On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 341

desiccation doesn’t cause cooking and
compaction of the tissue, relatively thick
piecescanbedriedandreconstituted.
SaltedMeats:Hams,Bacon,CornedBeef

Likedrying,saltingpreservesmeatby
deprivingbacteriaandmoldsofwater.The
additionofsalt—sodiumchloride—tomeat
createssuchahighconcentrationofdissolved
sodiumandchlorideionsoutsidethemicrobes
thatwaterinsidetheircellsisdrawnout,salt
isdrawnin,andtheircellularmachineryis
disrupted.Themicrobeseitherdieorslow
downdrastically.Themusclecellstooare
partlydehydratedandabsorbsalt.Traditional
curedmeats,madebydry-saltingorbrining
largecutsforseveraldays,areabout60%
moistureand5–7%saltbyweight.The
resultinghams(frompiglegs),bacon(from
pigsides),cornedbeef(“corn”comingfrom
theEnglishwordforgrains,includingsalt


grains),andsimilarproductskeepuncooked
formanymonths.
Useful Impurities: Nitrates and Nitrites
Sodium chloride is not the only salt with an
importantroleinsalt-curing.Theotherswere
unpredictable mineral impurities in the rock,
sea, and vegetable salts originally used for
curing. One of these, potassium nitrate

(KNO3), was discovered during the Middle
Ages and namedsaltpeter because it was
found as a salt-like crystalline outgrowth on
rocks. In the 16th or 17th century, it was
found to brighten meat color and improve its
flavor, safety, and storage life.Around 1900,
German chemists discovered that during the
cure certain salt-tolerant bacteria transform a
smallportionofthenitrateintonitrite(NO2),
and that nitrite rather than nitrate is the true
active ingredient. Once this was known,
producers could eliminate saltpeter from the
curing mixture and replace it with much