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.