains begin.