How To Dry Beef - cooking recipe

Ingredients

200 lbs beef (freshly killed, rounds only)
1 pint salt
1 teaspoon saltpeter
1/4 lb brown sugar

Preparation

Mix the last three ingredients well, rubbing out all lumps.
Divid mixture into three equal portions.
Place meat in a large bowl and rub thoroughly with one portion of the mixture; let stand one day.
Drain off any liquid and follow same procedure on second and third days, turning meat several times a day.
Allow meat to remain in bowl for 7 more days, then hang up until meat stops dripping.
When dripping has stopped, hang in a cool place about 6 weeks to dry thoroughly (a good curing temperature is approximately 40F).
Wrap meat in clean muslin bags and keep in a cool place.
If in 6 months, meat becomes too hard, soak in cold water for 24 hours and wipe dry.
Wrap again in muslin and hang in a cool place.