BS: processed meat and nitrites

Subject: processed meat and nitrites
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 02:34 AM

Apparantly a new invention has been discovered , [ a method of preerving meat without using nitrites] nitrites are being used as a way of preservving meat and enancing its pinkness and adding to its flavour ,the use of nitrites in food can increase the chances of colon cancer.
parma ham is an exption nitrites have been banned in italy for some time. Why has nitrites been allowed in other countries for so long

Subject: RE: processed meat and nitrites
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 02:53 AM

I guess we used to preserve meats well before nitrates were used. Salt and brine figured quite highly as did drying. I try to avoid processed food if I can but sometimes it is difficult.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Thompson
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 03:08 AM

A Northern Ireland company called Finnegrogue is producing completely nitrate-free bacon using a Spanish technique that uses fruit. What fruit? No idea.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Iains
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 04:04 AM

A neutral view.


https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/corporate_publications/files/nitrates-nitrites-170614.pdf

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 05:52 AM

I will not give up bacon. In the words of the t-shirt slogan, either you like bacon or you're wrong.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 05:58 AM

We love bacon but don't have it very often. Husband shouldn't even be allowed it, it's not halal as it's pork. But he calls it 'Muslim pork"!
I'll have to get him one of those t-shirts Steve for him to wear at the mosque!!!
I don't eat much in the way of processed foods. They are tasty, but I seem to have very plain food nowadays, freshly cooked not preserved.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 06:46 AM

A Rabbi and a Priest on a train journey.

As they leave the Priest asks "Have you never eaten bacon?".
The Rabbi replies "Yes, Just once."

Halfway there the Rabbi asks "Have you never had sex?"
The priest replies "Yes, Just once".

As they alight the Rabbi says "Better than bacon isn't it."

:D

PS - Nowadays I am not so sure...

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 06:51 AM

Just combine the two. Have a bacon butty ready on the bedside table. End of argument.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 06:56 AM

Note that they are common in spinach and lettuce. So cut down on the BLTs and stick to plain bacon sandwiches!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Jos
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 06:58 AM

Wouldn't the bacon have gone cold by the time you ate it - unless the desire (for the bacon) was so strong you just couldn't wait.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 07:06 AM

I eat six figs every night before I go to bed (Sainsbury's semi-dried finest). None of those nasty chemicals get to hang about for long inside ME! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 07:07 AM

Good point, Jos. but if you possess a Swan Teasmade (which we do), you could always factor a breakfast break into the proceedings...

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 07:54 AM

Husband eats several fat juicy medjool dates during the evening and they seem to have the same effect, as does his Spicy Horror dinner.

Difficult choice, bacon or...er... I reckon bacon wins nowadays!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 08:04 AM

I take Viagra before I go to sleep. Stops me rolling out of bed...

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 08:05 AM

Hahahahaaaaaaagh Dave!!!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 08:54 AM

From today's Daily Mash:

A MAN who extended his life span by avoiding processed meats bitterly regrets having done so, it has emerged.

103-year-old Roy Hobbs never ate sausages, bacon or black pudding apart from a one-off fried breakfast which he admits was mind-bendingly delicious.

He said: “I am over a century old, partly because I’ve exercised extreme self-control when it comes to my base desire for meat.

“Many times I’ve been tempted. One time in Birmingham train station I actually bought a burger and raised it to my salivating mouth, but never took a bite.

“Only once, while staying in a corporate hotel for work, did I succumb to a frantic bout of pleasure with a full breakfast buffet. I had fourteen sausages. Afterwards I lay on my bed for two and a half hours, sweaty but elated.”

Hobbs admitted that, despite living to an impressive age, he still thinks about meat with a sense of regret: “I am old now, and frankly it is shit. But it’s too late to eat a steak because I have no teeth.

“If I could I would appear to my younger self as an apparition and say ‘eat burgers, and meat pies too’. But in a deep ghost-y voice so that it sounded convincing.”

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 09:07 AM

That's sad about that old boy. They say monks/nuns have unusually long lives, but it must be rather a sterile existence. And those who go for life in a big way burn out quickly.

Dougie-over-the-road is a hundred, and he says he's eaten healthily all his life, but hasn't been averse to the odd culinary pleasure now and then.
It seems obvious that there's a middle ground. A little of what you fancy etc. Moderation in all things (except crumpets and full milk of course).

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 09:27 AM

By the way, I've just seen that, at the Public Health England annual conference, a twit called Jill Venables (I think she's managing director of Cornwall Food, and also head of facilities and contracts at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust) has suggested changing the recipe for Cornish pasties to use filo pastry instead of the traditional shortcrust, as it contains fewer calories.

There's a 'Cornish Pasty Association' also 'Visit Cornwall' (tourist board), and they're incandescent. (So am I!) Nanny state in action again.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 10:06 AM

Its just a made-up yarn, Eliza! Not a Mash girl, then!

The finest pasties are to be found at Chough bakery in the centre of Padstow. I will not stop eating them and I will NEVER use the words "small" or "medium" within the confines of that exalted emporium.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 10:35 AM

Is it really just a hum Steve? Oooh, that's a relief!

There's a Cornish Pasty shop in Gentlemen's Walk Norwich, painted black (Cornish flag) and their pasties are very good, although maybe not up to the standard of Cornwall itself. Husband had never seen a pasty in his life, and many years ago I encouraged him to try one of my own baking. He absolutely loved it, and nowadays pops in to the Norwich shop quite often.
I do encourage him to sample traditional food here to supplement his Spicy Horrors.
His latest delight though is blooming Haribo Starmix sweets. Gaaaah!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 10:49 AM

Thinking of having some bacon myself next week. I usually go with the veggies here and aren't that fussed but brother in Oz is visiting and he might like it too. Just a simple "fry up" (but the bacon would be grilled). Mushrooms, baked beans, fried bread, plum tomato, chips, might have a sausage too. Pip can do fried eggs (my aversion to eggs is such that I won't cook them as eggs) that she and Peter (and possibly Tim, he might like that and the meat) can have.

If I do, I'll probably use the farm shop to get some bacon that doesn't reduce to 1/2 its size and ooze froth. The garage about a mile up the road used to have some prepacked stuff from a North Walsham butcher that was pretty good but I think that stopped a few years ago and I usually just go with the supermarket offerings on my rare ventures this way.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 01:33 PM

Yuk, that frothy white stuff that pours out of nasty bacon is disgusting isn't it Jon? Does your Oz brother like black pudding?

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 01:52 PM

Well I manage to eat the bacon, Sen but it's less than ideal.. Possibly more annoying is the reduction in size.

I'd have to ask Tim about black pudding. I know I used to like it but it would be over 20 years since I last tried it.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 01:53 PM

Buy dry-cured bacon.

I'm a massive fan of streaky. In fact, I don't usually buy back bacon at all. Streaky, grilled until not quite totally crisped, is easily the best thing for a bacon butty. And I never buy smoked bacon.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 02:06 PM

I used to think 'greenback' bacon was the best, but now I much prefer streaky, fried until very crisp. Dry-cured to avoid white froth. I don't do butties though. Fried multi-seed bread on the plate beside the bacon, with a fried egg plonked on the top.
We love those pork belly strips, cut into cubes and roasted in the oven at a high temp. Gorgeous (and, like thickly buttered crumpets, so very slimming...)

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 03:04 PM

I’ll go with back but take the dry cured advice. I guess the butty bit would depend on whether there are any rashers left over to cook. I wouldn’t buy bacon just for that purpose but it’s not a bad way of avoiding waste food.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 03:17 PM

Fried bread (preferably multi-seeded Yorkshire Champion bread) is magnificent. It means you don't waste any fat. You can use it for your butty. I do the same thing when I fry eggs (always in butter). Why throw that butter away then butter the bread? Fry it!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Jos
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 04:57 PM

The best thing to do with the bacon fat in the pan is to fry mushrooms in it.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 05:10 PM

I must say all this kind of food has made me slightly on the plump side.
Our doctors' surgery has two branches in two different villages.
We can be randomly sent to either for check-ups etc.

One branch has a male Practice Nurse who is as fat as a pig and looks a bit like Henry VIII.
The other branch has a female Practice Nurse who is even fatter.

Part of their job is to advise patients on how to lose weight.
But they haven't said anything to me about my BMI. heh heh

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: olddude
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 06:15 PM

Well I just made the best moose jerky on the planet and it will last without any chemicals. Salt smoking for hours in the smoker and the secret spices

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 08:39 PM

Yebbut Jos, once you've fried the mushrooms and they've released their juices back to the pan, then you can fry the bread. Just keep the bacon warm while you do it.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 02:41 AM

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw - PM
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 05:52 AM

I will not give up bacon. In the words of the t-shirt slogan, either you like bacon or you're wrong."
i wish you good health if you get colon cancer your chances are slim , by all means eat bacon , but try and ensure it is not preserved with nitrites

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 03:10 AM

I was inspired, Steve, and tried your egg and fried bread in butter. I can recommend it:-)

We bought a stainless steel lidded saute pan from mossers the other day. £16, less my 10% discount. It is great for that and many other things.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Raedwulf
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 03:16 AM

There may be better bacon & betterer bacon, but there is no such thing as bad bacon. Well, alright, I never did think much of Francis Bacon's art *ahem*. But I've never come across bad bacon.

Bacon Salsa. This arises out of Cucumber Glut. Take one cucumber, preferably homegrown, and dice quite finely, one onion (guess at size according to own notions of taste) ditto, and tomatoes - whether you use tinned, passata, or well-chopped homegrown (yep, Tomato Glut too!) is up to you. You will also want lime juice at the end. That's the base.

To that, add whatever pleases in the way of herbs, chilis, etc as you please. Italian herbs work well (I know, traditionally, coriander should be in there, but I cannot eat leaf coriander); the chilis that I grow are a variety called Ring o' Fire (hurhur). Allegedly, they are 50K-80K Scoville Units, but how a hot a chili gets is partially dependent on growing conditions; temp, mostly; so the UK being cooler, I suspect mine are at the low end of the range, if that, but they're right for me. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

Mix everything together, add lime juice to taste, leave overnight / at least 12 hrs in the fridge, so the herbs, etc can suffuse. Taste again, adjust the lime juice if need be. The key thing is don't let it get too sloppy, which is why it's always useful to have some passata on hand. And of course, the piece de resistance, if so desired, dice & fry an appropriate amount of bacon in butter, and when the last of the bacon is fried, add all of it and the pan juices too! And mix thoroughly. Keeps in the fridge for a week or more, and also freezes well (although, as with anything tomato, the tomato tends to separate on thawing).

The one thing I will disagree on with Steve is I like smoked bacon too! Especially if it's proper i.e. it's actually been smoked, rather than injected with 'smoked' flavouring, which is what happens to most s/m 'smoked' products. Smoked bacon works well in the above, particularly if you've used a particularly robust mix of 'erbs & shpishes! As for bacon juices left in the pan, whilst I agree they're wonderful to fry other things in, frankly they don't last long. I tend to simply scrape them straight out of the pan (along with burnt crunchy bits!) and either eat them straight off the knife, or on a savoury biscuit / cracker.

On topic, don't confuse nitrites with nitrates (DavetG!). It's nitrites that are used for preserving food. Nitrates occur naturally and are a vasodilator. Foods such as rocket & beetroot are high in them. And as someone who used to play squash vigourously (if not particularly well), I can testify to the effect of a snack of 100g or so of beetroot eaten 45-60 mins before playing any sport!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 04:10 AM

To avoid confusion I avoid any nites, Raed. Rates, rites and even, nowadays, nitevisiting :-)

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 04:25 AM

We have high pollution rates of nitrates in groundwater here in Norfolk. It's not a good thing as it can cause serious problems in a foetus or neonatal infant (blue baby syndrome).
It leaches into rivers/lakes from farmland on which chemical fertilisers are sprayed or ploughed in.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 05:04 AM

Our electricity is much cheaper if we exploit the night rate...

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 05:57 AM

And Cockney ladies-of-the-night probably have a nite rite Steve.

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 06:00 AM

But you can have a rite nite at the nite rate, Eliza!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 06:04 AM

But can you pronounce the chemical formula for titin in one nite?

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 06:42 AM

I read that as 'Tintin in one nite' and wondered what nocturnal activities a cartoon French reporter with a weird hairstyle was participating in on here!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Raedwulf
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 07:19 AM

Don't you get hairiest, sorry, hairist {genuine typo there}, madame! His quiff was ahead of his time!!

Subject: RE: BS: processed meat and nitrites
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 07:31 AM

Hee hee Raedwulf! A small boy of about five was sent home from school last week because he had a hairstyle exactly like Tintin's. It was gelled and stiff, and the Headteacher said it could poke someone in the eye! I reckon she was 'hairist'!