About Corned Beef

When beef is fresh it contains considerable blood, which is drawn out by the brine. If the meat is left in the bïoody mixture it will require a much larger quantity of salt to preserve it, particularly through warm weathor, My plan is to make a brine by using for every hundred pounds of beef five pounds oi salt. one fourth of an ounce of saltpeter, and one pound of brown sugar. This is dissolved in just enough water to cover the meat, and poured upon it. When it has been in the brine two weeks, I tako out the meat, let it drain, pour a fresh brine over it, and then it will be good the season through. The eook who uses corned beef should not be so ignorant or eo indolent as to delay putting it over the fire until an bour before dinnier. A good sized piece requires three or four hours' steady boiling to do it justice. Insufficient boiling must be made up by extra chewing. Always have the water boiliug when the meat is dropped in, otherwise the sweetness will be drawn out into the water. - A boiling heat hardens the outer surface at once, and thus keeps in the juices, which give richness, and whieh contain most of the uourishment. An excellent way of cookiog corned beef is to have a large boiler with a wire or wooden rack on the bottom for the meat to rest over he water. When the water boils place ,he meat upon the rack and put on the cover of the boiler with a eloth over it to keep in the stea.ii. The heat of the team will rise above the boiling-point and penétrate the meat, and cook it more quickly and botter than could bö done by Doüinf.-