This is nonsense. Bacon, salami, and similar deli meats are by definition cured. The "uncured" designation is governmental regulatory foolishness.
What Exactly is Curing?
The simple fact is that you cannot make things like bacon, corned beef, lox, and ham without curing. For centuries, curing has traditionally meant rubbing meat with salt, maybe spices and sugar, or exposing it to a brine, and letting it sit for a while (hours to weeks or months), and that's still what's done. It is an essential preservation technique that has been in use for millenia.
The confusion arises because the US Government defines curing as treatment with synthetic nitrates/nitrites to inhibit bacterial growth, and that's all. So food without those things is legally called "uncured" even though it has in fact been cured with salt. So, in the store, "uncured" means simply "no synthetic nitrates/nitrites." But I assure you, that "uncured" bacon or ham has in fact been cured! Without curing, bacon is just pork belly!
Synthetic vs. Natural Nitrates
But to complicate things, note that the federal regulation specifies that "synthetic" nitrates/nitrites cannot be added. If naturally derived nitrates/nitrites (usually obtained from celery) are used, the meat can still be called uncured. Of course, the synthetic and natural nitrates are exactly the same, so the distinction is meaningless, but that's what the regulations say.
Why are nitrates used in meat curing? Nitrate helps suppress dangerous bacteria (notably Clostridium botulinum, the cause of usually-fatal botulism poisonong), stabilizes the characteristic pink color, and contributes to the cured-meat flavor.
How to Find Truly Nitrate-free Meat??
We have seen that meat labeled "uncured" can still have been treated with natural nitrates. What can you do if you want meat that has not been treated with nitrates of any kind? There is no one specific thing that you can look for on the label. You must examine the ingredient list for the following items, which contain natural nitrates:
- Celery powder or celery juice powder
- Cultured celery powder or cultured celery juice
- Celery extract or celery salt
- Beet powder or beet juice powder
Meat that is labeled "uncured" and also has none of these things in the ingredients list can be safely assumed to have no added nitrates.
Here Are Some Other Meat-Related Myths for You!
Acidic marinates such as vinegar do not actually tenderize meat. Details in this post.
Despite what you may have heard, searing meat does not seal in juices.
