request: about "embalmed beef"???

[NoPref]

Originally Posted by mgronski

You can smoke and "preserve" pork, but you can't with beef, so you had to bring the beef with you.

I've got a couple pounds of homemade beef jerky from a friend that begs to differ.

Also isn't the calorie intake from pork fat much higher than beef fat, so it has better value to men making quick meals.

Per 100 grams (3.5 oz.), lard has 900 calories and beef suet 854.

I suspect the difference is that pork is cheaper than beef. Pigs reach market weight faster and take less space and effort to raise. They were also raised to have a high fat content because lard was one of the main pork products.

[LeanotLee]

Having read a ton of diaries, journals, memoirs,etc. you see "Blue Beef" mentioned quite often.
Blue Beef is simply beef that has been killed and boutchered in camp and by the time it was distributed to the men, was showing the first signs of decomposition which gave it a shiny blue cast.
Also, soldiers were often issued 2 inch cubes of uncooked bacon when going on a march. They could build a small fire, put the bacon on the end of their bayonet, and with some hardtack, have a very quick meal.
They also, quite often, ate the bacon raw while on the move!

John

[johnbryan]

Originally Posted by LeanotLee

Having read a ton of diaries, journals, memoirs,etc. you see "Blue Beef" mentioned quite often.
Blue Beef is simply beef that has been killed and boutchered in camp and by the time it was distributed to the men, was showing the first signs of decomposition which gave it a shiny blue cast.
Also, soldiers were often issued 2 inch cubes of uncooked bacon when going on a march. They could build a small fire, put the bacon on the end of their bayonet, and with some hardtack, have a very quick meal.
They also, quite often, ate the bacon raw while on the move!

John

I often wonder how many soldiers back then came down with trichinosis from eating raw pork. Perhaps the salting of the pork killed the parasites within.