# Removing Salt from Chipped Beef



## passion4food (Sep 6, 2006)

HELP!  Supposed to restrict sodium from diet, so how can I remove the salt in chipped beef????


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## Andy M. (Sep 6, 2006)

You could soak it in water for 24 hours, changing the water evfery few hours.

...Or you could avoid chipped beef.


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## sattie (Sep 6, 2006)

My dad use to make chipped beef with cream gravy, he would rinse the chipped beef in water and drain well in paper towels.  It retains enough flavor for what ever dish you desire it for.


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## Gretchen (Sep 6, 2006)

As Andy said, don't eat it. It will still be full of sodium as in nitrite or -trate. If yo are making a recipe that calls for it, just use plain roast beef--or even sliced turkey--if it is like the creamed meat on toast.


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## Michael in FtW (Sep 8, 2006)

Chipped beef is salt cured and dried. That is what gives it that distinctive flavor. It has about 100mg of sodium per slice!

Andy's suggestion to soak it for 24-hours, and change the water 4-5 times, would help remove a probably large portion of the salt - maybe by as much as 50% or more - but I don't have a food lab and the equipment to test this out and verify the sodium extraction results.

Depending on your sodium restriction - maybe you could enjoy this as a special treat "once in a while"?

It isn't the same but maybe you might try a low sodium breakfast sausage - crumble it up as you cook it, drain most of the grease, add flour to make your roux, and then milk to make your gravy - serve over hot biscuits.

It's not SOS - but it's good!


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## letscook (Sep 8, 2006)

How about using Corn beef from the deli instead?


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## Michael in FtW (Sep 8, 2006)

letscook - Corned Beef is also salt cured beef, but not dried ... corn in this instance comes from an old English word for "grain" - texture not as in wheat or maize, which ment something granular, large grains of salt were "corns"- thus beef that was cured in grains of salt were "corned". 

I also initially thought of pastrami - but it's made from corned beef.


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## Robo410 (Sep 8, 2006)

you can certainly rinse and or soak the dried beef, and remove a lot of the salt.  Using other processed meats such as smoked turkey may not be any better as all such meats contain a fair amount of salt.  However, if you start with fresh turkey breast or chicken, you can sure limit the amount.


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## thymeless (Sep 8, 2006)

Chipped beef is supposed to be rinsed. At least according to the labels on the brands in my area. 

Under warm running water, separate the slices a bit and let the water run through. Doesn't take long to cut the salt by a large portion. If you soaked it a long time,  it wouldn't have any flavor left

I too am on a sodium restriction and enjoy SOS every other month or so. Other tricks to a lower sodium SOS. Use a full fat milk, they're lower sodium (sodium is water soluble, so the more fat in the milk, the less room there is for sodium).  Be sure and start with some chopped onion, a couple of tablespoons, and maybe a tiny bit of garlic, 1/8 teaspoon.  Build the roux from unsalted butter/olive oil/grapeseed oil right in the pan with the onions. Season with some hot sauce and pepper and a squeeze of lemon at the end. YOu shouldn't need any salt. 

Any of the salt free herbal mixes can be added to taste, Frontier, Mrs. Dash and so on.

Commercial bread is prettty high sodium too and biscuits are often worse. Pick your starch carefully. If your restriction is really tight, maybe some baked or roasted potato would be better than bread.

thymeless


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## Kell (Sep 11, 2006)

There are also low sodium varieties for sale at some stores, between that and the soaking tips maybe you can get your dried beef to a level that you are okay with.


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## Katie H (Sep 11, 2006)

Yes, soaking it in water is a great way to purge some of the salt.  What I do is to pour boiling water over it, to cover, and let it sit for a while - about 30 minutes - then drain.  After I drain it the first time, I check to see how salty it tastes by sampling a small piece.  If I think it needs more soaking, I repeat the process.  Some of the dried beef in the marketplace is very salty.  You might want to go to a website that sells Carsons air-dried beef.  We've been eating this beef for over 20 years and find it far superior to what is found in any market.  Just Google "Carson's air-dried beef" and you should come up with the right place.  If not, email me and I can give you the appropriate address and phone number.


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## my_psychosis (Sep 13, 2006)

*oops*

lol I wish I had known about the rinsing and soaking method last month. I had never had chipped beef on toast and wanted to try it so I looked up a recipe. It didnt say anything about rinsing. Anyway it was so salty we had to throw it out.


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