Use of vacuum impregnation in food salting process

Salting is an ancient preservation method, usually used separately or in combination with other processes such as air drying and pH lowering. Traditional salting processes are divided into brining and dry salting, each of them specifically applied for particular products. In this work, the use of brine vacuum impregnation (BVI) instead of dry salting or brine immersion (BI) at atmospheric pressure is discussed. The influence of different process variables (length of vacuum pressure period, temperature, sample structure and dimensions) is analysed, in terms of kinetic data and process yields, for meat (ham and tasajo), fish (salmon and cod) and cheese (Manchego type cheese). In general, BVI processes imply a notable reduction of salting time, increasing the process yields in line with the greater values of the ratio salt gain to water loss. Likewise, samples lose natural gas or liquid phases entrapped in their structure and reach a flatter salt concentration profile than that obtained in the conventional salting methods.