Paul Chabala, age 9, of Bridgeville, Pa., for his question:

HOW AND WHY IS MEAT SMOKED?

Food preservation makes it possible to store food for future use without spoiling. Before we were able to develop techniques for canning, quick freezing and freeze drying, prehistoric men developed systems for drying roots, nuts, fruits and grains in the sun. After they discovered fire, they found they could dry meat faster and preserve it better by using smoke.

 

In the olden days, curing and smoking processes were used to preserve meat. Now they are used to produce the special flavor that is associated with bacon, ham and other cuts.

Packers cure most meat by pumping a curing solution into the arteries of the meat, or by injecting the solution directly into the meat. The curing solution is made up largely of salt and water, but sugar may sometimes be included.

Other ingredients used in the curing process are often added to develop the cherry red color of cured meat.

Smoking produces the distinctive smoked meat flavor which consumers want in certain of their meats. Modern smokehouses are made up of air conditioned, stainless steel rooms. Controlled amounts of smoke from special hardwood sawdust are drawn into the rooms. The warm fragrant smoke gives the meat a unique flavor and color.

Hickory wood is an excellent fuel wood because it produces much heat. It also yields an extremely high quality of charcoal which is often used for smoking meats. Bacon and ham, especially, have a fine flavor when cured in smoke produced by hickory charcoal.

Cured hams are made by adding salt and other materials known as curing agents to the meat. A liquid mixture called pickle is injected into the ham's arteries and veins in a process called vascular pumping. After the injection and a soaking, the ham is washed and smoked.

Cured ham is often smoked over a hardwood fire or sometimes steam heat is used. Hams that are marked "ready to eat" have been smoke about a day. Hams are smoked mainly to keep them from spoiling too quickly.

Curing of bacon often takes from 20 to 30 days. After curing, the bacon is smoked to help preserve it and give it a better flavor.

Often Canadian bacon is smoked to improve its flavor. Canadian bacon is made from rounded strips of meat, called loins, which lie along each side of a pig's back. It has less fat than bacon from the sides.

Bacon is an especially valuable energy food because it contains a high percentage of fat.