Meat Preservatives.
(Most of these are considered injurious by the United States Department of Agriculture and should therefore be used with extreme caution.)
The Preservation Of Meats.
The nature of preservation must be governed by circumstances such as the kind and quality of the article to be preserved, length of time and climatic condition, etc. While salt, vinegar, and alcohol merit recognition on the strength of a long-continued usage as preservatives, modern usage favors boric acid and borax, and solutions containing salicylic acid and sulphuric acid are common, {360} and have been the subject of severe criticism.
Many other methods of preservation have been tried with variable degrees of success; and of the more thoroughly tested ones the following probably include all of those deserving more than passing mention or consideration.
1. The exclusion of external, atmospheric electricity, which has been observed to materially reduce the decaying of meat, milk, butter, beer, etc.
2. The retention of occluded electric currents. Meats from various animals packed into the same packages, and surrounded by a conducting medium, such as salt and water, liberate electricity.
3. The removal of the nerve centers. Carcasses with the brains and spinal cord left therein will be found more prone to decomposition than those wherefrom these organs have been removed.
4. Desiccation. Dried beef is an excellent example of this method of preservation. Other methods coming under this heading are the application of spices with ethereal oils, various herbs, coriander seed extracted with vinegar, etc.
5. Reduction of temperature, i. e., cold storage.