Process of dry salting

Dry salting is a process of fermentation method that involves sprinkling salt onto a dry vegetable or fish in order to draw out the water. Salting is one of the oldest methods of preservation. Salting is a process where the common salt (NaCl), sodium chloride, is used as a preservative that penetrates the tissue; hence prevent or drastically reduce bacterial action.

Penetration ends when the salt concentration of the tissue equals that of the surrounding medium. This phenomenon is known as osmosis.

Some of the factors involved in salting of fish which play important role are purity of salt, quantify of salt used, method of salting, and weather conditions, flavor of the product.

In dry salting, the size of salt crystals is important. Fine crystals tend to dissolve too quickly and are dragged down and drained, whereas large crystals dissolve very slowly and there is a risk of deterioration. Fine crystals and larger crystals should be combined. The fine crystals will dissolve quickly and salt will penetrate the flesh immediately.

Salting is one of the techniques for preserving fish and has been practiced for a long period of time; it is an alternative to lowering the water activity of fish flesh. Dry salting is the most widely used method of fish curing. The main purpose of salting is to separate water from the fish and replace it with salt. Thus, the water concertation in fish decreases.

The fish is gutted, beheaded or ventrally split open and the viscera removed followed by washing. Scoring is also practiced if the flesh portion is thick for facilitating better salt penetration. Salt is then applied in the ratio 1:3 to 1: 10 (salt to fish) depending upon the size of the fish.

To ensure that fish dries well, dry salting is recommended for lean fish, not fatty fish.
Process of dry salting