An ounce of pearlash in the corning brine, alongside nearly seven pounds of salt.
3 gallons water 6¾ pounds salt 1 ounce pearlash 2½ pounds sugar 1 pint molasses This pickle is sufficient for fifty pounds of beef. When salt and sugar are thoroughly dissolved lay in the beef. It will be ready for use in twelve or fourteen days, but can remain in the pickle five or six weeks without injury.
Mrs. Fryer's Loose Leaf Cook Book, 1922. Public domain; transcription unaltered.
Pearlash is potassium carbonate, a strong alkali, and it has no business in a curing brine. It does not preserve, it does not cure, and it works against the acidity that helps a brine do its job.
The brine relies on salt and sugar alone otherwise — there is no nitrite, so this will not be corned beef in the sense of colour or the botulism protection that curing salt provides.
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