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Classic
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page 23
powdered, fifteen quarts of salt, and fifteen gallons of cold water; stir it
frequently, until dissolved, throw over the cask a thick cloth, to keep out the
dust; look at it often and take off the scum. These proportions have been
accurately ascertained- fifteen gallons of cold water will exactly hold, in
solution, fifteen quarts of good clean Liverpool salt, and one pound of
saltpetre: this brine will be strong enough to bear up an egg: if more salt be
added, it will fall to the bottom without strengthening the brine, the water
being already saturated. This brine will cure all the beef which a private
family can use in the course of the winter, and requires nothing more to be done
to it except occasionally skimming the dross that rises. It must be kept in a
cool, dry place. For salting your beef, get a molasses hogshead and saw it in
two, that the beef may have space to lie on; bore some holes in the bottom of
these tubs, and raise them on one side about an inch, that the bloody brine may
run off.
Be sure that your beef is newly killer- rub each piece very well with good
Liverpool salt- a vast deal depends upon rubbing the salt into every part- it is
unnecessary to put saltpetre on it; sprinkle a good deal of salt on the bottom
of the tub. When the beef is well salted, lay it in the tub, and be sure you put
the fleshy side downward. Put a great deal of salt on your beef after it is
packed in the tub; this protects it from animals who might eat, if they could
smell it, and does not waste the salt, for the beef can only dissolve a certain
portion. You must let the beef lie in salt 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 under.
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