Why is gammon so preservatived?

[Gromit]

Next week quoad tries to find pickled beetroot that doesn't contain vinegar.

 

[bi0boy]

On a serious note, why can't you get sausages without preservatives? Surely if they're fresh enough (or frozen) there is no need for it.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

On a serious note, why can't you get sausages without preservatives? Surely if they're fresh enough (or frozen) there is no need for it.

What preservatives do they contain? I haven't noticed any the last times I've bought them.

ETA - sodium metabisulphite is in both the types I buy from Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

 

[bi0boy]

What preservatives do they contain? I haven't noticed any the last times I've bought them.

It varies but can be sodium metabisulphite, sodium phosphate, sodium nitrite etc

 

[8den]

So how much gammon would a man need to eat to get an inadvertant erection?

Saltpeter was widely believed to be a hamper to the libido, to the point US army recruits suspected their food was laced with it. THis isn't true, but it's one of the only chemistry facts I know.

My mum always boiled gammon for a couple of hours to remove the salt, and then roasted it for under a hour. Does that help?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

It various but can be sodium metabisulphite, sodium phosphate, sodium nitrite etc

They will be there to extend the shelf-life of fresh supermarket sausages presumably, but freshly made ones from a butcher might not contain it.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Next week quoad tries to find pickled beetroot that doesn't contain vinegar.

"Pickled" doesn't mean "preserved in vinegar". You can preserve vegetables in brine, too.

 

[eoin_k]

On a serious note, why can't you get sausages without preservatives? Surely if they're fresh enough (or frozen) there is no need for it.

My guess woud be that it is bound up with the history of sausage making, as a way of preserving meat. Sausages are an ideal way to package scraps and fat for preservation from before refrigeration and the industrial food chain.

 

[trabuquera]

you'll never find a sodium-free gammon because gammon is salted and salt contains sodium. saltpetre is to stop the meat greying so at least a little bit is traditional in all recipes. don't know about the rest of the additives. gammon is meant to keep for ages -sometimes after heating/cooking - so it makes sense for it to be closer to pillar of salt than leg of pork.

however I've been told the poison power of the sodium can be neutralised by stabbing the gammon repeatedly with small toothpicks adorned with discs of pineapple.