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No, you're correct, the traditional approaches to curing are salt (NaCl), sugar, and smoking. No need of saltpetre or nitrites. You can cure your own truly nitr
by oldcynic 9y ago
No, you're correct, the traditional approaches to curing are salt (NaCl), sugar, and smoking. No need of saltpetre or nitrites. You can cure your own truly nitrate-free bacon at home if you're so inclined.
Smoking, of course, introduces its own set of carcinogens.
- tptacek 9y agoI don't believe anybody cures with saltpeter anymore, but if you want your bacon to taste like bacon, you're going to use curing salt.
- kybernetikos 9y agoI just came back from the shop in my village where they were selling bacon made on the local farm. Having recently read this article I checked the ingredients: Preservatives (E250, E252). A quick search told me that E250 is Sodium nitrite, and 252 is potassium nitrate (saltpetre). Apparently the whole range 240-259 is for nitrates.
- tptacek 9y agoIf they're using "natural" nitrates from e.g. celery extract they might be accounting for the KNO3 in the vegetable.