Posted by mr.cook on January 17, 1999 at 20:04:20:
In Reply to: Re: What exactly happens??? posted by Mark S on January 17, 1999 at 04:06:05:
: : To a filet of salmon when you dry cure it in preparation to be smoked?
:
: Salt used for curing tends to dry out the meat as well as the
: microbes by drawing fluids from the tissues and freeing bound
: water by creating such a concentration of dissolved ions outside
: of the bacteria and mold cells that water inside the cells is
: drawn out across there membranes. the bacteria dry up and either
: die or slow down drastically.Thus the product contains less
: water and proportionally more fat.
: It is not cooking .Cooking is the coagulation of protiens by
: the application of HEAT.
: Cold smoking is another preservation technique which is kind of a
: chemical treatment. Smoke is a very complex material with over
: 100 components that include alcohols,acids,phenolic compounds,
: and various toxic and carcinogenic substances.The toxic substanances
: inhibit the growth of microbes and the phenolics retard fat oxidation.
: The use of nitrates and nitrites also retards fat oxidation
: and is used commercialy but is not nessasary in our kitchens
: (for salmon anyway).The origional reason for curing and smoking
: was for preservation but now we do it to preserve the flavors
: and the traditions of the past.
: Now I'm going to smoke some tomatoes that I grew in my garden.
: It makes a great sauce! Mark S
Mark
- Cooking is the manipulation of the water molecule, frequently the water molecules (content) of the blood.
- More simply put, water will move from an area of lower salt (ionic) concentration to the area of higher concentration in order to attempt to establish and equilibrium.
- Basic microbiology....most food bacterias thrive in a low acid and high water environment. Water keeps us alive but it is also the water that causes food to spoil. That is what they find the well preserved archeological treasures in the deserts and not in the temperate climates
- Foods have been traditionally preserved to "preserve them". You know, mankind figured out a way to "preserve" or keep some of the harvest, or seasonal run of fish, or the kill of the hunt to get them through the leaner times. Nothing fancy about it, preservation of food was necessary to surrival, not any longer.
- If you have great tomatoes why muck them up with a smoke taste, better just to add some drops of liquid smoke if "smoke flavor" is what you want.