How To Preserve Food By Dry Salting

Salting is an ancient food preservation method that has been practiced for thousands of years. Basically salting is layering the food to be preserved between layers of salt. Salting this way is able to preserve food for months easily and often for years without the need for refrigeration.

So how does salt preserve food? Plasmolysis! Plasmolysis is when water is drawn out of the cell by osmosis due to the higher concentration of salt outside the cell. A cell loses water until it reaches a state first where it cannot grow and cannot survive any longer. The concentration of salt outside of a microorganism needed to inhibit growth by plasmolysis varies with the type of bacteria or other microorganism. The growth of some bacteria is inhibited by salt concentrations as low as 3% but other types you will need concentration as high as 20%.

If the process of Plasmolysis takes too long the food can become rotten before the concentration of salt is high enough to prevent the bacteria from reproducing and spoiling the food. This problem is overcome but reducing the distance that the salt must travel. So, yeah, you just cut the meats thin before salting to speed up the process and up your success rate.

Many foods (both vegetables and meat) are preserved in a saltwater solution. This method is called brining. It is covered here: Brining

Preservation of meat (or other protein-rich foods) can be accomplished by the following.

First wash the meat in warm water. Then pat the meat dry with a towel or cloth. Remove all fat! Fat will go rancid even when salted. Add spices if you wish to flavor the food. This step is optional.

Next Rub the salt on the meat thoroughly and then cover completely with a layer of salt. Store the meat in a room that is about 60F. Check the meat periodically to make sure it isn't starting to stink, which would be a sign of spoilage.

When the time comes to eat the meat wash off the excess salt with water then cook normally.

Tips and Hints:

1. Use 1 pound (.5 kg) of salt for every 5 pounds (2.2 kg) of vegetables.
2. Place a layer of salt, then one handful of vegetables; cover it with salt, repeat. Store in jars. Triple rinse the vegetables to prepare them for cooking or eating.
3. It is impossible to use too much salt!
4. Thin cuts of meat or smaller clumps of vegetables will preserve better.