| 36:1 |
 Before salting meat,
one must wash it very carefully in water.
It should be soaked in the water
for at least half an hour,
with the water covering the meat entirely.
When there is blood visible
on the meat,
one should scrub it
with the soaking water
until it (the blood) is removed.
Similarly,
regarding poultry,
one must carefully scrub (clean)
the place of slaughter (on the neck)
and also from within (the bird)
where there is any blood visible.
At times,
one may discover within either meat
or poultry
a place where blood has coagulated
because of a wound.
(The piece) must be cut away from this place
and removed before the soaking.
When the water (to be used for soaking) is very cold,
it should first be placed in a warm place
so that its temperature will rise slightly
before the meat is soaked in it.
Otherwise, the water's coldness
will cause the meat to harden,
and the blood will not then be removed
in the salting process. |
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| 36:2 |
If one forgot
and left meat soaking in water for twenty-four hours,
both the meat and the container become forbidden.
If one left liver soaking for more than twenty-four hours,
one should consult a competent Rabbinic authority. |
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| 36:3 |
On Fridays,
when one has no time,
or on other pressing occasions,
it is sufficient to scrub the meat in water
and then soak it briefly.
If the water does not turn even slightly red,
one may salt it. |
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| 36:4 |
If after soaking (the meat),
one cuts a piece into two (before salting it),
one must wash well the place it was cut
(to remove) the blood that is there. |
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| 36:5 |
Meat that was frozen due to the cold,
must be allowed to thaw [before it is soaked and salted].
However, it should not be placed
close to a burning oven (for that purpose).
In an extreme situation,
it may be soaked in lukewarm water. |
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| 36:6 |
A container that is used to soak meat (before salting)
should not be used
for any other purpose involving food. |
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| 36:7 |
After the meat has been soaked,
the water should be allowed to drip off
so that the salt will not dissolve (entirely) in the water
and thus not remove the blood.
However, one must also take care
that the meat does not become entirely dry,
for this will cause the salt to fall off. |
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| 36:8 |
The salt should not be very fine like flour
for then, it will become dissolved on the meat
and will not remove the blood.
Neither should it be very coarse,
for then it will fall off the meat.
Rather, it should be of medium size,
like the salt produced by boiling.
It should be dry,
so that it spreads easily [without sticking together]. |
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| 36:9 |
The salt should be sprinkled
on all sides of the meat,
without leaving any place
without salt.
Fowl should be opened properly
so that they can be thoroughly salted
inside, as well. |
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| 36:10 |
Meat that is being salted
must be put in a place
where the blood can easily drain off from it.
Therefore, one should not place the basket with the meat
on the ground,
for there the blood cannot drain off easily.
Even after the meat has remained in the salt
for the minimum required time,
before it has been washed (clean)
it should not be put in a place
where the blood cannot flow freely.
When salting meat on a board,
one should place it on an incline
so that the blood will drain.
It should not have a place
where the brine will collect.
A person who salts poultry
or an entire side of meat
that has a cavity
should place the cavity on the underside (after salting),
so that the blood can drain off easily. |
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| 36:11 |
The meat should remain
in the salt for one hour.
Under extreme circumstances,
twenty-four minutes is sufficient. |
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| 36:12 |
After the meat has remained in the salt
for the desired period,
one should shake the salt off well
and wash it three times
thoroughly in water.
A G-d fearing woman
should supervise personally
the washing of the meat (after salting).
There are times when a servant girl
who has to carry water (from the well) on her shoulders
will use only a minimal (amount of water).
This could,
Heaven forbid,
to the forbidden (taking) of blood.
Care must be taken
not to place meat in a receptacle
without water
before it has been washed off. |
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| 36:13 |
One must be careful with fowl,
to remove the head
before soaking [in preparation for salting].
If a fowl is salted with its head,
a competent Rabbinic authority should be consulted.
One must similarly be careful with an animal. |
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| 36:14 |
Meat which is not yet salted
should not be placed in a place
where salt is often present.
A receptacle should be set aside for meat alone;
so that there will not be placed in this receptacle,
vegetables, fruit,
or other things
that are eaten without being washed
for blood from the meat gets stuck on the receptacle,
and from the receptacle (blood) gets stuck on these. |
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| 36:15 |
The head must be cut open
before the soaking [in preparation for salting].
The brain should be removed
and the membranes above it cut open.
It should be soaked
and salted separately.
The head should be salted
on both the inside and outside.
Even the hairy portions may be salted. |
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| 36:16 |
Bones that contain marrow
if they are still attached to the meat,
they may be salted together with the meat
as they are.
If they have been separated from the meat,
they should be salted alone
and should not be put in the salt near the meat. |
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| 36:17 |
(With regard to) an animal's feet,
the ends of their hooves should be cut off
before they are soaked [in preparation for salting],
so that the blood can drip off easily.
They should also be positioned
in a manner whereby the blood can easily drain off.
They may be salted
on the hairy portions as well. |
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| 36:18 |
The heart should be cut open
before being soaked,
so that the blood can flow out from it. |
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| 36:19 |
It is also customary with the lungs (of an animal)
to cut them (open)
in order to open the major vessels in them
before soaking them. |
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| 36:20 |
The liver contains a large quantity of blood.
Therefore, at the outset,* it cannot be prepared
for cooking by salting it.
Rather, it must be roasted on an open fire.
First, it should be sliced open thoroughly
and placed over the fire with the cuts downward,
so that the fire will draw out all the blood in it.
* {The commentaries on Shulchon Oruch, Yoreh De'oh 73 state that, even after the fact, liver which was salted in the same manner as other meat may not be used for cooking afterwards.}
It should be washed
before it is placed on the fire.
While it is on the fire,
it should be salted slightly,
and then roasted
until it is fit to be eaten.
Afterwards, it should be carefully washed
of the blood that was released from it.
(It should be washed three times.)
Afterwards, it may be cooked. |
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| 36:21 |
One should take care to roast it (liver)
over an (open) fire
and not in an oven
(from which the coals have been) swept (removed).
It should not be wrapped in paper
while it is being broiled.
This applies to even the cheapest paper
(baking paper). |
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| 36:22 |
Liver should not be salted
before being roasted
as meat is normally salted.
How much more so
should one refrain from salting liver
together with other meat. |
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| 36:23 |
The spleen is governed by the same rules as other meat.
However, it is first necessary to remove from it
before it is soaked,
the membrane that is around it,
since this is considered as forbidden fat.
(Similarly, the vein inside must be carefully removed);
by taking hold of the vein's head
and pulling it (out);
its three smaller ends should also be pulled out with it.
Care must be taken
that these ends do not break.
If they do,
one must remove all traces of them (from the meat). |
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| 36:24 |
The bowel membrane and other entrails
should be salted on their exterior,
where the fat clings to them. |
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| 36:25 |
Should milk be found in the stomach of a calf,
the milk should be poured out
before soaking [in preparation of salting].
(Then it) is considered as all other meat. |
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| 36:26 |
Eggs that are found in (slaughtered) fowl,
regardless of whether they are very small
or fully developed including even their shell,
must be soaked,
salted, and washed [like meat].
But they should not be salted with meat.
Rather, they should be put in a place
where the blood from the meat will not flow upon them.
These eggs,
even though fully developed,
are forbidden to be eaten together with milk. |
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| 36:27 |
Meat that has waited (after slaughter without salting)
three days
may not be cooked
unless it was soaked in water in the interim. |
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| 36:28 |
It is customary with fowl,
after their feathers have been plucked,
to singe them in a fire,
to remove any feathers (before salting].
One must be careful not to singe them
except over a fire of hay and straw (i.e, a small flame),
and not make a large fire.
Also, one must move the fowl back and forth
so that it will not be heated. |
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