How does store-bought bacon/salo retain its pinkish colour when they cook/boil it? Homemade salo turns weirdly grey.

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This is what store bought looks like (also reference for westerners if they dunno what salo is):

https://www.nyerthus.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/D%C3%A9vay-cs%C3%A1sz%C3%A1rszalonna.jpg

Homemade ones seem far less colourful and grey.

In: Chemistry

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The pink depends on how it was cured. Raw pork is pink. Salt-cured pork is also pink when raw. When cooked they both turn grey.

However, you can also cure with sodium nitrate & nitrite, which makes it pink and keeps it there even after cooking. This is why bacon stays pink.

If you use paprika during the cure that will also turn everything red and won’t go away during cooking.

Anonymous 0 Comments

If you’re going to cure your own meat with Prague powder #2/”pink salt” (not that Himalayan crap either)

Please look up how to cure meat properly. There are certain ratios of salt to per pound of meat and you also want to wash the brine off afterward.

Anonymous 0 Comments

It is likely cured with sodium nitrite, also commonly known as ” “Prague powder #2”, or “pink curing salt”.

It assists in the curing process and imparts a pink color to the meat.