Salting (food)

Salting is an old way to keep food safe and tasty. It uses dry edible salt to stop bad bacteria and other tiny living things from growing. This helps food stay fresh for a long time.

People have used salting for thousands of years. Two important foods made this way are salted fish, like dried and salted cod or salted herring, and salt-cured meat, such as bacon. Vegetables like runner beans and cabbage can also be preserved with salt.

Salt works because most harmful bacteria, fungi, and other tiny organisms cannot live where there is a lot of salt. The salt pulls water out of these tiny living things, making them stop growing or die. This helps keep our food safe to eat.

History

Pre-modern

People have used salt to keep food fresh for a very long time. Long ago, they mixed salting with smoking to make foods like bacon. In the 1300s, they preserved venison by covering it with bracken, boiling it in salty water, and then drying it with salt in a barrel. Salt was also added to vegetables to improve their taste.

Salted meat was an important part of sailors’ food during the Age of Sail. Sailors stored salted beef, salted pork, ship's biscuit, and oatmeal in barrels for long trips at sea. Even in 1938, writer Eric Newby saw that ships like the tall ship Moshulu still mostly ate salted meat because they couldn’t keep food cold during long voyages.

Modern

In the 1800s, people found that adding salt mixed with nitrates (like saltpeter) to meat made it look red instead of grey. This helped keep the meat safe and fresh for many days without spoiling.

Salting in foods

Meat

Salting, either with dry salt or brine, was a common way to keep meat fresh until the middle of the 20th century. After refrigeration became common, people used this method less. Meat preserved this way was sometimes called "junk" or "salt horse." One old way of salting meat was called corning, where large pieces of salt were rubbed into the meat to keep it from spoiling. This name comes from the Old English word for large pieces or grains of salt. Even today, corned beef has this name, though it is usually brined now.

Salt stops microorganisms from growing by pulling water out of their cells. To stop most bacteria, you need about 20% salt. Smoking is often done with salting, which adds chemicals that let the meat need less salt.

Many places around the world use salted meat, such as in North Africa, Southern China, Scandinavia, coastal Russia, and the Arctic. Examples include bacon, biltong, cecina, corned beef, ham, jamón, jerky, pastrami, and salt pork.

Fish

Before the 19th century, drying or salting were the main ways to keep fish fresh. Dried fish and salted fish are important foods in many places, such as the Caribbean, West Africa, North Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern China, Scandinavia, parts of Canada including Newfoundland, coastal Russia, and the Arctic. Salt-cured fish gives people protein even without refrigeration.

Today, new methods like freeze-drying, using water-binding substances, and special equipment that controls temperature and humidity are used. Often, a mix of these new methods is used together.

Religious customs

Jewish and Muslim dietary laws say that blood must be removed from meat after it is killed. Salt and brine are used for this in both traditions, but salting is more common in Kosher Shechita than in Halal Dhabiha. Often, just letting the blood drain is enough for Halal Dhabiha.

Jewish Muslim dietary laws Kosher Shechita Halal Dhabiha

Health effects

Further information: Health effects of salt

Eating a lot of salted foods, like salt-preserved fish and meat, can cause stomach problems. Experts from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund International say that too much salt can harm the stomach. The American Cancer Society also says that eating many salted foods can raise the risk of stomach cancer.

Eating too much salt can also raise your blood pressure, which can cause heart and blood vessel problems. This is why it's important to watch how much salty food you eat.