Pickling method
dry marinated method
The dry-curing method of curing ham is to use dry salt (crystalline salt) or mixed salt to rub the surface of food thoroughly, that is, there is juice extravasation (generally, it is not necessary to rub it thoroughly first when curing fish), and then pile it on a curing rack or put it in a curing container. Salt should be evenly sprinkled on each layer, and each layer should be compacted in turn. Under the condition of external pressure or without addition, salt solution is formed by the extravasated juice for curing. At the beginning of pickling, only salt is added, and no salt water is added, so it is called dry pickling.
Advantages: simple operation; The product is dry and easy to preserve; No need to be particularly careful; Less nutrient loss (protein loss during meat curing is (0.3-0.5%).
Disadvantages: uneven curing, heavy loss, salty taste and poor color. If sodium nitrate is added, the color can be improved.
Wet pickling method
The wet salting method, that is, salting method, is a salting method in which the food is immersed in a pre-prepared salt solution in a container, and the salting agent penetrates into the food through diffusion and moisture transfer, and obtains a relatively uniform distribution until its concentration is finally the same as that of the salt solution.
Disadvantages: the color and flavor of its products are not as good as those of dry pickled products; The curing time is the same as that of dry curing, which is longer; The required labor is larger than that of dry-curing method; When cured, the meat is soft and the salt water is appropriate, but the protein loss is large (0.8-0.9); It is not easy to preserve because of its high moisture content.
Injection salting
(1) salting by arterial injection
This method is the best way to spread salt solution by pumping salt water or salt solution into the cut meat or leg meat through the arterial system. The general method of carcass segmentation does not consider the integrity of the original arterial system, so the method can only be used to pickle the front and rear legs.
Advantages: fast curing speed and rapid delivery, followed by high yield. If alkaline phosphate is used, the yield can be further improved.
Disadvantages: it can only be used for curing the front and rear legs, and attention should be paid to ensuring the integrity of arteries during carcass segmentation; Pickled products are prone to spoilage, so they need to be refrigerated and transported.
(2) intramuscular injection curing
There are two kinds of this method: single needle injection and multi-needle injection. Most of the needles used for intramuscular injection are porous, and the single needle injection curing method can be used for all kinds of cut meat regardless of arteries.
Advantages: it can shorten the operation time and improve the productivity, and it can improve the yield and reduce the production cost when pickling with salt solution injection method.
Disadvantages: the quality of its finished products is not as good as that of dry-cured products, because of its poor flavor, the degree of shrinkage is also relatively large when cooked.
Mixed salting method
This is a combination of dry pickling and wet pickling. Often used in fish.
Advantages: The concentration of wet pickling solution can be prevented from decreasing due to food moisture extravasation, and the dry salt can be dissolved in the extravasated water in time. At the same time, curing does not promote the dehydration of food surface like dry curing, and the curing process begins earlier than simple dry curing.