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. Many curing processes also involve smoking. The etymology of the term is unclear, but it is thought to derive from the same Latin cura, -ae that the other meanings of cure do. Various preserved foods Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value, texture and flavor. ... Flavor or flavour (see spelling differences) is the sensory impression of a food or other substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. ... Various meats Cold Meat Salad Meat, in its broadest modern definition, is all animal tissue intended to be used as food. ... The Guppy, also known as guppie (Poecilia reticulata) is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species in the world. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Magnified crystals of refined sugar Magnification of typical sugar In general use, non-scientists take sugar to mean sucrose, also called table sugar or saccharose, a white crystalline solid disaccharide. ... An electrostatic potential map of the nitrate ion. ... // Definition The nitrite ion is NO2−. A nitrite compound is one that contains this group, either an ionic compound, or an analogous covalent one. ... Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Smoking Smoking is the process of preserving, cooking, or flavoring food by exposing it to the smoke from burning or smoldering plant materials, most often wood. ...

Curing with salt and sugar may be called salting, salt-curing, sugar-curing or honey-curing. The application of pellets of salt, called "corns", is often called corning. Curing in a water solution or brine is called wet-curing or pickling or brining. The curing of fish is sometimes called kippering. Brine is water saturated or nearly saturated with salt. ... Cucumbers gathered together. ... In cooking, brining is a process similar to marination in which meat is soaked in a salt solution (the brine) before cooking. ... Kippered herring. ...

Salt inhibits the growth of microorganisms which cause spoilage by drawing water out of microbial cells through osmosis. As the unwanted bacterial population decreases, other beneficial bacteria, primarily of the Lactobacillus genus, come to the fore and generate an acidic environment (around 4.5 pH). The sugar included in the cure is used as food by the lactobacilli; generally dextrose is preferred over sucrose, or table sugar, because it seems to be more thoroughly consumed by the bacteria. This process is in fact a form of fermentation, and, in addition to reducing further the ability of the spoilage bacteria to grow, accounts for the tangy flavor of some cured products. Concentrations of salt up to 20% are required to kill most species of bacteria. E. coli magnified 10,000 times. ... Osmosis is the diffusion of a liquid (most often assumed to be water, but it can be any liquid solvent) through a semipermeable membrane from a region of low solvent potential to a region of high solvent potential. ... Species L. acidophilus L. bulgaricus L. casei L. plantarum L. reuterietc. ... pH is a measure of the acidity of a solution, in terms of activity of hydrogen ions (H+). For dilute solutions, however, it is convenient to substitute the activity of the hydrogen ions with the molarity (mol/L) of the hydrogen ions (however, this is not necessarily accurate at higher... A space-filling model of glucose Glucose, a simple monosaccharide sugar, is one of the most important carbohydrates and is used as a source of energy in animals and plants. ... Sucrose (common name: table sugar, also called saccharose) is a disaccharide (glucose + fructose) with the molecular formula C12H22O11. ... Fermentation in progress Fermentation typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast. ...

Smoking adds chemicals to the surface of an item which affect the ability of bacteria to grow, inhibit oxidation (and thus rancidity), and improve flavor.

Nitrates and nitrites not only help kill bacteria, but also produce a characteristic flavor, and give meat an appealing pink or red color. Nitrate (NO₃), in the form of either sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate, is used as a source for nitrite (NO₂). The nitrite further breaks down in the meat into nitric oxide (NO), which then binds to the iron atom in the center of myoglobin's heme group, preventing oxidation. The presence of nitrates and nitrites in food is controversial due to the development of nitrosamines when the food, primarily bacon, is cooked at high temperatures. The nitrate and nitrite compounds themselves are not harmful, however, and are among the antioxidants found in fresh vegetables.^{[citation needed]} The usage of either compound is carefully regulated in the production of cured products; in the United States, their concentration in finished products is limited to 200 ppm, and is usually found to be below. Finally, they are irreplacable in the prevention of botulinum poisoning from consumption of dry-cured sausages. Sodium nitrate (not to be confused with sodium nitrite) is a type of salt (NaNO3) which has long been used as an ingredient in explosives and in solid rocket propellants, as well as in glass and pottery enamel, and as a food preservative (such as in hot dogs), and has... R-phrases   S-phrases   Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... The chemical compound nitric oxide is a gas with chemical formula NO. It is an important signaling molecule in the body of mammals including humans, one of the few gaseous signaling molecules known. ... Myoglobin is a single-chain protein of 153 amino acids, containing a heme (iron-containing porphyrin) group in the center. ... Structure of Heme b A heme or haem is a prosthetic group that consists of an iron atom contained in the center of a large heterocyclic organic ring called a porphyrin. ... Nitrosamines are carcinogenic chemical compounds of the chemical structure R2N-N=O. Nitrosamines are produced from nitrites and amines. ... An antioxidant is a chemical that prevents the oxidation of other chemicals. ... Botulism (from Latin botulus, sausage) is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin, botulin, that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. ...

Salted meat and fish are commonly eaten as a staple of the diet in North Africa, Southern China and in the Arctic where they are associated with nasopharyngeal cancer caused by infection by the Epstein-Barr Virus. One study hypothesizes that the actual vector is anaerobic bacteria found in salted fish, Article in The Scientist, Volume 13, No. 6:1, Mar. 15, 1999 (registration required). Salt cod, which was air-dried in cool northern Europe, was a civilization-changing food product, in that a bountiful but perishable food supply could be converted to a form that allowed for wide travel and thus exploration. Salt-cured meat or salted meat, for example ham, bacon or kippered herring, is meat or fish preserved or cured by salt or brine. ... The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), also called Human herpesvirus 4 (HHV-4), is a virus of the herpes family (which includes Herpes simplex virus and Cytomegalovirus), and is one of the most common viruses in humans. ... An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen. ... Baccalà is Italian for dried, salted cod. ...

Some cured meat products:

• Prosciutto
• Bresaola
• Coppa
• Salami
• Lomo
• Salt cod
• Chorizo
• Linguiça
• Pepperoni
• Capicola
• Ham
• Lardo
• Bacon and Pancetta
• Lox (salmon)
• Elenski but

Cured vegetable products: Prosciutto Prosciutto (IPA: [proʃuʔ͡to]) is the Italian word for ham. ... Bresaola (also known as beef prosciutto outside Italy) is air-dried salted beef fillet that has been aged about 2-3 months until it becomes very hard and a dark red, almost purple colour. ... Coppa is a traditional Italian dry cured pork shoulder or neck, and could be considered the pork counterpart of the air dried, cured beef bresaola. ... Salami. ... Sliced Lomo Lomo is a Spanish cured meat made from a pork tenderloin. ... The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view. ... Chorizo Chorizo is a pork sausage originating from Spain. ... Linguiça (lean-GWEE-sah) is a form of Portuguese pork sausage seasoned with onions, garlic, and pepper. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Capicola is a thinly sliced Italian luncheon meat, taken from the shoulder of a pig. ... Template:Other uses Ham with cloves Technically, ham is the thigh and buttock of any animal that is slaughtered for meat, but the term is usually restricted to a cut of pork, the haunch of a pig or boar. ... A lardon is a piece of bacon taken from the purified fat of a pig. ... Bacon is any of certain cuts of meat taken from the sides, back or belly of a pig, cured and possibly smoked. ... Pancetta is an Italian form of bacon. ... Lox is salmon, typically a filet, that has been cured, and then often it is cold smoked. ... Several rounds of elenski but Elenski but (Bulgarian: еленски бут or (more precisely but less commonly) бут по еленски, sometimes translated as Elena round or Elena leg) is a dry-cured ham from the town of Elena in northern Bulgaria and a popular delicacy throughout the country. ...

• Sauerkraut
• Kimchi
• Pickled cucumbers

Sauerkraut and sausage on a plate is finely sliced white cabbage fermented by various lactic acid bacteria including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. ... Kimchi, also known as gimchi or kimchee is a traditional Korean dish of fermented chili peppers and vegetables, usually based on Chinese cabbage. ... A jar of pickled cucumbers. ...

See also

• Curing salt
• Food preservation
• Smoking (food)
• Sausage making

Curing salt is salt containing small amounts of sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate. ... Various preserved foods Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value, texture and flavor. ... Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Smoking Smoking is the process of preserving, cooking, or flavoring food by exposing it to the smoke from burning or smoldering plant materials, most often wood. ... See also the main article on sausages and the main article on Meat Curing. ...

Notes

McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking (revised). New York, NY: Scribner, 2004. ISBN 0-684-80001-2

External links

• National Center for Home Food Preservation - How do I...Cure & Smoke