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I took a class on sausage making and people asked the teacher if you could omit the nitrites (aka pink salt) from the mix. He assured us that there is a small but very serious risk of botullism. So, between me and my sausage, I prefer a little nitrite.

I personally believe people panic a bit too much about chemical preservatives in our food. I agree with limiting them as much as possible but the reason they are there in the first place is to make food safe.

I know that people have been curing meats long before chemical additives.

So, I would like to learn what other methods these people used such as smoking or by using sea salt which has naturally occurring nitrites or even vegetables such as celery (think celery salt).

This is a bit of a rabbit chase on nitrates, but my grandfather told me that the reason our gardens haven't done well this year, even though we have watered them sufficiently from the tap, is because we haven't had much rain. He says that rain contains nitrates that are critical in growth of vegetables, and that they don't get nitrates when watered just by the tap. He suggested I sprinkle some epsom salts on my garden to help.

Now, my grandfather is very rural and knowledgeable about a lot of farming techniques; however, sometimes I discover his "knowledge" to be a bit "old-wives-talish". Can anyone confirm the truth or myth of rain's nitrates being critical to the growing of vegetables?

Art, people did use saltpeter back in the Middle Ages. The other thing they used was salt. LOTS of salt. Like, "soak your bacon before you fry it", "don't forget to wash the ham" and "Mmmmm, delicious goo of disolved fish and salt" kind of lots. If I recall correctly, even smoking involves a lot of salt if it's being used to preserve instead of just add flavor.

@Tiamat_the_Red,

I know salt was used for preserving meat in Middle Ages but I didn't know saltpeter was used for food back then. I do know though that many of the old ways of making dry sausages and hams did not use saltpeter and many people are still doing that today. I know that true French Saucisson was not allowed in the States until a few years ago. I'm not sure why but maybe it had something to do with it not being cured with nitrates?

I don't know the answers but I'm going to start inquiring with some of the producers of small scale salumi/charcuterie.

If I can't pronounce it, I generally take some caution with eating it, and if it came from a lab, even more so. That being said, people have been eating cured meats, fermented grains and fruit, pickled, peppered, and preserved products for thousands of years and it didn't kill them. And if we take some caution and eat everything in moderation, our beer/wine/booze/yogurt/cheese/bread/pickles/charcuterie won't kill us either.

Its usually when we try to take things out of food that were good the way they were that we end up causing all the trouble - No fat, no cholesterol, no sugar, no nitrates/nitrates, no salt, longer shelf lives, more disease resistant leads to the death of artisan food, flavor, and quality food and and ingredients.

What I do know is that nitrites make me very, very sick. And that I don't think people should be flippant about what they put in their bodies.

If you were chronically, progressively ill, and one of your symptoms was abdominal migraines, aka cyclic vomiting syndrome, and you threw up for 6 hours straight 2 or 3 times per week because of a food you consumed by accident, your attitude would probably change too.

I have made the best corned beef I've ever tasted thanks to omitting nitrites and I certainly don't miss them in other foods.

My grandmother says that when she was a child and they didn't have refrigeration, they would preserve meat by coating it in ashes from the stove. She said she remembers having to brush ashes off of her roast as she ate it and that the meat tasted of ash.

Can't imagine that was healthy, but maybe so. They say that it's good to eat some burnt toast every once in a while.