On Food and Cooking

continue to be popular even in the age of
refrigeration, when salting is no longer
essential. But because we now salt meats for
taste, not to extend storage life, industrial
versions are treated with milder cures, and
generally must be refrigerated and/or cooked.
And they’re made very quickly, which means
that their flavor is less complex than dry-
cured meats. Industrial bacon is made by
injecting brine (typically about 15% salt, 10%
sugar) into the pork side with arrays of fine
needles, or else cutting it into slices, then
immersing the slices in a brine for 10 or 15
minutes. In either method the “maturing”
period has shrunk to a few hours, and the
bacon is packed the same day. Hams are
injected with brine, then “tumbled” in large
rotating drums for a day to massage the brine
evenly through the meat and make it more
supple, and finally pressed into shape, partly
or fully cooked, chilled, and sold with no
maturing period. For some boneless “hams,”