TO PICKLE BEEF OR TONGUES.

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,
one pound and a half of brown sugar, and one quart 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. Have ready
the beef in a large tub, or in a barrel; pour the brine gradually upon
it with a ladle, and as it cools rub it well into every part of the
meat. A molasses hogshead sawed in two is a good receptacle for pickled
meat. Cover it well with a thick cloth, and look at it frequently,
skimming off whatever may float on the top, and basting the meat with
the brine. In about a fortnight the beef will be fit for use.

Tongues may be put into the same cask with the beef, one or two at a
time, as you procure them from the butcher. None of them will be ready
for smoking in less than six weeks; but they had best remain in pickle
two or three months. They should not be sent to the smoke-house later
than March. If you do them at home, they will require three weeks’
smoking over a wood fire. Hang them with the root or large end upwards.
When done, sew up each tongue tightly in coarse linen, and hang them up
in a dark dry cellar.

Pickled tongues without smoking are seldom liked.

The last of October is a good time for putting meat into pickle. If the
weather is too warm or too cold, it will not take the salt well.

In the course of the winter the pickle may probably require a second
boiling with additional ingredients.

Half an ounce of pearl-ash added to the other articles will make the
meat more tender, but many persons thinks it injures the taste.

The meat must always be kept completely immersed in the brine. To
effect this a heavy board should be laid upon it.