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Fried Pigs Feet
Cooking and Pickling Pigs’ Feet

Cooking and Pickling Pigs’ Feet

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I have occasionally seen fresh pigs’ feet and pickled pigs’ feet in grocery stores., although I’ve never tried either one. In the 1800s, pigs’ feet were cheap and eaten mostly by poor households. Although they were more popular in the South, they were also eaten nationwide. Boiling and pickling the feet helped preserve them before refrigeration was available. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS FRIED PIGS’ FEET Thoroughly burn all the hairs off with a poker heated to a white heat….

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raw meat
Preserve Meat Without Refrigeration

Preserve Meat Without Refrigeration

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Without electric refrigeration, people had to find various ways to keep meat fresh, especially in summer. Some methods could keep it fresh a few days or perhaps a week, and other methods could preserve it for much longer. These techniques are interesting, but they don’t follow today’s food safety advice. And of course, today we are fortunate to have home refrigerators and freezers. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS TO KEEP MEAT FRESH Where persons live a distance from market and…

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Bowl of beef stew
Beef Soup and Stew Recipes

Beef Soup and Stew Recipes

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Making soup in the 1800s was a long process, requiring it to simmer for hours on the stove. Commercially canned soup only became available in the late 1800s. The largest and most popular company was Campbell’s, which began selling canned soup in 1895. And in 1897, Campbell’s chemist John T. Dorrance developed condensed soup by removing much of the water. This made soup cheaper to ship, store, and buy. and was certainly more convenient. One of the recipes below is…

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cooked kidneys in bowl
How to Cook Beef Kidneys

How to Cook Beef Kidneys

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In the 1800s, offal like kidneys was widely used in American cooking, but usually only by the working‑class. Beef meat in general, was relatively cheap, so middle‑class cooks did not need to use organ meats. But during World War II, the U.S. government actively promoted organ meats as a patriotic alternative so that prime cuts could be shipped to soldiers overseas. Many foods were rationed, including meat, but not offal. After the war ended, most Americans wanted to eat familiar muscle cuts…

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Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding on plate
How to Cook Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

How to Cook Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

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Recipes in 1800s cookbooks provided ingredients and cooking instuctions, but were were vague as to heat tenmperature and cooking times. People cooked using a fireplace or wood burning stove, and had to learn how hot different types of wood would burn. Electric stoves weren’t introduced in the U.S. until the 1910-1930 time frame. Oven thermometers were introduced around 1915. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding ~ Have three ribs of prime beef prepared by the butcher…

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Roast goose with apples
Roast Goose and Christmas Goose Pie

Roast Goose and Christmas Goose Pie

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Although people in the 1800s did hunt wild geese, a Christmas or holiday goose was more often a barnyard bird raised on farms. Wild geese are leaner, more muscular, and often older birds than domestic ones. Therefore, they need to be cooked a little differently. Recipes in cookbooks, unless specifically a cookbook for game, are for cooking geese raised on farmland. In the mid to late 1800s, though, turkey began overtaking goose as the meat for winter holidays. It was…

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cutting strips of fat to lard meat
Larding and Daubing Lean Meat

Larding and Daubing Lean Meat

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“Many kinds of meat which are very lean and dry are improved by the addition of some kind of fat. Larding is accomplished by cutting strips of salt pork lengthwise with the rind two inches long and one quarter inch wide, and with aid of the larding needle, drawing these pieces through the surface of the meat, taking a stitch an inch long and a quarter inch deep. The tenderloin or fillet of beef, the thick part of the leg…

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Raw beef brisket ready to cook.
Brisket of Beef Recipes

Brisket of Beef Recipes

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The brisket is a cut of beef from the lower chest area of the cow, located between the front legs and beneath the chuck (shoulder). It supports much of the cow’s body weight, making it a tough, well-exercised muscle. Due to its toughness, it should be cooked slowly and at low temperatures. Brisket is especially popular in the western states. Brisket cookng in a smoker or over a fire smells and tastes wonderful! INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: BRISKET OF…

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