History of Preserved Food

After a buddy of mine started eating MREs at work on occasion, I started reading about the various rations and meals available to soldiers throughout history and the methods used to produce them, which I found especially interesting because of my curiosity with the development of supply chains and logistics systems. I'd often heard that SPAM, which is just processed pork in a tin can, had a humongous impact after its development for Britain, the Soviet Union, and nations with damaged infrastructure after WWII, but I never knew how revolutionary the stuff truly was until I went further into detail with it. In addition, I also learned about how canning foods worked and why it was such an exciting concept during its invention during the Napoleonic era, whereas I previously just assumed it was simply airtight sealing of food in tin containers (That's part of the process, the other being heating up the can and its contents to a certain temperature to kill bacteria, thus preventing new cultures from forming within.).

Does anyone on Veeky Forums have any insight into the knowledge of older methods of food preservation? I know there was a good discussion on the value of salt in ancient times a while back, but I missed most of the conversation.

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youtube.com/watch?v=ZdmPIpQZPRg
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Don't have too much, but this history of saltpeter (saltpetre) is pretty cool. Used as a preservative and as a source of nitrates in gunpowder. Saltpeter caves were often considered crucial to a war because of this. By the early 20th century, chemists had figured out how to make nitrate (from thin air actually).

But I don't have too much to offer other than that.

Funnily enough, there was a large lapse in time between the invention of canned food and the can opener. This little sucker cost me less than a quarter at the hardware store and was issued to US troops in WWII.

Because I can open a can just as fast with a knife/bayonette.

>opens can with bayonet
>gashes hand with a brutal wound
>gangrene
>dead

Salt, sugar, honey, air drying, fermentation. These are the basics, air drying and fermentation probably being the oldest, fermentation being the proposed cause of civilization. Gotta have written language to record land ownership to grow grain to ferment to get fukken drunk.

Nigger, have you ever tried to chisel open a 7.62x54r can with a mosin nagant bayonet? Fuck no, it's not as easy as a dedicated can opener. That's why they include them.

Pickling. Pickling is something everyone used to do to preserve food because it made it last years.

No one mentioned it, but smoking was another old way of preserving.

How retarded are fucking anericans?I opened cans with knives before I was eight.All it takes is not to be a complete failure.

Yeah, I've used the wrong tools for different jobs too. It's not exactly a bragging right.

Dont' forget smoking.

Here Anons, videos on how they made salt pork in the 1700s. Probably a very similar method dating back in history desu. I mean there's that legend that the phrase "worth his salt" hearkens back to Roman soldiers being paid in salt because it was so valuable and necessary for food preservation.
youtube.com/watch?v=ZdmPIpQZPRg
youtube.com/watch?v=2pUHi3ZV4r0

he's cozy, but kinda a fag. doesn't even drink

If it gets the job done, then it is the right tool, faggot.

I mean, I can wipe my ass with a rag and get the job done, but that doesn't mean it's the right tool for that.

Well, what do you think people used before toilet paper?

bumping a really interesting thread

What does SPAM tastes like?

like ham if it´s any good

If you fry it on a pan its pretty tasty, it just tastes like pork though

It says it right there on the label, spiced ham.

>People have used many different materials in the history of anal cleansing, including leaves, rags, paper, water, sponges, corncobs, and sticks.

Also, if you're using the wrong tool for the job and then defend it in any way other than, "it's what I had at the time," then you're a gigantic retard.

Like nitrated pork. If sliced thin and fried (it magically generates its own frying grease) it makes a decent substitute for bacon. Try it on a sandwich some time.
Or diced up and mixed into mac and cheese.

Smoking was actually the only one I knew offhand because my family still gets together to make sausage every year after deer season. I never knew it as a preservation technique though, I always just thought it was for flavor reasons.

Can confirm, Spam was my lord and savior on scouting campouts

It's salty