Hello everyone, I hope your spring is coming on strong. Here in Utah it has been warm, buds are popping out, and now we are expecting a snow storm this weekend. OK, I have done some research on preserving meats by salting, i.e. "salt pork" we read about in pioneer and sailing voyage epics. As an experiment, several months ago I took a few fresh chicken breasts, cut them into strips about the size of the average "chicken fingers" you might get deep fried with mozzarella sticks down at the sports bar. (not to be confused with chicken claws or lips). I rubbed them well with pickling salt, and buried them in the salt in a Tupperware bowl, sealed it up, and put it away in a cupboard at room temperature. Now I decided I need to see how it has worked and I am a bit nervous to take that first test bite. My dad has told me that a billion years ago when he was a boy, they used to inject all kinds of meat with some sort of salt solution and put it away for storage, Not even giving a second thought to whether it was safe to eat. They all seemed to have survived. But I have been well indoctrinated to the deadly danger of eating bad chicken. So thus warned, I opened up the container and started with a good deep whiff. Smelled fine. No putridness or rot detected. (and I think my sniffer works about as well as the average…). The chicken is fairly soft,, a bit leathery, and white, as if it had been cooked. No longer that translucent "fresh meat" color and texture. I washed the salt off, cut off a sliver about the size of a nickel, kissed my loved ones goodbye, and slipped it into my mouth. I chewed but didn't swallow. It tasted fine, no oddity, as if it had been cooked . I chickened out (no pun intended) and spit it out and decided to write and see what experience anyone else may be having in salted meat preservations. Does anyone know how to tell if I did it right, or is there a way to test for safety of this sort of thing, other than giving it secretly to a friend and see if they die a horrible death?
Thanks
Kyle
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