New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Salt/Sugar Preservation  

post #1 of 6
12/11/05 at 12:18pm
Thread Starter 
I've seen quite a few recipes for preserving salmon and the like using a mixture of salt and sugar. Since both pull moisture from the flesh and a high enough salt or sugar content will help prevent bacterial growth, is there a reason other than flavor balance that the two are used together?

And thank you so much for being on here! Your book is number one on my Christmas wish list and I'm hoping all of my wistful sighs haven't been lost on my husband!

Praties

Featured Stories on ChefTalk.com

Great product that allows you to manually adjust the sharpening angle for each knife
A clinical look at how a restaurant runs
When Cooks Cook for Themselves
post #2 of 6
12/11/05 at 3:13pm
I hope you get your Christmas wish too—for more than one reason!

You’re right, the main reason for using salt and sugar in a fish cure is flavor balance (in sausages, sugar actually feeds the bacteria that acidify the meat and flavor it). A salt cure alone works fine.

Harold
post #3 of 6
12/11/05 at 3:33pm
My memory says that salt and sugar also dry in opposite ways.

Yes, they both pull water to themselves, but sugar holds on to it (hydrophilic ?) while salt breaks down in it being just an ionic bond. So the sugar in a sausage would help it hold some moisture within.

At least that's my memory. Any more details or corrections?

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
post #4 of 6
12/11/05 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 

Aaaah....

Thanks, Mr. McGee, I never knew that about the reason for sugar in some sausage recipes. One way or another, I'm going to get my Christmas wish--either as a present or an after-Christmas gift to myself! :D

And thanks, too, Phil--I'll have to look that up. I thought they pulled water similar ways, so it'll be some interesting research.

Praties.
post #5 of 6
12/12/05 at 11:22pm
Phil, salt and sugar work pretty much the same way. It’s true that salt dissolves into sodium and chlorine ions while sugar dissolves into intact sugar molecules, but both the ions and molecules hold onto water. The moisture content of a sausage is determined largely by the curing conditions; enough sugar to make a sausage moist would also make it taste distinctly sweet. The added sugar in sausage formulas is largely consumed by the curing bacteria.

Harold
post #6 of 6
12/13/05 at 6:45am
Thank you.

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Open Forum With Harold McGee
This thread is locked  

Featured Stories on ChefTalk.com

Great product that allows you to manually adjust the sharpening angle for each knife
A clinical look at how a restaurant runs
When Cooks Cook for Themselves