Culinary Chemistry / The Scientific Principles of Cookery, with Concise Instructions for Preparing Good and Wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies, Marmalades, and Various Other Alimentary Substances Employed in Domestic Economy, with Observations on the Chemical Constitution and Nutritive Qualities of Different Kinds of Food.

by Friedrich Christian Accum

Take a pound of black pepper, a quarter of a pound of Cayenne pepper, and a pound of saltpetre, all ground very fine; mix these three well together, and blend them alternately with about three quarts of very fine salt: this mixture is sufficient for eight hundred weight of beef. As the pieces are brought from the person cutting up, first sprinkle the pieces with the spice, and introduce a little into all the thickest parts; if it cannot be done otherwise, make a small incision with a knife. The first salter, after rubbing salt and spice well into the meat, should take and mould the piece, the same as washing a shirt upon a board; this may be very easily done, and the meat being lately killed, is soft and pliable; this moulding opens the grain of the meat, which will make it imbibe the spice and salt much quicker than the common method of salting. The first salter hands his piece over to the second salter, who moulds and rubs the salt well into the meat, and if he observes occasion, introduces the spice; when the second salter has finished his piece, he folds it up as close as possible, and hands it to the packer at the harness or salting tubs, who must be stationed near him: the packer must be careful to pack his harness tubs as close as possible.

All the work must be carried on in the shade, but where there is a strong current of air, the harness tubs in particular; this being a very material point in curing the meat in a hot climate. Meat may be cured in this manner with the greatest safety, when the thermometer, in the shade, is at 110°, the extreme heat assisting the curing.

A good sized bullock, of six or seven hundred weight, may be killed and salted within the hour.

The person who attends with the spice near the first salter, has the greatest trust imposed upon him; besides the spice, he should be well satisfied that the piece is sufficiently salted, before he permits the first salter to hand the piece over to the second salter.

All the salt should be very fine, and the packer, besides sprinkling the bottom of his harness tubs, should be careful to put plenty of salt between each tier of meat, which is very soon turned into the finest pickle. The pickle will nearly cover the meat, as fast as the packer can stow it away. It is always a good sign that the meat is very safe when the packer begins to complain that his hands are aching with cold.

By this method there is no doubt but that the meat is perfectly cured in three hours from the time of killing the bullock: the saltpetre in a very little time strikes through the meat; however, it is always better to let it lie in the harness tubs till the following morning, when it will have an exceeding pleasant smell on opening the harness tubs; then take it out and pack it in tight barrels, with its own pickle.

METHOD OF PREPARING BACON, HAMS, AND HUNG BEEF.

Meat, when salted, is sometimes dried, when it gets the name of bacon, ham, or hung beef.

The drying of salt meat is effected either by hanging it in a dry and well-aired place, or by exposing it at the same time to wood smoke, which gives it a peculiar flavour, much admired in Westphalia hams and Hamburgh beef, and also tends to preserve it, by the antiseptic action of the pyrolignic acid. When meat is to be hung, it need not be so highly salted.

The method of preparing bacon is peculiar to certain districts. The following is the method of making bacon in Hampshire and Somersetshire:—