Salt-cured meat

Salt-cured meat or salted meat is meat or fish preserved or cured with salt. Salting, either with dry salt or brine, was a common method of preserving meat until the middle of the 20th century, becoming less popular after the advent of refrigeration. It was frequently called "junk"^[1] or "salt horse".^[2]

Salt inhibits the growth of microorganisms by drawing water out of microbial cells through osmosis. Concentrations of salt up to 20% are required to kill most species of unwanted bacteria. Smoking, often used in the process of curing meat, adds chemicals to the surface of meat that reduce the concentration of salt required.

Salted meat and fish are a staple of the diet in North Africa, Southern China, Scandinavia, coastal Russia, and in the Arctic. Salted meat was a staple of the mariner's diet in the Age of Sail. It was stored in barrels, and often had to last for months spent out of sight of land. The basic Royal Navy diet consisted of salted beef, salted pork, ship's biscuit, and oatmeal, supplemented with smaller quantities of peas, cheese and butter.^[3] Even in 1938, Eric Newby found the diet on the tall ship Moshulu to consist almost entirely of salted meat. Moshulu's lack of refrigeration left little choice as the ship made voyages which could exceed 100 days passage between ports.

References

^ Clarkson, Janet (2009-10-12). "The original junk food". The Old Foodie. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
^ Hughes, Robert (1988). The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0394753669.
^ "Diet and Recipes". hmsrichmond.org. 2004-09-02. Retrieved 2018-05-02.

[1] Clarkson, Janet (2009-10-12). "The original junk food". The Old Foodie. Retrieved 2018-05-02.

[2] Hughes, Robert (1988). The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0394753669.

[3] "Diet and Recipes". hmsrichmond.org. 2004-09-02. Retrieved 2018-05-02.

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v t e Salt
History	History In the American Civil War International Salt Co. v. United States In Middlewich Old Salt Route In Chinese history Salt March Salt road
Types	Abraum Alaea Alberger Asín tibuok Bittern Black lava Butter Calcium chloride Celery Curing Cyclic Dairy Flake Fleur de sel Garlic Himalayan Iodised Jugyeom Kala namak Korean brining Kosher Monosodium glutamate Moshio salt Pickling Potassium chloride Potassium nitrate River reed salt Sodium nitrate Onion Rock Salammoniac Salt substitute Sea salt Seasoned Sel gris Smoked Sodium chloride Truffle Túltul
Food usage	Brining Salting Brined cheese Salt-cured meat Salted fish Health effects Salt and cardiovascular disease
Commerce and industry	Salt Industry Commission Evaporation pond Salt mining Salt well Sink works Open-pan salt making List of countries by salt production Salt tectonics
By region	In Cheshire In Ghana San Francisco Bay In Pakistan
Culture	Grain of salt Salt in the Bible Salting the earth
Miscellaneous	Mineral lick Road salt Smelling salts Water softening Ximenes Redoubt Tax
Category

See also

References