Nitrite: What the Pink Salt Is Actually For

Curing salt is dyed pink for one reason: so that nobody mistakes it for table salt. It is 93.75% ordinary salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite, and sodium nitrite is toxic in quantities a kitchen can easily weigh out by accident. It is also the reason cured meat is safe. Nitrite is the only practical barrier to *Clostridium botulinum* in a moist, low-acid, low-oxygen food — which is exactly what a ham, a bacon or a salami is. This rung covers what nitrite does, how much is correct, why the number is what it is, and what actually happens if it is got wrong in either direction. It is hazard-gated because both directions can kill.