[Sca-cooks] Myth of Spoiled Meat

[wyldrose]

I think that some herbs/seasoning/etc were used to preserve meat for long 
term preservation.   Someone who didn't understand this might instead think 
the meat was spoiled and the herbs/spices were covering up the flavor.  Many 
of the herbs/salts/rubs/ spices actually draw moisture out of the meat and 
preserve it instead.  You would be able to extend the palatability of the 
meat from days to months (or longer) by the use of preservation and smoking 
of meats.
   Am I remebering correctly that many 'period' chimneys held inside racks 
or separeate stone chambers for storing smoked meats or to smoke meats?  I 
know many homes/homestead sites here in the US had speacel  chimneys or even 
'smoke-houses' used to smoke or store preserved meats.
  My parents both of which were barely literate and were brought up in the 
depression insited we have a smoke house to store foods.  My mom also used 
'rubs' way before they were popular.  In fact my mom would mix up pounds of 
salt, brown sugar (sometime molases) and herbs and coat meets with them and 
then store the meet for at least three days (in a cold area) and then cook 
it and eat.  She said she lerned this from her family and it had been pased 
down from generation to generation.  (My great grandparents were born in the 
1880-1890's and had told  her they lerned it from their grandparents).    My 
parents were a big fan of pickled meets (I hated them) so I never learned to 
do the pickling part.
                                        Kay