So I am getting into charcuterie thing.....

( -"what does 'Cured' mean?"   well, "cured" simply means preserved with salt and/or pink salts (nitrite).  either or both.

the moment that there's enough salt OR nitrite OR both to preserve the meat, it's considered 'cured'.

-"Can you make bacon without nitrite"?  weeeeeelllll.  yes and no.  mostly 'no'.  you can call it what you want, but it isn't 'bacon' by most standards.

-You can make a thing you refer to as 'bacon' without nitrite, but it isn't 'bacon' as we know it.   call it what you want. but it's basically salt-cured pork, like salt-pork, lardo, pancetta, prosciutto, etc. (and although you can use nitrite with some of these, traditionally you wouldn't).

-"Is nitrite used in bacon to protect against botulism?".  nope.  nitrite doesn't make solid muscle meats any safer with regard to botulism.  remember, a prosciutto is salt cured only, with no nitrite, and hangs for two years at room temp.  still safe, and no, there's no magic environmentally controlled room required either. so, there's absolutely no issue cold smoking versus hot smoking with or without nitrite.  sausages? different thing.  even with the salt, sausage is still ground meat, fat, bacteria and (potentially) botulism spores, protected from oxygen by being packed into casings and intermixed.  but muscle (ham, bacon, loin) has no botulism spores INSIDE the meat. the word' botulism' comes from the Latin word meaning sausage.  the salt is protecting you here, with regard to bacon.  even then, you refrigerate it anyway.  but that's beside the point.

-I always ask why the desire for no nitrites.  if it is for health reasons, that's admirable, but illogical.  for one thing, there's far more nitrite in a stick of celery than that pound of bacon.  and if you had a diet high in bacon, it'd be that fat and (possibly) the salt that kills you, not the nitrite.  there's no reason to be eating bacon in the first place if you have health concerns.    the salt is in much higher concentration than the nitrite.  but notice no one ever asks for a recipe for bacon without salt?  people have conflated the warning against eating lots of cured meats with the typical fear of the unknown , in this case 'chemicals!'. 

-"don't eat a diet high in cured meats if you want to stay healthy".  THAT is true.  but it ain't the nitrites.  it's the salt and fat.  let's not pick and choose.

-still worried about nitrite? ok.  then stop swallowing your spit.  more than 90% of the nitrites in your diet, including those who eat bacon, is produced by your body, because it NEEDS it.  including your own spit.

-"But I buy nitrate free bacon at Whole Foods".  No, no you don't.  You buy "no nitrite added" bacon, but it still has nitrite in it.  "wha-wha-whaaaat?!?!!?", you say?  yep, if someone prefers the "no nitrite added" bacon they get at an organic food store because they think it is healthier, they need to realize they have nothing less than the SAME salt and nitrite cured type of 'unhealthy' bacon everyone is buying from Oscar Meyer for four bucks less.  that healthfood/organic stuff typically says "no artificial nitrite added".  but they still cure it with nitrite, in the same concentration too. they just happen to use 'celerey powder' for a 'natural' source of nitrite.  saying 'natural' nitrite is better somehow than 'man made' nitrite is like saying 'natural' oxygen is better than 'man made' oxygen.  it's not, it's simply playing to ignorance and a flase sense of what is healthy.   i don't mean 'ignorant' as-in "people are stupid", i'm simply saying they are ignorant (i.e. "not aware") of what nitrite does, where it comes from, why it's there, and whether or not is is truly a danger. truth is, celery is so high in nitrite, that they powder it and use it in their cure so they can say "no artificial nitrites'.  but don't for a second think you are getting nitrite-free, or eating magically healthier bacon.

nitrite is required in our diet.  it is in very high concentrations in many vegetables (beets, celery, spinach, etc.).

if a person is TRULY worried about nitrite intake, they should push aside that spinach salad, stop eating celery as a between meal lo-cal snack, and eschew beets.  and god forbid there's arugula in your salad.  you get more nitrite from an arugula salad than from eating five hot dogs.

actually.  i am mistaken. it's not five hotdogs.  it's FIVE HUNDRED.  you need to eat FIVE HUNDRED hot dogs to get as much nitrite as an arugula salad.

so why the hell do we want to bother with adding nitrite to bacon if it isn't for botulism's sakes (it's not)?  well, it CHANGES the meat.  and it does it in a way that salt can't.  it adds a piquancy that salt lacks, it firms the meat, it gives it a familiar pleasing red color that doesn't do anything for flavor, but just keeps it from looking grey, which some associate with spoilage or 'old' meat.  the red preserves a certain fresher look, basically.

but mainly it's that it firms the meat and adds the 'cured' flavor that most people like and associate with things like ham, bacon, etc.

let's face it, a salt-brined pork loin is not at all like back bacon (canadian bacon), right? yet it's the came cut of meat. 

the only difference?  nitrite.

-difference between cold and hot smoke?  first, nitrite doesn't do jack-diddly for either. it's all about the flavor and firmness and color. but the smoke...?

Hot Smoke:  cooks the bacon.  it's easier to do, faster, and can deposit a lot of smoke.  it firms the meat (by cooking and a bit more moisture loss). that cooking and moisture loss means a firmer bacon, and when cooked in slices it will not shrink, will tend to be drier (but not in a bad way, just not sizzling/popping/spitting)

Cold Smoke: does not cook the bacon.  nitrite is not protecting against botulism hear either.  so why do it?  well, I hot smoke because it's easier.  so i cold smoke when i have a lot to do, a ham maybe at the same time, and because the smoke can be subtler.  my set-up for cold smoking (thru a aluminum dryer hose) usually involves cold weather, and by the time the smoke gets to my chamber, its condensed a bit and loss some harsher aspects.  do i taste a HUGE difference? not really.  but i do it because that means the smoked bacon is now still uncooked (though not 'raw', because it is still cured of course).  when i cook it in the pan, it will be the first time it gets cooked, and will retain a little more moisture.

keep in mind that this is DRY curing.  dry curing ALWAYS removes water from the meat.  country hams are drier, prosciutto is drier, etc.  

but supermarket bacon (and a city ham), are WET cured.  in fact, the supermarket bacon is actually processed raw, sliced and then needle injected (hundreds of needles) with brine,  then finally packaged.  it cures very quickly, on the way to the store.  that's why 'city' hams are called city hams.  they tossed them in a cask of brine, and they cured on the train on the way to the city. 

since we are very much used to supermarket bacon being limp and 'raw' feeling (floppy, obviously not cooked), we are loking for the same thing when we make bacon.  but dry cured hot smoked bacon is not this at all.  cold smoking can remove the 'cooking' aspect though, and so you end up with a similar looking product (un-cooked) to supermarket bacon.  but it will still be drier because it has had water removed (by dry curing, salt and sugar remove water), rather than had water ADDED, as commercial bacon has. )

Steve 

Caledon, ON)

 

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