How To Cure Meats: Bacon, Ham, Corned Beef, Pastrami, More

By Meathead Goldwyn

Curing meats is an ancient technique for preserving meats before the advent of refrigeration. If done properly it can make great tasting food such as bacon and pastrami. If done improperly, it can make you sick. We can teach you how to do it properly. Below are links to recipes that you will love but first you absolutely positively must without a doubt no questions asked read our article on the science of curing safely and why these recipes are different than any other recipes and why you cannot improvise with some of the ingredients. Here's some good news: Start with bacon! It is easy and soooooo goooood.

One more thing: True cured meats have sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate, preservatives, added to them. That's what gives them their pink color and unique flavor. Most are then smoked. Lately, because of irrational fears over preservatives, there are things like "Uncured Bacon" or Naturally Cured" meats on the market. They almost all have celery powder added to them and celery powder is loaded with, you guessed it, sodium nitrite and nitrate. Same exact compound. In fact, test have shown that many of these products have a higher concentration of them. So don't be fooled by signs like this one at a hotel buffet breakfast.