On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 340

in a sterile container hermetically sealed against the entry of microbes Mechanical refrigeration and freezing keep meat cold enough to slow microbial growth or suspend it altogether And irradiation of prepackaged meat kills any microbes in the package while leaving the meat itself relatively unchanged Dried Meats: Jerky Microbes need water to survive and grow, so one simple and ancient preservation technique has been to dry meat, originally by exposing it to the wind and sun Nowadays, meat is dried by briefly salting it to inhibit surface microbes and then heating it in lowtemperature convection ovens to remove at least two-thirds of its weight and 75% of its moisture (more than 10% moisture may allow Penicillium and Aspergillus molds to grow) Because its flavor has been concentrated and its texture is interesting, dried meat remains popular Modern examples include American jerky, Latin American carne seca, Norwegian fenalår and southern African biltong, whose textures can range from chewy to brittle Two refined versions are Italian bresaola and Swiss Buendnerfleisch, which are beef salted and sometimes flavored with wine and herbs before a slow, cool drying period of up to several months They’re served in paper-thin slices Freeze-Drying Freeze-drying is the technique originally used by Andean peoples to make charqui; they took advantage of the thin dry air to evaporate moisture from meat during sunny days and sublimate it from ice crystals during freezing nights The result was an uncooked, honeycombed tissue that would readily reabsorb water during later cooking In the industrial version, the meat is rapidly frozen under vacuum, then mildly heated to sublimate its water Because this kind of ... jerky, Latin American carne seca, Norwegian fenalår and southern African biltong, whose textures can range from chewy to brittle Two refined versions are Italian bresaola and Swiss Buendnerfleisch, which are beef salted and sometimes flavored with wine and herbs... and sometimes flavored with wine and herbs before a slow, cool drying period of up to several months They’re served in paper-thin slices Freeze-Drying Freeze-drying is the technique originally used by Andean peoples... charqui; they took advantage of the thin dry air to evaporate moisture from meat during sunny days and sublimate it from ice crystals during freezing nights The result was an uncooked, honeycombed