Sugar is a minor part of the composite flavor, with bacon being an exception. Because of the tremendous amount of salt used, sugar serves to reduce the harshness of the salt in cured meat and enhance the sweetness of the product ie. Sweet Lebanon Bologna.
Sugar also serves as a nutrient source for the flavor-producing bacteria of meat during long curing processes. Spices add characteristic flavors to the meats. Recent studies have suggested that some spices can have added preservative effects Doyle However, the quantities of spice needed to achieve these effects may be well beyond the reasonable quantities of use.
Nitrites and nitrate conversion to nitrite provide the characteristic cured flavor and color see below. The process of smoking gives the product the characteristic smoky flavor that can be varied slightly with cure recipes and types of smoke used.
A high concentration of salt promotes the formation of an unattractive gray color within some meat. Nitrate when used for some dry-cured, non-cooked meats is reduced to nitrite then to nitric oxide, which reacts with myoglobin muscle pigment to produce the red or pink cured color.
If nitrite is used as the curing agent, there is no need for the nitrate reduction step, and the development of the cure color is much more rapid. The time required for a cured color to develop may be shortened with the use of cure accelerators, e.
Cure accelerators tend to speed up chemical conversion of nitric acid to nitric oxide. They also serve as oxygen scavengers, which slow the fading of the cured meat color in the presence of sunlight and oxygen. Some studies have indicated that cure accelerators have antimicrobial properties, especially for the newly emerging pathogens like E.
Since cure accelerators are rarely used in home curing, this information needs further review or research to determine what benefits home curing would have by using certain cure accelerators. The cure ingredients can be rubbed on to the food surface, mixed into foods dry dry curing , or dissolved in water brine, wet, or pickle curing.
In the latter processes, the food is submerged in the brine until completely covered. With large cuts of meat, brine may also be injected into the muscle.
The term pickle in curing has been used to mean any brine solution or a brine cure solution that has sugar added. Nitrite in Meat Epley et al. Safety of Cured Pork Products Cassens Cure Mixtures For the home food preserver, measuring small batches of cure for nitrites or nitrates would require an analytical scale that few consumers have access to.
Some examples of commercially prepared cures include: 2. Wrap each breast tightly in the plastic wrap. After 24 hours unwrap each breast and discard all the salt mixture. Blot dry with a paper towel. Slice thinly and serve similar to prosciutto. What is Brining. Important Cooking Temperatures. Capillary Action in Plants. What are inverted sugars. Toggle navigation Science of Cooking. Curing Foods. Key Words : Brining, Osmosis, Diffusion, Capillary Action , Depolymerization, Sarcomere On this page: Structure of Muscle Fiber, Scientific Basis for Brining, Comparison of Brining Solutions, Applications to Cooking, References, Glossary of Terms Curing food preservation In food preparation, curing refers to various preservation and flavoring processes, especially of meat or fish, by the addition of a combination of salt, sugar and either nitrate or nitrite.
Terminology Curing with salt and sugar may be called salting , salt-curing , sugar-curing or honey-curing. Chemical action of curing Salt inhibits the growth of spoilage-causing microorganisms by drawing water out of microbial cells through osmosis.
History Historically, peoples around the world have cured meat, in order not to waste valuable food, and to insure against poor harvests or hunting seasons. On Food and Cooking revised. New York, NY: Scribner, Bertolli, Paul. Cooking by Hand. Article in The Scientist, Volume 13, No. Duck Ham -- Cured Duck Breast 2 Pekin Long Island Duck Breast 2 cups kosher salt 1 cup sugar 3 garlic cloves smashed and finely chopped 2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper 1 tablespoon fresh thyme 1 tablespoon crushed dry bay leaf If the duck if fatty, place the breast in the freezer for 30 minutes and then carefully remove the fat leaving a only a thin layer.
Mix the salt, sugar, smashed garlic and herbs in a bowl. But many cultures around the world have proven themselves ready to wait.
China's famed Jinhua ham usually ages for at least six months; Italy's culatello goes for months. The most expensive ham in the world, from Spain, ages for six years, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The longer a ham goes, the funkier it usually tastes, as the fat eventually begins to go rancid. But for some, it's all part of the taste adventure.
Desiccation is also important to making dry-aged beef, that mainstay of high-end restaurants, where letting a cut of beef gradually lose moisture and grow a protective rind of mould, which is sliced off before cooking, produces a stronger flavour.
These days, the evaporation process takes place in carefully controlled chambers and can be stretched out for a surprisingly long time, given that in dry-aging there are no preservatives to keep the meat from going off.
In fact, Mata once worked with a chef in Chicago to produce beef that had been aged for 71 days. In the past, however, home cooks had a decidedly low-tech approach. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. Taste of Tomorrow Food. How cured meats protect us from food poisoning. Share using Email. By Veronique Greenwood 9th April Some cuts can last more than six years without going off.
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