IMPROVEMENTS IN SALTING AND PRESERVING MEAT
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles John Günther, of No. 43, Mark Lane,
in the City of London, Merchant, and a Director of Liebig's Extract
of Meat Company, Limited, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SALTING AND PRESERVING MEAT."-A communication from abroad by
Baron Justus Von Liebig, of Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria,
President of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences.
Scaled the 25th June 1869, and dated the 13th January 1869.
I, CHARLES JOHN GUNTHER, of No. 43, Mark Lane, in the City or
London, Merchant, and a Director of Liebig's Extract of Meat Company,
Limited, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "¡M-
PROVEMENTS IN SALTING AND PRESERVING MEAT," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in salting and

page_text: over with salt the meat loses 22 per cent. of its juice; out of this meat
juice and the salt a brine is formed, which is not eaten; this brine
contains a portion of the nutritive salts and of the extractive principles
of the meat, and as these are indispensable for the formation of blood it
is easy to see that by extracting these substances the meat loses much of
its nutritive value.
The object of this process is to retain in preserved meat the nutritive
value of fresh meat, and it consists in the use for salting meat of a
saturated brine of pure salt to which the constituents of the meat juice
are added, in such a proportion that this brine contains more of these
constituents than the meat itself. When placing fresh meat into this
brine 22 per cent. of meat juice are separated from the meat, the same as
when using dry salt, which mix up with the brine; at the same time
however a diffusion takes place, the ingredients of the brine being
absorbed by the meat; and as the brine contains a larger proportion of
the constituents of meat then the meat itself the loss which the meat
sustains of these constituents is made up by the diffusion of the very
same elements from the brine.
It is well known that the constituents of meat juice are identical with
the constituents of the extract of meat manufactured by Liebig's Extract
of Meat Company.
FORMULA FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE BRINE.
Salt Water, A. Dissolve 36 lbs. of chloride of sodium (common salt)
and lb. of crystallized phosphate of soda in 10 gallons of water. The
addition of phosphate of soda is made with the object of purifying the
chloride of sodium from lime and magnesia. When employing sea water
the quantity of phosphate of soda should be increased to 1 lb. Allow
the solution to stand until clarified, and then decant the fluid from
the white earthy deposit.
Brine, B. The above yields 11½ gallons of salt water, to which add
6 lbs. of extractum carnis, 1 lbs. of chloride of potassium, 10 ounces of
nitrate of soda. This together forms 13 gallons of solution, into which
the meat is placed, 150 lbs. of meat in 13 gallons. Small pieces of meat
must remain for a fortnight in this brine, larger ones for 3 to 4 weeks.
If intending to preserve the meat according to Morgan's method (by
injection) the same brine may be used with the difference however that

page_text: only 4 lbs. of extractum carnis (instead of 6 lbs.) are added to 11 gallons
of salt water. After the meat has remained a sufliciently long time in
the brine it is taken out, and in order to protect the surface against
insects it may be either smoked or sulphured.
The brine may be employed repeatedly. For this purpose it is after
use boiled down in a clean iron kettle until salt crystals are appearing
on the surface; it is then allowed to cool, and meat is put in for the
second time. The deficiency in the quantity of 13 gallons is made up
by adding freshly prepared pure salt water A. When using the brinc
for the third time it becomes necessary after having boiled it down to
add S ounces of extract of meat. This addition must be repeated when
using the brine for the sixth and ninth time.
The sulphuring of the meat is performed either in small chambers or
in large wooden boxes. The meat is suspended from the ceiling or top
through a small door or an opening at the bottom, a dish with burning
sulphur is introduced, and the aperture is then closed. For 128 cubic
fect of interior space it is necessary to burn 1 lb. of sulphur.
Instead of suspending the meat in smoking chambers for the purpose
of smoking it the same object may be attained by the wet process in the
following manner:-
Solution for Wet Smoking.-Dissolve S lbs. of chloride of sodium in 3
gallons of water, add 3 ounces of crude vegetable acid, and suspend in
this liquid for 24 hours a small bag with finely powdered shining lamp-
black, frequently stirring the whole. In this brownish black solution
the meat is placed; large pieces are allowed to remain for 18 to 24
hours, small ones for 6 to 8 hours. The meat is afterwards suspended in
an airy place.
)
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent;
filed by the said Charles John Günther in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
JOHN GUNTHER, of No. 43, Mark Lane, in the City of London,
Merchant, and a Director of Liebig's Extract of Meat Company, Limited,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Charles John Günther, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles John Günther, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles John Günther, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
110 others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SALTING AND PRESERVING MEAT," a communication to me from abroad by
Baron Justus Von Liebig, of Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria,
President of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles John Günther, my
executors or administrators, by, an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Oflice within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles John Gunther, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in salting and
preserving meat.
When salting meat in the usual manner by strewing it or rubbing it
over with salt the meat loses 22 per cent. of its juice; out of this meat
juice and the salt a brine is formed, which is not eaten; this brine
contains a portion of the nutritive salts and of the extractive principles
of the meat, and as these are indispensable for digestion and for the
formation of blood it is easy to see that by abstracting these substances
the meat loses much of its nutritive value.
.
The object of our process is to retain in preserved meat the nutritive
value of fresh meat, and it consists in the use for salting meat of a
saturated brine of pure salt to which the constituents of the meat juice

page_text: are added in such a proportion that this brine contains more of these
constituents than, the meat itself. When placing fresh meat into this
brine 22 per cent. of meat juice are separated from the meat, the same
as when using dry salt, which mix up with the brine; at the same time
however a diffusion takes place, the ingredients of the brine being
absorbed by the meat, and as the brine contains a larger proportion of
the constituents of meat than the meat itself, the loss which the meat
sustains of these constituents is made up by the diffusion of the very
same elements from the brine.
It is well known that the constituents of ineat juice are identical with
the constituents of the extract of meat manufactured by Liebig's Extract
of Meat Company.
FORMULA FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE BRINE.
Salt water, A.-Dissolve 36 lbs. of chloride of sodium (common salt)
and lb. of crystallized phosphate of soda in 10 gallons of water. The
addition of phosphate of soda is made with the object of purifying the
chloride of sodium from lime and magnesia. When employing sea salt
the quantity of phosphate of soda should be increased to 1 lb. Allow
the solution to stand until clarified, and then decant the fluid from the
white earthy deposit.
Brine, B. The above yields 11 gallons of salt water, to which add
6 lbs. of extractum carnis, 1 lb. of chloride of potassium, 10 ozs. of
nitrate of soda. The nitrate of soda serves to color the meat. This
together forms 13 gallons of solution, into which the meat is placed,
150 lbs. of meat in 13 gallons. Small pieces of meat must remain for a
fortnight in this brine, larger ones for 3 to 4 weeks.
If intending to preserve the meat according to Morgan's method (by
injection) the same brine may be used, with the difference, however, that
only 4 lbs. of extractum carnis (instead of 6 lbs.) are added to 11
gallons of salt water. After the meat has remained a sufliciently long
time in the brine it is taken out, and in order to protect the surface
against insects it may be either smoked or sulphured, or if this be not
done the brine should be strengthened by adding two ounces of salt
with each pound of meat which is put into it.
The brine may be employed repeatedly. For this purpose it is after
use boiled down in a clean iron kettle until salt crystals are appearing

page_text: on the surface, it is then allowed to cool, and meat is put in for the
second time. The deficiency in the quantity of 13 gallons is made up
by adding freshly prepared pure salt water A. When using the brine
for the third time it becomes necessary after having boiled it down to
add 8 ounces of extract of meat. This addition must be repeated when
using the brine for the sixth and ninth time.
The sulphuring of the meat is performed either in small chambers or
in large wooden boxes. The meat is suspended from the ceiling or top
through a small door, or an opening at the bottom, a dish with burning
sulphur is introduced, and the aperture is then closed. For 128 cubic
feet of interior spaces it is necessary to burn 1 lb. of sulphur.
Instead of suspending the meat in smoking chambers for the purpose
of smoking it the same object may be attained by the wet process in
the following manner-
Solution for Wet Smoking.-Dissolve S lbs. of chloride of sodium in
3 gallons of water, add 3 ounces of crude pyroligneous acid, and suspend
in this liquid for 24 hours a small bag with finely powdered shining
lampblack, frequently stirring the whole. In this brownish black
solution the meat is placed; large pieces are allowed to remain for 18
to 24 hours, small ones for 6 to 8 hours. The meat is afterwards
suspended in an airy place.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, I would have
it understood that what I claim is, the use as herein described in salting
and preserving meat of the extractum carnis, or Licbig's extract of
meat, so as to re-supply to or retain in the meat the substances which in
the ordinary process of salting it loses.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles John Gunther, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
CH. J. GÜNTHER. (L.S.)