Salt Curing

Yikes! We are amidst the depths of winter, but here in the Seattle area it feels like spring! The daily high temperature is pushing the mid fifties, and already my food (which is being kept cold by being stored outside) is being effected.

So how do I preserve the life of my food without a fridge and without cold weather?

It is time to salt cure.

Salt curing was the only way to preserve meat up until the 19th century. Salt inhibits the growth of microorganisms by drawing water out of microbial cells through osmosis. Concentrations of salt up to 20% are required to kill most species of unwanted bacteria.

So here we go, I've started salt curing my meat.

Most of the life of the existence of man was lived not even knowing what a refrigerator was. Most of my life I did not know I could preserve food without a refrigerator. This newly found knowledge is sort of exciting....

(Picture below featuring Sea Breeze Farm Pork Rib Chop, Sirloin Chop and Beef Chuck Eye Steaks.)

Outside Refrigerator

Being winter, it is cold enough to keep my food outside. I have been keeping it in two wood baskets for the past month. I flip one basket upside down on top of the other and put a weight on it so that raccoons cannot get to it at night and so that our free range chickens won't get to it during the day. So far it works pretty well. I keep the meat loosely wrapped in a paper bag that is separate from all the produce and other items around it.

I am curious what I will do when it gets warm outside...

Go out to Eat

Post # 1: Go out to Eat

I don't need a refrigerator to go out to eat. Here, my beautiful friend Lauren McCool from Hama Hama Shellfish, and I are enjoying a delectable meal from Il Corvo Pasta in downtown Seattle, per invitation from one of their chefs, Jonathan Jason Proville. Molto delizioso!