Meat contains different micro worms that are not good for the Human’s intestine. These worms come with numerous issues to human health if they are not well cured. For instance, in most cattle, tapeworms are found in them. This is the reason meat have to be cured to avoid any form of discomfort to the body. The term ‘uncured meat’ has been confusing to most people who are in the cooking world making many to ask questions regarding uncured meat.
A lump of uncured meat has no nitrate in it, but when it is being processed has the same qualities such as appearance, taste, and safety for human consumption. There is no food that is not made from chemicals, and for this reason, we need to strike the balance on the kind of meat we consume. If the meat is rightly processed, they can be healthy to the human body just as the way beans contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur.
What is Curing?
This is a process used for the preservation of food. Apart from preserving food, this method helps in adding flavors to the food we consume. In some homes, condiments such as ginger, turmeric, garlic, onions, pepper, seasoning, and others are being used in curing meat. There is nothing as uncured meat because preservatives are being used to cure them. In the markets, these meats are being seen as uncured meat.
In the year 2015, a world health body called the International Agency for Research on Cancer grouped processed meat as cancer-inducing or carcinogenic. This includes both cured and uncured, sausage, hot dogs, and others. This agency carried out research and discovered for someone who is consuming 50 grams of processed meat in a day can have colon cancer.
Why Do We Process Meat?
Every normal human being wants their food to be safe for their consumption. The method of processing meat has made it effective compared to the past. For instance, for an individual who wants to cure hot dogs or bacon should use salt. The history of using salt to preserve food can be traced back to 3500 BC, and it is still useful in curing meat.
Salt helps to eliminate microbial activities on the meat, and removal of parasitic worms. Presently, the curing of meat entails the use of sodium nitrate, whereas high concentrations of salt ranging between 4 to 5% were used. Currently, this salt concentration has been reduced to 1.5 to 1.75% using sodium-based compounds, and the good thing about this compound is chemically stable.
Reasons for Curing Uncured Meat
Whatsoever methods used in curing the uncured meat have reasons, and the following are reasons for curing meat:
- For killing different microbial activities such as parasites, and bacteria.
- Eliminating contaminants that are harmful to human consumption.
- For proper mastication by the teeth.
- For easy absorption by the human intestine to the bloodstream of the body.
Conclusion:
Uncured meat is different from cured meats based on aroma, color, and texture. The reason salting is important is to soften the muscle fiber of meat by contraction. The curing of uncured meat helps in removing the deep red color of beef, and paleness of uncured pork.
