So, we've talked about canning meat. Now consider stocking a meat cure, such as Morton's tender-quick. Sodium Nitrate, Sodium Nitrite, and a little sugar essentially. The reason I recommend stocking this is if you can't refrigerate raw meat, it will go bad unless you can preserve it some other way. Stocking a cure like this allows you to convert your frozen meats so that you don't lose all the stock out of your refrigerator and freezer. It may not be the healthiest way to consume all that meat. But in a survival mode, it is better than letting it go to waste. It also gives you a way to continue to preserve meat you collect during/after an event, allowing you to perpetuate your supply. For instance, if you are compelled to hunt for food, and you kill a deer, you will not be able to consume the deer completely before it begins to spoil, and what spoils is wasted. But if you can cure the meat, then you will reduce the waste.

Just a thought.

It could be that you were missing a vital element, Sodium Nitrite. Old Mediterranean cultures where such meat preserving methods were first developed used salt that was mined from the earth, which wasn't pure and usually contained enough Sodium Nitrite to properly cure the meat. Prosciuttos today are sometimes treated with much the same blend of minerals, although the certified ones are processed using seasalt (and noticably stinkier). This practice of using seasalt only is a more recent development.

Generally speaking, curing a ham this way requires a relatively cool climate. If you were making that Serrano here in Florida and were hanging it on the porch under ambient temps, it may have been too warm, thus resulting in the off taste/aroma and the tougher texture. Hang time is also a big factor in quality; the longer it hangs the better it is supposed to get, assuming the climate conditions are favorable.

Nitrate and nitrates might be bad for us. The science is a little confusing, cuz the nitrogen bearing compounds discourage botulina, and keep the meat pleasingly red. Despite its popularity for cosmetic purposes, botox is a bad thing. On the other hand, meat processors are offering non-nitrated versions of popular meats. My old man swapped services for a home-cured ham that clearly had not received the blessing of nitrates in the corning process, and was smoked in a home made-device that apparently was fueled with apple wood and tar paper, maybe the odd tire casing. The result was gray, tough, and smelled like smoke from a dump fire. No reason not to eat it, though.

How 'bout smoking or jerking???

"...You'll go blind..."

Haha. Not true. I have 2020. After three different operations of course...

Izzy, you're too funny.

Smoking is not nearly as effective as curing the meat. Jerking requires a relatively high saline content brine, so that is curing.

Both nitrates and nitrites are effective preservatives. Sodium Nitrite is considered the more dangerous chemical because it breaks down into carcinogens etc. This can be prevented with the addition of ascorbic or erythorbic acid to the mix. Sodium or Potassium Nitrate does not break down as readily, and is much safer to use. However, it is still advisable to add Vitamin C just to be on the safe side. In cure mixes like Tender quick, these chemicals are combined with regular salt, ascorbic acid, and a little sugar etc. This results in a much safer curing agent. Sodium Nitrate naturally occurs in some fresh vegetables.

There are other curing agents like Prague powder, that also prevent bacterial growth. You can also dry the meat thoroughly and this will preserve it, as long as it stays quite dry. Botulism can only grow in a moist, low oxygen, low acid environment.

Salt alone has only a minimal preserving quality. It is when meat is packed in salt/sugar and the salt draws the moisture out of the meat that preservation with salt occurs. Get salted meat wet, and it will spoil.

"Get salted meat wet, and it will spoil."

I'm assuming that that means for any length of time, right?

I had heard years ago that once you cut off a slab of salt pork, you could soak it for a little while before cooking it, so get rid of some of that excess-salt taste. It works okay with cheap, salty bacon, just a few minutes, then toss it into the pan.

Sue

Yes, what I am saying is meat with a moderate moisture content cannot be preserved with just salt. Getting dried meat wet isn't going to automatically spoil it, but the process will begin. Meat with a moderate moisture content with the correct amount of nitrite/nitrate added will not spoil as quickly. Even properly preserved meat will go bad if improperly handled.

meat that is only salt/sugar cured is preserved because a sufficient amount of moisture has been removed (in the case of salt cure, this is due to osmosis) that bacterial growth is inhibited.

Meat products like hot dogs, summer sausage, ham and bacon have a moderate amount of moisture retained in them, and so they are preserved typically with nitrite/nitrate mixtures.

Preserving meat comes down to, temperature control, salting, drying, pickling, adding chemical preservatives or spices, and isolating the meat from microbes after killing any present with heat or radiation, canning.

Smoking is popular also but it isn't really a preservation method so much as a way to keep the insects away and add flavor while drying.

All of them work. Often used in combination. Drying, salting, adding spices and smoking are a popular combination.

Just a matter of selecting one that you can fit into your situation. Available supplies, time allowance, taste preference, knowledge base and local talent usually narrow the choice.

Drying is probably the most universal method and one of the first step in many traditional methods. All you need to start are a way to slice the meat thin, some way to hang it or hold it in a manner that allows the air to get to it and air that is dry, or can be made dry, to carry off the moisture. If you use a fire to move and dry the air to speed the process it is easy to make smoke to keep the insects at bay and, with the use of the right material, flavor.

I used to make my own jerky using flank steak, marinating for flavor and then drying in an oven with the door propped open. A low fire would work also and would have allowed me to add more flavor. This jerky was far cheaper and better than the commercial variety.

When I was camping jerky, gorp and water was what we ran on. It can also be crumbled into rice, soup or pilaf as it cooks.