Brine

“ A good brine, sufficient for twenty pounds of beef, is made by mixing together three pounds of salt, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and two ounces of saltpetre. Boil these ingredients together for twenty minutes in two gallons of water, skimming off all scum. Let the liquid get quite cold before you pour it over the meat, and see that the joint is thoroughly covered with the brine. For a smaller piece of meat the quantities given for the brine can be easily reduced, following the same proportions carefully. The meat must be turned over every day, and well basted with the brine ”

“ During the summer it is constantly skimmed, and fresh salt added from time to time. Or a strong brine may at once be poured upon the skins, and the infusion, when the skins are taken out, may be kept for a length of time. ”

“ As soon as the herring is out of the sea, a sailor opens it, removes the gills and the entrails, washes the fish in salt water, and puts it into a brine thick enough for it to float. After fifteen or eighteen hours, it is taken out of the brine and laid in a tub with a quantity of salt. It remains in this tub until the port is reached. There the herrings are placed in barrels, where they are artistically arranged one over another, with fresh salt between each layer. Care is always taken to employ fresh brine. ”

“ They first fill their pans with brine out of the pit: which comes to them in several wooden gutters: then they put into their pans amongst the brine, a certain mixture, made of about 20 gallons of brine, and two quarts of calves’, cows’, and, chiefly, sheep’s blood. Of this mixture they put about 2 quarts into a pan that holds about 360 quarts of brine: this bloody brine at the first boiling of the pan brings up a scum which they are careful to skim off: they continue their fire as quick as they can till half the brine be wasted, and this they call boiling upon the fresh. ”

“ The brine most in use, in such cases, was made with the blood of mackerel, and that was one of the varieties of that famous garum so highly praised by the Latin authors, and which was to them, at that period, what the fish sauces of the English are now. We will give, in this work, the various preparations of this so celebrated condiment, and the reader will then be able to judge for himself.
Apicius, the man of culinary progress, proposed a prize to any one who could invent a new brine made with the liver of red mullets. History has not transmitted to us the name of the fortunate conqueror ”

“ Three [14] ounce measures of the brine, weighing 1628.4 grs. were evaporated to dryness in a heat not exceeding 200°, and which was reduced to 180° towards the close of the operation. The residuum was reduced to powder, and again exposed to a heat of about 180° until no farther moisture was given off. ”

“ This method is that commonly adopted for sea stores.
2. (Wet salting, or PICKLING IN BRINE.) When the meat is allowed to lie in the liquor that runs from it (see above) , or is at once plunged into strong brine, it is said to be ‘pickled,’ or ‘wet salted.’ On the small scale, this is most conveniently performed by rubbing the fresh meat with salt, &c., as above, and, after it has lain a few hours, putting it into a pickle formed by dissolving about 4 lbs. of good salt and 2 oz. of saltpetre in 1 gall. of water, either with or without the addition of 1⁄2 to 1 lb. of moist sugar. ”

“ When a piece of beef is put in the brine a little salt should be added, and if the weather is warm cut gashes in the beef, and fill them with salt. Keep a heavy weight on the beef in order to keep it under the brine. ”

“ Every one knows that just in proportion as water is added to brine, alcohol, vinegar, or any other aqueous solution, its power is diminished, and that a hogshead of water in which one grain of common salt has been dissolved, has no perceptible saline properties ”

“ Make a brine of salt sufficient in quantity to cover the fish when placed in a saucepan. Season with bruised pepper, mace, and allspice, and simmer the whole till the fish is done, taking care not to boil the fish more than is barely sufficient. Then take out the pieces to cool, and put them into a jar. Strain off the spice from the liquor in which the fish was boiled, and add to it a like quantity, by measure, of vinegar, and pour it over the fish. When cold, tie it over [209] with paper, and keep the fish submersed under the liquor, by placing a weight on it. ”

“ B. from three ounces of the brine, or 0.06 for that contained in one ounce, there will remain 64.64 grs. of muriatic acid, which is equal to 140.52 grs. of muriate of soda in one ounce of the brine, according to the proportions of Dr. Marcet of 46 acid and 54 soda in 100 parts of salt. [18]
2. By experiment C. b. it has been shewn that three ounces of brine yielded 5.68 grs. of oxalate of lime, dried at 165°; and by Exp. C. a. and B. c. the lime has been shewn to be in combination with sulphuric acid: 5.68 grains of oxalate of lime, according to Dr. Henry, [19] are equal to 7.1 grs. ”

“ Boil the brine for half an hour, frequently removing the scum and impurities that will rise to the surface. Cleanse the barrel thoroughly by washing with hot water and hard wood ashes. Replace the meat after sprinkling it with a little fresh salt, putting the purified [Pg 43] brine back when cool, and no further trouble will be experienced, and if the work be well done, the meat will be sweet and firm. Those who pack meat for home use do not always remove the blood with salt. After meat is cut up it is better to lie in salt for a day and drain before being placed in the brine barrel. ”

“ The answer, of course, is in the negative, it merely floats in the centre, in obedience to the common principle, that all bodies float in others which are heavier than themselves; the brine has, therefore, a greater weight than an equal bulk of water, and is also heavier than the egg. ”

“ They are first rubbed with salt on their inside, or flesh sides, then placed one on the other, the flesh sides uppermost in a salting trough, which has a gutter round its edges to drain away the brine; for to have sweet and fine bacon, the flitches must not be sopping in brine, which gives it the sort of taste that barrel-pork and sea-junk have, and than which is nothing more villainous. Everyone knows how different is the taste of fresh dry salt from that of salt in a dissolved state. ”

“ All salted provision must be watched, and kept under the brine. When the brine looks bloody, or smells badly, it must be scalded, and more salt put to it, and poured over the meat.
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Salt fish barrels must not be kept near other food, as they impart a fishy smell and taste to it.
Cabbages and Turnips in the cellar often impart a bad smell to a house. All decayed vegetable matter should be kept out of a cellar, as it creates a miasma, that sometimes causes the most fatal diseases. Therefore, always take care of the vegetable bins, and have all that are decaying removed. ”

“ It seems that the brine in which meat is pickled extracts from the meat certain nutritious principles which are necessary to health, and that it is the lack of these nutritious principles that gives men scurvy. So an old whaling captain, with a sound head on his shoulders, concluded that the thing needed to prevent scurvy was for the men to consume the brine in which the meat was pickled. ”

“ The brine is pumped into conduits, carried to large ponds and there evaporated by the sun; during late years the salt has been refined here, being purified of the sulphates and magnesium compounds which formerly rendered it efflorescent and of a low commercial grade. ”

“ When curing Hams in vats, or open barrels, whether in small or large quantity, always use no less than five gallons of brine to every 100 pounds of meat, as this makes the proper strength and a sufficient brine to cover the meat nicely. ”

“ The chief interest of the place centres in its brine springs which are largely impregnated with carbonic acid gas and oxide of iron, and are efficacious in chronic catarrh of the respiratory organs, in liver and stomach disorders and women's diseases. ”

“ The chilled brine enters through a central tube of small diameter, passes to the bottom of the outer one and rises through the latter to the surface, each system of tubes being connected above by a ring main with the circulating pumps. The brine is cooled in a tank filled with spiral pipes, in which anhydrous ammonia, previously liquefied by compression, is vaporized in vacuo at the atmospheric temperature by the sensible heat of the return-current of brine, whose temperature has been slightly raised in its passage through the circulating tubes. ”

“ There always will be more or less bubbling and foaming of the brine during the first stages of fermentation. After this ceases a thin film will appear which will rapidly spread over the whole surface and quickly develop into a heavy, folded membrane. ”

“ It is only by the use of pure granulated sugar that a well-keeping brine can be produced. Many adulterants, even though they are natural adulterants, resulting from lack of proper refining of the sugar, tend to create fermentation in the brine producing a slimy and ropy condition. ”

“ About four ounces to the gallon of water will be sufficient for small fish in general; an additional ounce, or rather more, will not be too much for cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, and shrimps; and salmon will require eight ounces, as the brine for this fish should be strong: the water should always be perfectly well skimmed from the moment the scum begins to form upon the surface.
Mackerel, whiting, and other small fish, 4 ounces of salt to a gallon of water. Cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps, 5 to 6 oz. ”

“ We strongly advise the use of nothing but absolutely pure granulated sugar. We find that it gives the best results. It costs a little more than the unrefined product but you get less vegetable substance in your brine, and the brine will therefore keep much longer. ”

“ If put in cold water, and the heat gradually raised until it reaches the boiling point, the health-giving albumen—with the juices which give each its peculiar and pleasant flavor—are extracted from the meat and dissolved and retained in the water, rendering the flesh and fish insipid and in some cases almost tasteless. ”

“ Serve with pickles.
Boiled Fish.—Wrap in a cloth wet with vinegar, floured inside. Boil in cold salted water till the bones will slip out easily; drain and serve with egg sauce, or drawn butter, or a sauce of milk, butter, and egg. Try boiling fish with a fork, and if that goes in easily, it probably is done.
Broiled Fish.—Split so that the backbone is in the middle; sprinkle with salt; lay the inside down at first till it begins to brown, then turn and broil the other side. Dress with butter, pepper, and salt. It is best to take out the backbone. ”

“ As soon as a scum rises from boiling, it should be removed by the skimmer. The addition of a little salt or vinegar to the water improves the flavour of most fish, and renders the flesh firmer. The proportions should be “two teaspoonfuls of salt to every quart of water.” “If the fish be whole, as soon as it begins to boil remove the cover on one side, and let it simmer gently until done. (Soyer.) A fish is known to be sufficiently dressed by the flesh in the thicker parts separating easily from the bone. ”

“ Nevertheless it behoveth that the Flesh be without many Bones, and that all the legs, shins, or shanks be cut off. Moreover, a very small quantity of the spirit being added to the water in which Fish is to be boiled, maketh the Fish eat firm and close, and of a much solider relish than when sprinkled with Vinegar. So also Raisins being put into water impregnated with spirit of salt, will grow soft, and swell, and will recover their strength and sweetness, as if they were fresh plucked from the Vine, which will afford a great refreshment to those who frequent the Seas. ”

“ Most kinds of meat, milk, eggs, oysters, and fish, when cooked with reference to their albumen alone, we find are also done in the best possible manner with reference to their other constituents. For instance, if you cook an oyster thinking only of its albuminous juice, and endeavor to raise the temperature throughout all of its substance to, or near, 160° Fahr., and not higher, you will find it most satisfactory as to flavor, consistency, and digestibility. ”

“ Or, chew at night a small piece of gum myrrh; or chew night and morning a clove, or a piece of orris root, about the size of a bean; or rub the teeth with a piece of rag dipped in the spirits of vinegar.
TO SWEETEN MEAT, FISH, &c. THAT IS TAINTED.
When meat, fish, &c., from intense heat, or long keeping, are likely to pass into a state of corruption, a simple and pure mode of keeping them sound and healthful is by putting a few pieces of charcoal, each about the size of an egg, into a pot or saucepan wherein the meat or fish is to be boiled. ”

“ The food of the sunfish is made up of worms, insects, and little fishes. To seize these it uses its mouth and teeth. To digest them it needs its alimentary canal, made of the stomach with its glands and intestines. If we cut the fish open, we shall find the stomach with its pyloric cæca, near it the large liver with its gall-bladder, and on the other side the smaller spleen. After the food is dissolved in the stomach and intestines the nutritious part is taken up by the walls of the alimentary canal, whence it passes into the blood. ”

“ Mix it well with a little Lemon Juice, some Pepper, and some Salt, with a little Oil, if you like it, and fill the Shells with it; and then the outside Parts of the Liver, being a little hard, will feel to the Mouth like the Claws of the Crab broken and pick'd, and the inner Parts will be soft and tender, like the Body of a Crab. One may serve this cold, and it will deceive a good Judge, if you do not put too much of the Anchovy Liquor into it. It is very good cold ”

“ For this reason when you put away a dish of meat or vegetables after dinner do not cover them until they are cold.
BOILED SALMON WITH CREAM SAUCE.
In boiling a whole fish, or a large piece, use cold water. If you put a large piece of fish into boiling water, the outside will be cooked before it is done near the bone. Nothing is more disagreeable than a piece of fish half raw at the bone; it is uneatable. ”