Salt Pork Rations

[Hikingmedic]

Ok I have searched and scrolled trying to find an answer to this before asking. Salt pork now vs then. I bought some salt pork to try out the marching rations and then realized it was fat more than meat. Is this correct? Or were they issued more of a fatback or slab bacon? I'm curious because I'm planning on doing a little experimental archaeology and working up to eating marching rations during the week and camp rations (adding in rice and beans, etc...) on weekends for a month and see how I feel, differences in mood, metabolism or if I'm larger framed self would just die haha. I will be taking vitamin supplements to make sure I get all my nutrients.

Thank you very much in advance,
Medic

 

[DaveBrt]

Ok I have searched and scrolled trying to find an answer to this before asking. Salt pork now vs then. I bought some salt pork to try out the marching rations and then realized it was fat more than meat. Is this correct? Or were they issued more of a fatback or slab bacon? I'm curious because I'm planning on doing a little experimental archaeology and working up to eating marching rations during the week and camp rations (adding in rice and beans, etc...) on weekends for a month and see how I feel, differences in mood, metabolism or if I'm larger framed self would just die haha. I will be taking vitamin supplements to make sure I get all my nutrients.

Thank you very much in advance,
Medic

Check out this thread

Preparing Salt Pork | Reenactors Forum - Join, Drill, See the Elephant

civilwartalk.com

 

[Hikingmedic]

Check out this thread

Preparing Salt Pork | Reenactors Forum - Join, Drill, See the Elephant

civilwartalk.com

Thank you!

 

[FedericoFCavada]

More salt than anything else...

Ye Olde salt pork vs. modern fat back

 

[captaindrew]

There's several CW Digital Digest videos that can help with your project. This one was in the above link but i'll post it here along with a couple others that have been posted before so I apologize for the redundancy for those that have seen them before but the OP may not have. Let us know how your experiment works out.

 

[captaindrew]

 

[captaindrew]

 

[donna]

Great answers. Thanks to all for responding. It is very salty.

 

[Hikingmedic]

The CWDD videos are what inspired me to do this. I had made the hardtack and boiled the meat (store bought salt pork) and realized I messed something up haha. My hardtack wasn't done in the middle the salt pork had very very little meat so it was back to the drawing board and coming here for guidance on the salt pork issue. Thanks to everyone for all the great replies!!

 

[FedericoFCavada]

My first hard tack was an absolute disaster. Little did I realize why so many recipes didn't use any salt: In humid climates, salt attracts moisture. Also: No wheat germ! Wheat germ introduces moisture too... My second batch was better, but could have used additional dehydration or a separate bake to completely dry out. Recognizing the situation before that batch went bad, I used it to make an old "chowder" recipe, which was more like a casserole of bacon, milk-soaked hard tack, cod fish, onions, etc. Not particularly good, but not bad either. Third time is the charm, they say.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

Today's "Salt Pork" is nowhere near what salt pork was 150 years ago.

Despite what "prescribed" rations were, which were, more often than not (due to logistics, supply, etc) not issued regularly.
My advice, if you want to try a Civil War soldiers "diet": Read diaries and see what they were actually eating. They did not, an a daily basis, eat what the Regulations say they should be issued.
A good place to start is to read "Voices From Company D", Edited by G. Ward Hubbs. While "Hardtack and Coffee" is a decent "recollection" of the War, a good diary, written at the time and not 10 or 20 years later, will give you a better idea of how to improve your reenactor impression and diet.

 

[dlavin]

Good luck in your experiment. I made hard tack recently and for some reason kids and wife like it. Maybe I should feed them salt pork next!

 

[Hikingmedic]

Good luck in your experiment. I made hard tack recently and for some reason kids and wife like it. Maybe I should feed them salt pork next!

My daughter tried some at Gettysburg and loved it.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

I will say that the one time salt pork was prepared at mess in my experience, it could have used another change of water and longer soaking. It was basically inedible level salty fried grease. Some soaked hard tack might have helped it turn into skillygallee, and made it more palatable. Salt pork in the ration took care of cooking oil (lard), salt, fats, and protein for the soldier so fed!

Salt cod bears as much relation to the historic product of stock fish as salt pork TM does to historic salt pork... The "real deal" is pretty gnarly and a bit intimidating to work with for those of us coddled on modern conveniences!

 

[Stone in the wall]

My daughter tried some at Gettysburg and loved it.

So are you going to try "sloosh" ?

 

[Hikingmedic]

So are you going to try "sloosh" ?

I haven't heard of that one before

 

[Stone in the wall]

I haven't heard of that one before

I haven't tried it as there is a lot of better things to eat. But you fry your fatty meat, leaving the grease, throw in your corn meal, or flour, it will go "sloosh" and mix it into a dough. Bake in pan or roll it on to a stick.

 

[Hikingmedic]

So...I have another question for those that might know the answer. I read in an older thread on here (from 2010) that salt pork was usually dry cured instead of wet cured like in the Townsend & Son video. I saw where the CWDD did a video on dry curing and I'm wondering if that's closer to what the soldiers received.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

Russian Salo can be either brined or salted dry cured.

All of the Italian Salumi salted pork products are dry cured. In fact, at no point does the temperature rise above 80 degrees. So technically they, and the hams in Italy and Spain are uncooked, but the curing is like a prolonged marination and fermentation process that technically "cooks" them as part of preservation.

I should think that dry cured salt pork would carry on the march better than brined salt pork, but then again...? As you know, there are stories where soldiers gobbled up all of the quasi-perishable rations to save weight on the march and then suffered hunger and privation while being somewhat less encumbered until resupply...