Pre-modern Salting could be combined with smoking to produce
bacon in peasant homes. Instructions for preserving (salting) freshly killed venison in the 14th century involved covering the animal with
bracken as soon as possible and carrying it to a place where it could be butchered, boiled in brine, and dry salted for long term preservation in a
barrel. People in the 14th century could also put salt on vegetables for taste. Salted meat was a staple of the mariner's diet in the
Age of Sail. It was stored in barrels, and often had to last for months at sea. The basic
Royal Navy diet consisted of salted beef,
salted pork,
ship's biscuit, and
oatmeal, supplemented with smaller quantities of peas, cheese and butter. Even in 1938,
Eric Newby found the diet on the
tall ship Moshulu to consist almost entirely of salted meat.
Moshu lack of refrigeration left little choice as the ship made voyages which could exceed 100 days passage between ports.
Modern It was discovered in the 19th century that salt mixed with
nitrates (such as
saltpeter) would color meats red, rather than grey, and consumers at that time then strongly preferred the red-colored meat. The food hence preserved stays healthy and fresh for days avoiding bacterial decay. ==Salting in foods==