Beef Tea Press
Display: Cutting Edge
Culinary Technique: extraction
Date: c. 1890
Manufacturer: Silver Company
Dimensions: 4.75" h x 3.5" w x 6.5" d
Watch collection donor Mel Mickevic demonstrate this object with
Dean Christopher
Koetke, School of Culinary Arts, Kendall College,
and Victoria Matranga, exhibition curator.
In addition to being prescribed for the sick, meat extracts were also produced as a way to preserve food in concentrated liquid form—popular among adventurers and the military—and in solid bouillon form for flavoring. On this press, turning the crank on the one-piece, handled lid pushed the perforated plunger down, expelling meat juice through the bottom of the tin cylinder.