Thinking way back, when I was a kid my dad used to smoke bacon & hams. I don't remember if he used a cure or just salt. That was back in the early 50s & does anyone know when nitrite & nitrate were first used?
Googled it and it looks like the practice is a couple of thousand years old. Nitrite use specifically for keeping meat red seems to date from the 19th century.
when i cure meats .. 95 % of the time i use a cure such as mortons tender quick or insta cure # 1
Thanks for the replies. I thought nitrates & nitrites would have been more recent. Am more convinced than ever than I am never to old to learn.