Just curious

[Alanfromwis]

  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?

[3rensho]

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.

[beefmann]

when i cure meats .. 95 % of the time i use a  cure such as mortons tender quick or insta cure # 1

[Alanfromwis]

  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.