Dried beef blocks

I guess spring is here for us as I found the first wasp on the inside of the house this morning crawling on the dining room window.  Now how in the world did he get inside?

The highest snow drift is in front of the barn and is down to around 2 feet deep and after last weekends snow melted the last couple of days its back to mud, mud, mud elsewhere.

Here is an old recipe from a 1887 cook book, I just thought this was a very interesting recipe and shows how some things were done way back when.

1887 Cook book Dried Beef Blocks

Take a leg of beef weighting around 10 pounds, and after breaking the bones put in a soup pot large enough to hold it.  Just cover it with cold water and heat it gradually until it nearly boils. Skim it attentively as scum arises.  Then add a little more cold water and boil again and keep skimming the scum off until the water is clear. Let it boil for 8 to 10 hours and then sieve through a five hair sieve, (fine cheese cloth will work) and into a sturdy pan, they used to like stone pots for this.  Set this where it will cool quickly.

The next day remove every particle of fat from the top of it. Pour through a fine sieve and into a stew pot taking care to not disturb the settlings at the bottom. The stew pan should be of copper well tinned.

Put in an ounce of whole black pepper and boil briskly on a quick fire taking off any scum that arises.

When the liquid is reduced to about a quart set over a gentler fire in a smaller pot until it is reduced to the consistency of a very thick syrup.

Be very very careful this does not burn. Take up a spoonful and cool it should be the consistency of jelly, if needs more boiling do so.

Put away in small jars or if you wish to keep tis for 6 months or more it can go into sausage casings.  To dry put in a shallow bowl or pan until cool then turn it out and weigh it. Divide it into ½ ounce or ounce pieces. Place in a warm room and turn frequently until they are quite dry.  Around 10 days to dry.

These days we can put them in a dehydrator and these beef cubes will last for years.

Comments welcome