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Salt Beef

“The rain might have stopped, but the compound was still a morass of shallow lakes and slippery mud. Black brothers were folding their tents, feeding their horses, and chewing on strips of salt beef.”

Salt Beef

Our Thoughts:

We won’t lie. We bought a ten pound piece of meat to cure without even thinking of the blog. We’re that culinary crazy. When one of us realized that we were pretty much making salt beef, we were a) relieved that this meaty goodness could be shared with the world, and b) absolved of the crime of cooking food outside of the blog. We did, however, look like a house of psychopaths for three weeks while the muslin-wrapped bundles hung in our pantry. Which has a window, of course.

But once we unwrapped and sliced into the wondrous meat, the weeks of apparent insanity were completely worth it. The meat is, obviously, very salty, but when paired with a sharp cheese and a good loaf of bread, it is the perfect trail food. We brought a chunk of our salt beef when we went camping, and it became part of breakfast, lunch and dinner!

A long wait for the finished product, but well worth the wait!

Salt Beef Recipe

Ingredients:

  • Main muscle from the top round cut of beef (ask your butcher)
  • 1/2 cup Sugar
  • 1/4cup Black pepper
  • 1/4 cup Prague Powder #2 (also ask your butcher, it’s expressly for curing meat)
  • 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary leaves
Mix sugar, pepper, powder, and rosemary together in a bowl and set aside. Trim off all of the visible surface fat on the meat, but do not try to remove the silverskin running through the center of the cut. Rub half the cure onto the meat and seal it in a freezer bag. You may want to double bag it! Place the meat in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for one week, flipping it over daily. After one week, remove the meat from the bag (drain off the liquid in the bag) and dry it with paper towels. Rub the reserved half of the cure onto the meat and return to the bag and the fridge for another week of turning daily. After two weeks, remove any cure left on the meat and tie two pieces of string vertically onto the meat, and tie a series of strings horizontally around the meat. Wrap the meat in clean muslin, labeling clearly the date and weight of the meat. Hang in a cool, somewhat moist area for three weeks, or until it loses 30% of its weight. During the last week of drying, you can remove the muslin. If there is mold on the meat, simply use a clean piece of muslin soaked in vinegar to remove it.  At the end of week three, take the meat down, slice it as thinly as possible, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, and enjoy!
*While our attempt at this kind of meat curing was a complete success, please be aware that the meat is not cooked, but cured. Keep an eye and a nose out for any kind of decay, and discard the meat if any is detected. Good luck!*

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22 Responses

  1. chrysoula says
    July 1, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    Soo… is the Prague Powder #2 the salt? That doesn’t seem like very much! How big is the muscle usually?

    Reply
    • ChoppedGinger says
      July 1, 2011 at 1:53 pm

      Yes, the Prague Powder contains salt, among other yummy curing ingredients. We ended up with a huge cow that our meat came from, so it was about 6 lbs total. It’s ok to cut the muscle in half, just try and keep the fibers’ integrity, as that is what keeps out air and bacteria that can cause decay.

      Reply
  2. duckchickducky says
    July 1, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    You ladies are amazing! I’m looking forward to making this!!

    Reply
  3. coy says
    July 1, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    The only real question I have with this recipe is how long should I wait before springing this idea on my new roommate! He’s manly… surely he’ll go for it! (I hope)

    Reply
    • coy says
      July 1, 2011 at 5:55 pm

      Apparently you Ladies are much tougher than he is!

      Reply
      • ChoppedGinger says
        July 1, 2011 at 5:57 pm

        Awww let us talk to him, you can never say no to girls who can cook!

        Reply
  4. Scienter says
    July 2, 2011 at 12:04 am

    I’m super impressed that you guys cured your own meat! That’s awesome! I’m trying to think of a place where I could cure my own meat and I’m drawing blanks. My attic is really hot, the storage space under my stairs is, well, gross. I’m in awe. :P

    Reply
  5. Charlie says
    July 2, 2011 at 8:50 am

    Hello! Interesting!

    I’m from Atlantic Canada.

    We would call this cured beef.
    Salt beef to us is pieces of meat cured in a brine with big pieces of salt.
    We then boil it for several hours, replenishing the water as needed.
    Cooking depends on how fresh it is.
    But you do want to cook it so it is easy to eat.
    I would love to try this, but moved last year and have no cold room.

    Good work.

    By the way where do your quotes come from??

    Reply
    • Peggy E says
      July 2, 2011 at 1:32 pm

      Charlie- the blog is based off of the food of Westeros which is the location of George Martin’s series of books called Songs of Ice and Fire. The quotes are taken from the books.

      Reply
  6. Charlie says
    July 2, 2011 at 8:57 am

    I just noticed at the top that you have a tab for Kings Landing.
    Where are you located?

    Reply
    • Needs Mead says
      July 2, 2011 at 5:16 pm

      We’re physically based in Boston, but really love foods from all over the world. I’d love to try proper salt beef at some point, according to your recommendation! :)

      Reply
      • Charlie says
        July 9, 2011 at 12:50 pm

        You may be able to get salt beef in the pail at your supermarkets.
        It may be available in States around maineor online.

        Reply
  7. Don Miller says
    July 2, 2011 at 8:59 am

    Wish you had more picture of the process. I would like to try this.

    Reply
  8. The_Stargazer says
    July 9, 2011 at 11:16 am

    “Hang in a cool, somewhat moist area for three weeks, or until it loses 30% of its weight.”

    30% of its starting weight, or 30% since hanging?

    Reply
    • Charlie says
      July 9, 2011 at 2:04 pm

      Hi Stargazer: They are both the same. But if you wish 30% of it’s original weight.

      Reply
  9. Charlie says
    July 9, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    In the stores Salt Beef is usually called “Cured Naval Beef”

    Here we usually buy it at Sobeys because they have the best.

    Reply
  10. Margo says
    July 21, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    How did you store it after making it?

    Reply
  11. Ironica says
    July 24, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    Greetings!

    Have you run across any recipes that don’t have artificial nitrites and/or dyes in them? This sounds soooo good… but I think I need to find a straight brine recipe, as we can’t do preservatives or dyes.

    Reply
    • ChoppedGinger says
      July 25, 2011 at 7:10 pm

      A brine would probably have salt in it as well. Preserved meat is pretty hard to make without using at least salt as a preservative agent. I would opt for something more like a tartar, close to the same appearance and perhaps a more appealing texture, just pre-preservation! This recipe does not have any dyes, and the recipes that do at the Inn generally include a red dye in place of sandalwood, which was used mainly for it’s color.

      Reply
  12. Tomer says
    September 9, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    Hi,

    This looks good and your blog is super cool!

    As for question above of preserving beef without addatives – try to look for biltong recipes (South African dried meat). In general it uses salt and viniger. It also takes much time but requires a simple aparatus (a box with a lamb in it and some holes)…

    Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  13. xavier says
    December 2, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    would the process change for pork?

    Reply
  14. myfaireldy says
    July 14, 2013 at 1:27 am

    I have always wanted to try curing meat, this is excellent! Now to try it for myself….

    Reply

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