Curing
Preserving meat or fish with salt, often with sugar, nitrates or smoke, so it dries and keeps.
Also: cured meat, salt curing
Curing draws water out of meat or fish with salt. With less water, the microbes that cause spoilage cannot grow. The salt may be rubbed on dry or dissolved in a brine. Many cures add sugar and curing salts that keep the meat pink and guard against botulism. After salting, the food may be dried in air for weeks or months, or smoked. Ham, bacon, salami, salt cod, gravlax and biltong are all cured foods.