On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 346

porkpiecesaretumbledwithsalttodrawout
the muscle protein myosin, which forms a
sticky layer that holds the pieces together.
Most corned beef is now injected with brine
as well; the briskets never touch any actual
saltgrains.
Modernhamandbaconcontainmore
moisturethanthedry-curedversions
(sometimesmorethantheoriginalrawmeat!)
andabouthalfthesalt—3–4%insteadof5–
7%.Whereslicesoftraditionalhamand
baconfryeasilyandretain75%oftheir
weight,thewettermodernversionsspatter,
shrink,andcurlastheygiveuptheirwater,
andretainonlyathirdoftheirinitialweight.
SmokedMeats

Smokefromburningplantmaterials,usually
wood,hashelpedtopreservefoodeversince
ourancestorsmasteredfire.Smoke’s
usefulnessresultsfromitschemical


complexity(p.448).Itcontainsmany
hundredsofcompounds,someofwhichkillor
inhibitthegrowthofmicrobes,someofwhich
retardfatoxidationandthedevelopmentof
rancidflavors,andsomeofwhichaddan
appealingflavoroftheirown.Becausesmoke
onlyaffectsthesurfaceoffood,ithaslong
beenusedinconjunctionwithsaltingand

drying—ahappycombinationbecausesalted
meatsareespeciallypronetodeveloping
rancidity.Americancountryhamsandbacons
areexamplesofsmokedsaltedfoods.Because
therearenowotherwaystostoremeat,and
becausesomesmokecomponentsareknown
tobehealthhazards(p.449),smokeisnow
usedlessfrequentlyasafull-strength
preservative,andmoreoftenasalightly
appliedflavoring.
HotandColdSmokingMeatcanbesmoked
in two different ways. Whenhot-smoked, the
meat is held directly above or in the same