How To Pickle Meat with a Centuries-Old Recipe.

Pickling Meat is a way of curing and preserving different types of meats and was developed before the days of refrigeration or easy access to ice to keep meats cold. Thus, we have pickled pigs feet, pickled herring,

Pickling was, during the War Between the Stets, or the Civil War, performed with saltpetre, and we don't see much of that anymore. Today's pickled meats take on special flavors of a variety of spices used to preserve them. It is more about flavor today than preservation.

Here is an early MEAT PICKLE RECIPE that my ancestor in the Civil War learned to use to his advantage. He later used the process to pickle meats on the farm back home. It was likely passed through his sons and wives and their children. My ancestor, being English-Irish, liked was partial to corned beef, another sort of preserved product. 

INGREDIENTS

• One large stew pot

• One large crockery or glass container

The Pickle:

• 6 lb. salt
• 1 lb. sugar
• 4 oz. saltpetre
• 4 gallons water
• Meat (whatever will fit in your crock)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Bring 4 gallons of water to the boil over high heat. This was done originally outside over a large camp file, but it can be managed on a home cook top these days.
• After the water is at a rolling boil, add all of the salt, sugar, and saltpetre.
• Boil the mixture until a large head of foam appears. Skim this head off the foam. Next, remove the pot from the fire and allow the pickling mix to cool to room temperature.
• Pour the cooled pickling mixture into a large crock and add the meat that you wish to preserve. This is usually beef, pork, or venison. In order to submerse the meat and keep it totally under the pickling liquid, place a clean cutting board on top of it and weight it down with something healthy, In the Civil War days and on the farm, they simply used a heavy, large flat, stone.
• Leave the meat in the pickle liquid for three days.
• Keep the pickling mixture!
• Use the pickling liquid again by adding additional salt, about two pounds worth, and
• Place over high heat to a rapid rolling boil. Boil the liquid until a scum rises visibly to the top and skim this off. Cool the liquid as before and re-use it to pickle additional meat. 

For its usual standard use with read beans and rice, pickled pork is called "pickle meat" and reminds me of pickled pigs feet, but more flavorful. You can used smoked ham, ham hocks, or whatever pork you have handy,

INGREDIENTS

• Use a large enamel cooking pot, or any pot that is non-reactive (don't use aluminum).
• 2 lbs of pork cut into 1- or 2-inch pieces (I like the ham best)
• 1 Qt white vinegar (cider vinegar will change the flavor)
• 1/2 cup mustard seeds
• 1 Tsp celery seed
• 2 Tsp hot sauce
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• 6 large cloves of garlic, peeled and cracked. Don't mash it or dice it.
• 1 Tsp kosher salt (regular table salt won't do)
• 12 peppercorns

INSTRUCTIONS  

• Combine all ingredients except the meat in your pot. Being to the boil over high heat and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• When the pickle liquid is cooled to room temperature, add the meat. Stir well, cover, and set the pot in your refrigerator or put it all into a large food container of plastic first. Keep the container in the refrigerator for three days to allow the pickling process to progress and enjoy your pickle meat.
• This meat can also be preserved further by the canning process with glass jars and a pressure cooker.