Chapter 5
Cured and Smoked Foods
Chapter Overview
Preserved foods differ from fresh in various ways. They are saltier, drier, and have sharper flavors. All of these attributes stem from the judicious application of key ingredients: salt, curing agents, sweeteners, and spices. All food preservation techniques are intended to control the effects of a wide range of microbes, eliminating some and encouraging the growth of others. This is accomplished by controlling the food’s water content, temperature, acidity levels, and exposure to oxygen. Today’s garde manger may be less responsible for ensuring a steady source of food intended to last from seasons of plenty through seasons of want, but the practical craft and science of preserving foods remains important, if only because we have learned to savor and enjoy hams, bacons, gravlax, confits, and rillettes.
Chapter Objectives
After reading and studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Ø Understand the history and purpose of cured and smoked foods
Ø Identify the crucial ingredients for preserving foods
Ø Explain the function of salt in osmosis, dehydration, and fermentation
Ø Describe the role of curing salts in preserving foods
Ø Discuss seasoning and flavoring options for cured and smoked foods
Ø Compare the effects of dry cures and brines
Ø Describe the evolution of brining from a preservation technique to a flavoring technique
Ø Evaluate cold smoking and hot smoking alternatives
Ø Explain the technique of air-drying
Ø Describe the method of preservation in fat
Study Outline
Key Terms and Concepts
The Ingredients for Preserving Foods
Cure accelerators Curing salts Dehydration
Denaturing Fermentation “Free” water
Nitrates Nitrites Nitrosamine
Osmosis pH level Pink cure
Prague Powder I Prague Powder II Salt
Saltpeter Spices and herbs Sweeteners
TCM
Cures and Brines
Artery pumping Brine-soaking Brines
Continuous-feed pump Corned Cured
Dry cures Injected Multiple needle pump
Overhauling Pickled Stitch pump
Syringe Wet cures
Smoke
Air-drying Barbecuing Cold smoking
Hardwoods Hot smoking Pan-smokin
Pellicle Pit-roasting Pressure-treated wood
Smoke-roasting Smokehouse Smoker
Drying
Air-drying Humidity Temperature
Preserving in Fat
Confit Rancid Rillettes
Chapter Exercises
True/False
____ 1. Key ingredients that are responsible for the characteristics of preserved foods include salts, curing agents, sweeteners, and spices.
____ 2. In the process of fermentation, sugar “uses up” the water and acts as a control in this process since it affects how much water is available to enzymes.
____ 3. Nitrosamines are a beneficial byproduct produced when cooking cured items over extreme heat.
____ 4. Nitrates and nitrites are responsible for making cured meats redden.
____ 5. Dehydration is the movement of a solvent through a semipermeable membrane in order to equalize the concentration of a solute on both sides of the membrane.
____ 6. Herbs and spices take away from cure and brined products rather than enhancing the product’s flavor.
____ 7. To encourage the formation of a pellicle, position the foods so that a fan blows air over them.
____ 8. Soft woods, like pine, are ideal for smoking products.
____ 9. Some world-famous hams, including Serrano ham and Smithfield ham, are cured, cold- smoked, and then dried for an extended period making them safe to store and eat at room temperature.
Multiple Choice
1. Salt is responsible for:
a. Osmosis.
b. Dehydration.
c. Fermentation.
d. All of these.
2. Nitrites help reduce:
a. Botulism.
b. Food poisoning.
c. Carcinogens.
d. Redness in cured meats.
3. Some added flavorings to cured foods include:
a. Sugar, wine, and spices.
b. Dextrose, herbs, and aromatics.
c. Both a and b.
d. Salt, fat, and vinegar.
4. Hot Smoking occurs between which temperature range?
a. 110–125 degrees.
b. 165–185 degrees.
c. 185–210 degrees.
d. Over 250 degrees.
5. Which of the following is not a preservation technique?
a. Smoking.
b. Confit.
c. Curing.
d. Chaud-froid.
6. What is the approximate curing time for a 1½-inch-thick pork belly?
a. 1–2 hours.
b. 3–8 hours.
c. 7–10 days.
d. 40–45 days.
7. Today’s brines are used to:
a. Preserve meats for long periods of time.
b. Add moisture and flavor to meats.
c. Add color and texture to meats.
d. Reduce the amount of fat in preserved meats.
Fill in the Blank
1. Getting ________ inside a cell, where it can kill off _________________, is the essence of _____________________.
2. _________________ break down faster than ________________ and are appropriate to be used in any cured food that will later be ___________________.
3. Prague Powder II contains _____________, _____________, _____________, and _________________.
4. Smoking at high temperatures reduces the yield of a product because _______________ and ______________ are “cooked away.”
5. Examples of denaturing proteins include ___________________, ________________, and __________________.
6. ________________ inject brine by inserting a single needle into the meat at specific points.
Written/Short Answer
1. Explain the process of osmosis and the role of salt.
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