On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 340

inasterilecontainerhermeticallysealed
againsttheentryofmicrobes.Mechanical
refrigerationandfreezingkeepmeatcold
enoughtoslowmicrobialgrowthorsuspendit
altogether.Andirradiationofprepackaged
meatkillsanymicrobesinthepackagewhile
leavingthemeatitselfrelativelyunchanged.
DriedMeats:Jerky

Microbesneedwatertosurviveandgrow,so
onesimpleandancientpreservationtechnique
hasbeentodrymeat,originallybyexposingit
tothewindandsun.Nowadays,meatisdried
bybrieflysaltingittoinhibitsurface
microbesandthenheatingitinlowtemperatureconvectionovenstoremoveat
leasttwo-thirdsofitsweightand75%ofits
moisture(morethan10%moisturemayallow
PenicilliumandAspergillusmoldstogrow).
Becauseitsflavorhasbeenconcentratedand
itstextureisinteresting,driedmeatremains


popular.ModernexamplesincludeAmerican
jerky,LatinAmericancarneseca,Norwegian
fenalårandsouthernAfricanbiltong,whose
texturescanrangefromchewytobrittle.Two
refinedversionsareItalianbresaolaand
SwissBuendnerfleisch,whicharebeefsalted
andsometimesflavoredwithwineandherbs
beforeaslow,cooldryingperiodofupto
severalmonths.They’reservedinpaper-thin

slices.
Freeze-DryingFreeze-dryingisthetechnique
originally used by Andean peoples to make
charqui; they took advantage of the thin dry
air to evaporate moisture from meat during
sunnydaysandsublimateitfromicecrystals
during freezing nights. The result was an
uncooked, honeycombed tissue that would
readilyreabsorbwaterduringlatercooking.In
the industrial version, the meat is rapidly
frozen under vacuum, then mildly heated to
sublimate its water. Because this kind of