Salt Pork

[Delmonico]

I dabble a bit in Civil War Living History, I am a Civilian cook for a State Milita unit.  One thing I have found out is that sometimes in an effort to be Historically Correct, folks go so far as to Historically Incorrect. 

Any one who has ever looked at the Military Ration know that salt port was often part of it, in fact was often the meat ration.  And to be correct is no problem, just go to the store and buy one of those pacages of salt pork back in the same section as the bacon, take it out of the vacuum package and wrap it in paper, put it in the haversack and fry it up if you survive the battle.

I have seen this both at events and on shows on TV where they use Civil War Ren-Actors to show Civil War history.  But it is not that correct.  That salt pork you buy at the store is called fat back, it is a strip that runs along the backbone just above the loin we cut out and cut into pork chops.

Did you ever wonder what they did with the rest of the hog?  It was cut up and put in the same "Pork Barrel" as the fat back and covered with brine to preserve it from spoiling.  The fat back would have most often been cut up and added to the beans when boiled to give them some flavor.  One would not slice this up and fry it as per modern ren-actors unless it was all that was left when one was "scraping the bottom of the barrel."

If doing military ren-acting and ya want to eat salt pork just get some good cuts of fresh pork and cover them with brine made out of kosher or canning salt, stong enough to float a fresh egg for a week before going out.   Rinse as much salt out of the meat before frying as you can.  One will find this will be a more tasty ration as well as being a bit more closer to what a soldier what have really eaten.

Of course one must never forget if your unit has some company funds, the ration can be sublimented by a trip to the nearest sutler.  My favorite seems to have branches all over the area.  It is owned by a fellow named Super Wal-Mart.  He seems to have some sort of contract to follow the Army where ever it goes.

The point is that the Army in the field only ate just the ration when nothing else was availble, or there were no funds to buy it or one could not obtain it in other ways.  With a little research one will find many items at the local grocery store that could have been bought at a sutler following the army.  Today of course it is a bit safer to buy a chicken than to consript it, although there was a day in Nebraska City, there was a big Rhode Island Red Rooster in someones yard, the young private assigned as cooks helper looked liked he could run fast...but we decided not, the army wagon said Plymouth and the license plate was plain to see. 

[Doc Shapiro]

Actually, you can still buy salt pork, in some fashion.  Ever get a Virginia Country Ham?  Like a Smithfield?  They're salted and wrapped in burlap.  Gotta rinse 'em for a few days to get enough salt out so that they are edible.

Really good stuff!

Doc

[Delmonico]

That would have been picked up at a sutler, or foraged (stolen).
This issue salt pork was shipped in barrels in brine and was not smoked.  Some beef was also shipped this way.  A corned beef brisket with out the spice pack is the same as the salt beef except they don't use as heavy a brine.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Delmonico,
Is the "meat" in pork and beans like Bush's, salt pork or something else?

Slim

[Delmonico]

I like that "meat", I don't know if it is salted or not, I doubt they would salt the "meat" in brine and then add it, they would add salt to the beans, it would make the "bean counters" in the office happier.

By the way Van de Camps brought out "pork and beans" in the can in the late 1850's, the Union bought millions of cans during the War.  So the guy heating up a can of beans around a campfire is historically correct. 

[Silver Creek Slim]

It is definitely better than no meat. 

Slim

[Silver Creek Slim]

BTW, I am having said pork and beans with Bratwurst right now. 

Slim

[Russ T Chambers]

BTW, I am having said pork and beans with Bratwurst right now. 

Slim

Come on now Slim everyone knows no one in Wisconsin eats Bratwurst!   

[Silver Creek Slim]

BTW, I am having said pork and beans with Bratwurst right now. 

Slim

Come on now Slim everyone knows no one in Wisconsin eats Bratwurst!   

Nobody but us Joymens. I lived in Evansville, IN in 1985. It is supposed to be a Joymen area, but you can't get a "Brat" that tasted like a WI Brat to save you life.

Slim

[Russ T Chambers]

BTW, I am having said pork and beans with Bratwurst right now. 

Slim

Come on now Slim everyone knows no one in Wisconsin eats Bratwurst!   

Nobody but us Joymens. I lived in Evansville, IN in 1985. It is supposed to be a Joymen area, but you can't get a "Brat" that tasted like a WI Brat to save you life.

Slim

Luckily we get Johnsonville here in Reno.  Once in awhile we get a care package from the relatives back in Milwaukee from Usinger's.  Can't do without a brat fix at least every other week.  However, even after spending the first 30 years of my life in or around Racine, I just never could get to like Kraut.  Couldn't even stand driving though Franksville at the wrong time of the year.  Guess that's why it ain't included in my normal camping chuck.  But brats are!

[Silver Creek Slim]

I enjoy kraut now and then, but not for every meal. 

Alright, who is getting off on a tangent. One of the Mods should put a stop to this. What? I am a Mod? Oh.   

Slim

[Delmonico]

I am trying to keep you from scraping the bottom of the barrel and you go talking about brats.  Course if you were in a unit made up of mostly German desent soldiers some one it the unit could conscript a pig,  this nice thing about stealing a pig is they come equipted with their own sausage casings.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I am trying to keep you from scraping the bottom of the barrel and you go talking about brats.  Course if you were in a unit made up of mostly German desent soldiers some one it the unit could conscript a pig,  this nice thing about stealing a pig is they come equipted with their own sausage casings.

I knew I could count on you to get us back on topic.
To think about it, Brats are made with salt and pork. So, we did not go on a tangent. 

Slim

[Delmonico]

By the way before the 1880's most of the salt pork came from Cincinnati Ohio, also sometimes know as porkoplus.  It was only in the late 1880's that Chicago took over as the "Hog Butcher" of the world.  The mass industrialization of the packing plants brought so much unsanitary practices that around 1900 Upton Sinclar wrote a book on it called "The Jungle."  This helped pass pure food laws.