Salt Prunella

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Salt Prunella

Postby countrybumpkin » Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:02 pm

Hi

I'm kindof newish but have had a go in the past at bacon curing and sausage making, the sausages were good, can't remember the bacon, well I have a friend with a pig which is mostly now in my freezer! we're going to make streaky from the belly & sausages from the shoulders and I have bought rusk, casings and dry cure mix from the wonderful sausagemaking.org and read many posts (enough to be dazed and confused) I also have an older book which has cure recipies so please my 1st question, what is salt prunella?

Also does anyone know where I have put my Kenwood sausage filler? :oops: (I may have to use a piping bag)

When the next pig goes I am going to be more efficient and maybe have a go at black pudding, my mother wants the chowl, I have also enjoyed pigs fry in the past, what is included in that and do I remember correctly that it was boiled?

Thanks in advance for any help/replies
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Postby Oddley » Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:05 pm

Welcome to the forum countrybumpkin.

I would love to see the old recipes from the book you have. Maybe I could convert a few. Perhaps you would consider posting a few if you have time.

I think, just forget about Prunella salt. Here is a definition of it.


Prunella salt (Old Chem.), niter fused and cast into little
balls.


I hope the following helps with the sausage filler dilemma.

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Postby David. » Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:08 pm

Potassium Nitrite.



If saltpetre is heated, it converts to potassium nitrite. From early times, a second form of saltpetre was used, called sal prunella. This was produced by fusing saltpetre into balls. This fusing process produced minute quantities of potassium nitrite, which enabled the curing process to start more quickly.

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Postby David. » Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:01 pm

Oddley,

Here is an "oldie" for you. If you get stuck on the last ingredient let me know.

Aberdeen Ham.

2 lbs bay salt. 4 lbs common salt
2 ozs saltpetre. 2 ozs salt prunella.
2 lbs brown sugar. 1 oz whole pepper
1 oz cloves. 1 pint stout
1 oz pimento. 2 tbs crude pyroligneous
acid.

Make pickle with above ingredients and water. It must be strong enough to float a fresh egg. Boil, then strain. When stone cold pour over the hams. Leave for a fortnight then remove from brine and put two tablespoons of pyrolignneous acid over the hams. Hang until dry. Enough for two large hams.

Enjoy.....

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Postby Oddley » Wed Dec 28, 2005 11:10 pm

Thank you David I find these old recipe's very interesting. It always amazes me that they didn't poison themselves with the amount of saltpetre they used, which by today's standards is way too much.

As far as I know, pyroligneous acid is a distillate of wood, the main components being acetic acid and methanol.
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Postby David. » Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:03 am

Pyroligneous acid:

It was (is?) sold in the chemist shop as "Essence Of Smoke"

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Postby countrybumpkin » Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:21 pm

Hello Oddley

The book is called "Farmhouse Fare" and is a collection of recipes sent in to "Farmers Weekly" the printing date as 1973 - 1979, so not all that old but I think some of the recipes are, here are two that have Salt Prunella in them:-

Aberdeenshire Ways
2nd method

2lbs bay salt 4lbs common salt
2oz salt petre 2oz salt prunella
2lbs brown sugar 1oz whole pepper white & black
1oz cloves 1 pint stout
1oz pimento

Make a pickle of above ingredients with water. It must be strong enough to float an egg. Bring to the boil, then strain. When stone cold pour over hams. Leave for a fortnight then remove from brine and hang in the rafters to dry. Enough for two good sized hams.

Wiltshire Wet Method

1lb 8oz cooking salt 2lbs black treacle
4oz saltpetre 8oz bay salt
2oz salt prunella 1oz black pepper
half oz juniper berries 2 quarts beer

Boil all together, and cool slightly before putting over hams; which should have been sprinkled first with cooking salt and left for 12 hours to draw out the blood, and wiped dry. Turn hams daily for a month, rubbing the pickle well in. Dry well before storing. When cooking pickled hams, allow them to stay in the water in which they are boiled for 2 hour after cooking.

I think I have the same book as David as it mentions pyroligneous acid in the first Aberdeenshire method.

Farmers Weekly was first published in 1934 and I think the recipes are from then onwards, one is from a lady in Roxburgshire which I can't remember when that name was changed and she speaks of putting the hams in a hogshead and I don't suppose there are a great many farmers wives (or even farmers unless they're from the West Country) who know what one is. Sorry if I've insulted anyone there.

What about the salt though? Can you buy Bay Salt and Rock Salt (apart from to put on the ground) and Coarse Salt, and does it make that much difference?

Country Bumpkin
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Postby Oddley » Thu Dec 29, 2005 8:01 pm

Hi countrybumpkin, thanks very much for the recipe. aris our admin has already posted the book you are talking about. Very interesting it is too.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=111

bay salt is sea salt and you should be able to get rock salt from your local supermarket.
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