Some of the oldest methods of food preserving are drying, fermentation and refrigeration.

The most common way people preserve food today, is by refrigeration.

Modern methods include canning, pasteurization, freezing, irradiation, and the addition of chemicals. Advances in packaging materials have played an important role in modern food preservation.

Fermentation, oil packing, pickling, salting, and smoking are all ancient preservation technologies. Refrigeration in caves or under cool water were also well known ancient techniques of food preservation. People in many parts of the world developed techniques for drying and smoking foods as far as 6000 BC.

The most common and familiar include drying, salting, smoking, pickling, fermenting and chilling in natural refrigerators, like streams and underground pits.

The origin of meat curing can be traced back to the third century BC, when Cato recorded careful instructions for the dry curing of hams. As early as 3000 BC in Mesopotamia, cooked meats and fish were preserved in sesame oil and dried, salted meat and fish were part of the Sumerian diet.

Is it Safe to Cure Meat? Risk is inherent in any curing process or method of food preservation – but when meat is cured safely and effectively, it is safe to eat.

Curing can be traced back to antiquity, and was the primary method of preserving meat and fish until the late-19th century. Dehydration was the earliest form of food curing. Many curing processes also involve smoking, spicing, cooking, or the addition of combinations of sugar, nitrate, and nitrite.

Some publications distinguish the use of salt alone as salting, corning or salt curingand reserve the word curing for the use of salt with nitrates/nitrites. The cure ingredients can be rubbed on to the food surface, mixed into foods dry (dry curing), or dissolved in water (brine, wet, or pickle curing).

6.8. Storage Guidelines. Store Cured/Smoked Poultry up to two weeks in the refrigerator or up to one year in the freezer (TAES Extension Poultry Scientists 1999).

5-7 days

As we mentioned, once salami is sliced, bacteria can easily penetrate the meat. Like most food, salami can be left to sit out at room temperature for about two hours. If it’s left out for longer than that, it’s best not to stick it back in the fridge anymore.

You can keep the meat food safe by holding it at a temperature above 140 degrees Fahrenheit for a few hours, but at room temperature it should be discarded after 2 hours.

Some processes of curing cuts can allow the meat to be shelf stable. This essentially means that the food can sit out at room temperature for extended periods of time without spoiling. Talk about living off the land! To create shelf stable products, the meat must be heated or dried enough to prevent bacteria growth.