Other articles in this series: Part 2 – A vernacular lesson. Part 3 – A lesson in beef cattle breeds. Part 4 – An anatomical context.
Most cattle that eventually make up the country’s beef supply are from within the United States, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, with roughly 8-20 percent coming from foreign sources, and most finite numbers landing closer to 8 percent. A majority of the foreign suppliers are surrounding countries like Canada and Mexico.
Another question we ran across in our research was “Where does the US get its beef from?”.
One source stated The majority of the meat consumed in the US is not from China. The United States import its beef is mostly from Australia, followed by New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico. In the last decade, China was responsible for about 90% of vitamin C that was consumed in the United States.
How did they preserve meat in the 1700s?
When the meat was no longer damp, it was washed, then shelved or bagged and left to age. Families would hang meat preserved through a smoke cure in rooms or buildings with fire pits. For a month, the meat was constantly exposed to smoke, which dried it out while adding flavor.
Drying meat was a recommended method for preserving beef and buffalo. Drying involved salting slices of meat, then laying the meat slices out for 2 weeks before then placing in brine for a further 3 weeks. After which the slices were dried with a cloth and hung in a cool dry place away from flies.
CHASE’S RECIPES OR INFORMATION FOR EVERYBODY, the thirty-sixth edition of which came out in 1866, here are some recipes for preservation of meat without refrigeration. One of the recipes for preserving beef deals with hundred-pound lots, which would not be unusual on a farm or ranch.
How did they preserve food in the Wild West?
The main method of preservation in the early day of the Wild West was to salt the meat. Again Catharine Beecher gave the settlers advise on how to do this (see her recipe below). Drying meat was a recommended method for preserving beef and buffalo.