Equipment · Tanks and vats
Bolted slate beef-salting trough
Museum Wales F84.101
A rectangular beef-salting trough made from saw-cut Penrhyn slate slabs, bolted together and sealed along the joints. Museum Wales records a height of 64 cm and length of 76 cm.
A vessel assembled from slate
Museum Wales identifies this object as a salting trough used for large pieces of beef. Its panels came from Penrhyn Quarry slate, cut with a circular saw. The slabs are 35–40 mm thick and fixed together with bolts and captive nuts; the holes were plugged with lead, the edges housed into the sides, and paste filler used along the seams. This is a built-up enclosure rather than a basin carved from one block or a fired vessel. Its documented dimensions are 64 cm high and 76 cm long. No width or capacity is recorded.
The construction details show how the trough held material together: the panels form the walls, mechanical fasteners join the slabs, housed edges engage the sides, and filler runs along the seams. These details describe the museum object. The record does not state how leak-tight it was, how it was cleaned, or what methods were used to cure beef in it. It also places the object in store, so the catalogue is evidence of an artifact and its recorded purpose, not a current operating demonstration.
Sources for this section
What the record establishes
The object is associated with Penrhyn Quarry through its slate, and its use is stated as salting large pieces of beef. The collection record gives no date, maker, owner, place of use, capacity, or account of the curing procedure. Those omissions matter: the construction can be described precisely without assigning it an unsupported period or claiming that this particular trough represents every Welsh meat-curing practice.
The museum records lead in the plugged holes. That is a description of historic material, not a safe specification for making or using food equipment today. The catalogue offers no food-contact assessment, so the trough should be understood here as a documented collection object. Its relation to salt beef is clear at the level of intended use; the trough itself does not supply a recipe or establish salt quantities, curing time, storage conditions, or a safety process.
Sources for this section
A place in salt beef preparation
The collection record states that this trough was used to salt large pieces of beef. It does not explain whether the meat was dry salted or covered with brine, whether pieces were turned, or how the finished beef was stored. Readers looking for a preparation should follow the linked salt-beef record, which is a separate subject from this piece of equipment.
The trough's dimensions and assembled slate construction help identify the object, while the surviving source leaves its capacity and detailed operation unknown. Keeping those limits visible prevents a museum artifact from becoming a fictional household method. The record is most useful as evidence that slate panels, bolted and sealed at their joints, formed a vessel for beef salting in the documented collection.
Sources for this section
Equipment details
Made of
- Penrhyn slate — trough panels
Slabs cut with a circular saw; thickness varies from 35 to 40 mm. - metal bolts and captive nuts — fasteners
The slabs are fixed together with bolts and captive nuts. - lead — plugging
The museum records lead-plugged holes; this is a historical material detail, not a contemporary food-contact recommendation. - paste filler — joint sealing
Recorded along seams.
Limits
No source gives a capacity, date, cleaning method, or evidence that the historic lead plugs are suitable for contemporary food use.
Source →Places
Unknown
Relationship not established · Place not establishedThe collection record locates the slate source at Penrhyn Quarry but does not identify the trough's place of manufacture or use.
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Sources
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum WalesObject identification · Materials · Construction · Dimensions · Documented use
Salting trough, F84.101Identifies the object as a salting trough used for large pieces of beef.
Records Penrhyn Quarry slate, circular-saw-cut slabs 35–40 mm thick, bolts, captive nuts, lead-plugged holes, housed edges and paste filler along seams.
Records height 640 mm, length 760 mm, material slate, historical association with Penrhyn Quarry and location in store.
Cited in: A vessel assembled from slate; What the record establishes; A place in salt beef preparation