Directions for Curing Beef

Ingredients

• 1 pound saltpetre, powdered
• 15 quarts good clean Liverpool salt
• 15 gallons cold water
• good Liverpool salt
• beef

Instructions

1. Prepare the brine in mid-October. Take a thirty-gallon cask, remove one head, drive in the bung, and seal with pitch to prevent leaking. Ensure the cask is tight and clean.
2. Dissolve one pound of powdered saltpetre, fifteen quarts of good Liverpool salt, and fifteen gallons of cold water together in the cask, stirring frequently until dissolved. Throw a thick cloth over the cask to keep out dust. Watch it often and skim off any scum that rises. The brine should be strong enough to bear up an egg. Keep it in a cool, dry place.
3. For salting the beef, saw a molasses hogshead in two to provide space for the meat. Bore holes in the bottom of these tubs and raise them slightly on one side so the bloody brine may run off.
4. Use freshly killed beef. Rub each piece very well with good Liverpool salt, paying particular care to rub the salt into every part. Sprinkle a good deal of salt on the bottom of the tub. Lay the beef in the tub with the fleshy side downward. Cover the beef generously with salt; this protects it from animals and does not waste the salt, as the beef can only dissolve a certain portion.
5. Let the beef lie in salt for ten days. Then take it out, brush off the salt, and wipe it with a damp cloth. Put it in the brine with a bit of board and weight to keep it submerged. In about ten days it will look red and be fit for the table, though it will redden sooner as the brine becomes older.
6. Begin salting beef in the latter end of October if the weather is cool, and continue in succession from that time. When beef is removed from the salt tub, stir the salt to dry it so it is ready for the next pieces. Tongues are cured in the same manner.