Salted meat

“ Salted meat, if very salt, and all smoked meat, should be washed, and in some cases, soaked before it is boiled. If too little salted, it must not be either washed or scraped, and may be put on to boil in water a little heated, because a slow process would help to freshen it. ”

“ Some persons like salted meat to be red. For this purpose, saltpetre is necessary. Otherwise, the less use is made of it the better, as it tends to harden the meat. Sweet herbs, spices, and even garlic, may be rubbed into hams and tongues, with the pickle, according to taste. Bay salt gives a nice flavour. Sugar is generally used in curing hams, tongues and beef; for the two latter some recommend lump sugar, others treacle, to make the meat eat short. ”

“ The worst is that salted meat has lost those saline constituents that are not readily supplied except in fresh fruits and vegetables, precisely those foods that are rarest wherever salt meat is most likely to be used, in large towns, cold countries, during the winter season, or at sea. Sailors at sea get rations of lime-juice when their supply of vegetables brought from shore comes to an end, not to counteract the effects of the salt, as some suppose, but to furnish in another form what the brine has taken away. In Norway, salt food and scurvy are alike common. ”

“ The brine in which several pieces of meat have been pickled will almost set into a jelly, so much of the valuable juices has it extracted from the meat, and all these are of course, wasted. It is said that a third of the meat, or even a greater proportion, is lost by salting. The salt can be drawn out of the meat by soaking it in water, but nothing can restore to it what it has lost. Every one knows that salted food cannot be used for any length of time without injury to the health. ”

“ Mere desiccation, indeed, can hardly ever be employed upon flesh. Culinary salt is generally had recourse to, either alone or with the addition of saltpetre or sugar.
These alkaline salts abstract water in their solution, and, consequently, concentrate the aqueous solution of the albumen; whence, by converting the simple watery fluid into salt water, which is in general less favourable to the fermentation of animal matter than pure water, and by expelling the air, they counteract putridity. On this account, salted meat may be dried in the air much more speedily and safely than fresh meat. ”

“ Too much saltiness spoils the hams for first-class bacon. In fact, it spoils any meat to have it too salt, but it requires less to spoil the hams, because, as [Pg 50] a rule, they are mostly lean meat. The jowls, heads and livers, on account of the quantity of blood about them, are put in a separate pile, after being salted. The chines and spareribs are but slightly salted and laid on top of the bulk of neat meat. The drippings of brine and blood from the meat are collected in buckets and sent to the compost heaps. If there are rats, they must be trapped or kept out in some way. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is most meticulous to cut the head open or to at least poke a hole in the skull, so that the blood will flow out.
(14) We permit meat salted on one side in the case of a great loss. If salt was not covering the entire piece of meat, it is also acceptable even if no great loss will occur.
(15) If the meat wasn’t cooked then the only option is to re-salt it as long as it’s within twelve hours, which is the time period in which meat releases fluids (tzir) .Therefore this new salting won’t affect the side that is in the process of being salted. ”

“ If she be not hungry, compelling her to eat will do her more harm than good. A medical man, in such a case, ought to be consulted.
640. The best meats are mutton and beef; veal and pork may, for a change, be eaten. Salted meats are hard of digestion; if boiled beef, therefore, be eaten, it ought to be only slightly salted. It is better, in winter, to have the boiled beef unsalted; it is then, especially if it be the rump, deliciously tender. Salt, of course, must be eaten with the unsalted meat. High-seasoned 264dishes are injurious; they inflame the blood, and thus they disorder the milk. ”

“ Salt Meat.—Salt and saltpetre are the antiseptics most commonly used in the preservation of food, and their use for this purpose dates from long ago. Centuries back, even in the more favoured districts of the south of England, there was no food to keep the cattle all the winter, for the grass was scanty, and turnips were then unknown. In the autumn everyone killed the cattle and salted the meat down for home consumption through the coming months. Fresh meat, winter and summer alike, was a luxury which no one could have, and no one expected. ”

“ The beef is salted; and the goodman and his family are shortly put on salt meat, whether they like such fare or otherwise. The thrifty lady all this time takes care, on every occasion, to show off her beef as well worthy of being tasted by visitors; and the short and long of it is, that the said beef is eaten up in half the time it is expected to last; fresh meat begins to show itself more frequently at your table, and the fit is put aside till another opportunity occurs of playing it off. ”

“ On that occasion I remarked, that salted meats after some time become in effect putrid, though they may continue long palatable by means of the salt; and that common salt, supposed to be one of the strongest preservatives from corruption, is at best but an indifferent one, even in a large quantity; and in a small one, such as we use at table with fresh meats, or swallow in meats that have been salted, so far from impeding putrefaction, it rather promotes that process in the body. ”

“ The broth of boiled meat should always be saved to use in soups, stews, and gravies. Stewing and simmering meats means to place them near enough to the fire to keep the water on them bubbling moderately, constantly, and slowly. Salt meats should be put over the fire in cold water, which as soon as it boils should be replaced by fresh cold water, the water to be changed until it remains fresh enough to give the meat a palatable flavor when done. Salted and smoked meats require about 30 minutes’ very slow boiling, from the time the water boils, to each pound. ”

“ If the weather is very cold, however, and there is danger that the meat will freeze hard before morning, haste is made to cut it up the same day, or else it is put into a basement or other warm room, or a large fire made near it to prevent it from freezing. Meat that is frozen will not take salt, or keep from spoiling if salted. Salting is one of the most important of the several processes in the art of curing good bacon, and the pork should be in just the right condition for taking or absorbing the salt. ”

“ In four to six weeks more, or sooner, if need be, break up and wash the meat nicely, preparatory to smoking it. Some farmers do not wash the salt off, but the meat receives smoke better and looks nicer, if washed.
CURING PORK FOR THE SOUTH.
This requires a little different treatment. It is dry-salted and smoked. The sides, hams and shoulders are laid on a table and rubbed thoroughly with salt and saltpeter (one ounce to five pounds of salt) , clear saltpeter being rubbed in around the ends of the bones. The pieces are laid up, with salt between, and allowed to lie. ”

“ When meat is being salted with other pieces of meat, even if it is meat from one animal with the meat of another animal, even if it is poultry [1] which can not expel all its tzir before the meat of an ox can expel its blood.
Rema: Nevertheless it is customary to initially be stringent with a piece of meat that has a pocket and invert it inside out as to allow the blood to flow out, however post facto one need not worry, [2] A piece of meat salted twice is permitted [3] and we are not worried that this second salting will cause it to absorb any remaining blood from the first salting. ”

“ It is good policy to pickle a portion of the sides. They, after soaking, are sweeter to cook with vegetables, and the grease fried from them is much more useful than that of smoked meat.
If your meat is to be dry salted, allow one teaspoonful of pulverized saltpetre to one gallon of salt, and keep the mixture warm beside you. Put on a hog's ear as a mitten, and rub each piece of meat thoroughly. Then pack skin side down, ham upon ham, side upon side, strewing on salt abundantly. ”

“ Later it is explained that it is even forbidden to roast this meat. If there was a sixty ratio of water against the meat, it may even be cooked.
[10] The reason we permit it is because the second meat will not be in the vessel for a twenty four hour period. Even if it was soaked for twenty four hours, any taste released will be a stale one thereby not causing the meat to be forbidden.
[11] The Maharshal writes that meat that was frozen may not be salted until it is defrosted. Meat that was salted but frozen before the end of the required salting period should be re-salted when it melts. ”

“ Besides, if vegetables are kept for any length of time, even if excluded from the air, they are liable to rapid decomposition immediately they are exposed to its influences. I therefore think, as I have asserted already, that salted meat is not wholly respon76sible for scurvy, and that it much more frequently arises from its being salted in the early stages of putrescence. ”

“ It is hard to keep meat any length of time unless it is salted, and the vast amounts of salt meat consumed everywhere are direct promoters of scurvy and gangrene. We have seen that nearly all the clothing worn close to the body is woolen. ”

“ Contains one Seif.
ובו סעיף אחד:
1 Poultry or goats that are filled with meat that was not salted are permitted if they are roasted, even if the mouth is facing upwards (1) [1] and even if the outer part was salted (2) for as it absorbs blood from the filling so will it release. Rema: [2] Of course if the inner part was salted and not the outer part it is permitted as well, for the flame draws out blood from the outside without it being absorbed in the inside. For cooking, it is forbidden [3] until salting (3) is performed on the outside on its own and in the inside on its own. ”

“ Beef and pork should be well sprinkled, and a few hours after hung to drain, before it be rubbed with the preserving salts; which mode, by cleansing the meat from the blood, tends to keep it from tasting strong; it should be turned daily, and, if wanted soon, rubbed. A salting tub may be used, and a cover should fit close. Those who use a good deal of salt will find it well to boil up the pickle, skim, and when cold pour it over meat that has been sprinkled and drained. In some families great loss is sustained by the spoiling of meat. ”

“ The beef must be fresh killed, and of the best kind. You must wipe every piece well, to dry it from the blood and moisture. To fifty pounds of meat allow two pounds and a quarter of coarse salt, two pounds and a quarter of fine salt, one ounce and a half of saltpetre, two pounds of good brown sugar, and two quarts of molasses. Mix all these ingredients well together, boil and skim it for about twenty minutes, and when no more scum rises, take it from the fire. ”

“ Never take lamb or veal from the spit till the gravy that drops is white.
3620. Preserving meats.—Salt is the grand preservative of meats; but in using these, care should be taken to soak them if too salt. It is not healthy to eat our food very salt.
3621. In the summer season, particular attention must be observed, lest fresh meat be injured. In the country this care is very necessary.
3622. Be sure to take the kernels out of a round of beef; one in the udder, in the fat, and those about the thick end of the flank. ”

“ Salt beef, served cold, constitutes an excellent sideboard dish for luncheons.
It need only be neatly trimmed all round, care being taken to preserve all the fat so highly esteemed by some. Indeed, a piece of cold salt fat is sometimes added to that already existing around and in the meat, in which case the extra quantity is fixed to the beef by means of a hatelet. ”

“ In salting sides, salt the heaviest on the shoulder and along the loin, rubbing the edges of all cuts carefully, seeing that the salt adheres to all parts of the meat before it is piled, for if there are places where there is no salt on the meat, it will discolor and eventually become slippery and in bad condition. ”

“ It is not to be regretted if salt meat is driven away from our markets by fresh, for salt draws the juice out of the meat with all its soluble constituents, and at the same time hardens the fibre of the meat itself, and so makes it less digestible. ”

“ A much sought for point in bacon is to so prepare it that when fried it is of a light color. The only way to obtain this color is to use less sugar in curing, as it causes discoloration in cooking; but at the same time it greatly adds to the flavor, hence curing by the dry salt method adds to the looks. When it is cured in this way it should be dry packed in air-tight boxes lined with galvanized iron, or other material, the meat being put down with a fine salt combination, thoroughly mixed per 100 pounds of meat as follows:
The meat should be held in this cure about twenty days. ”