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A STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC FROM CECIL'S STOREHOUSE OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
Does saltpeter suppress male ardor?
June 16, 1989
Dear Cecil:
As a lad I went to the same repressive boarding school that made George Bush what he is today. As a student I believed, as did we all, that the school authorities were mixing potassium nitrate, or saltpeter, into our food to control our sexual appetites. (The food itself controlled our regular appetites.) Is this true? Was it legal? Would it have had any lasting effect on me? I shudder to think what happened to poor George.
Cecil replies:
The official word is that potassium nitrate (KNO3), more commonly employed as an ingredient in gunpowder, has no therapeutic value as an anaphrodisiac, contrary to legend. Cecil of course believes this. Still, when you look at what the stuff does do, you can see where the idea got started. Saltpeter can cause relaxation of involuntary muscle fiber (for which reason it's used to treat asthma) and it's occasionally prescribed to lower body temperature in cases of fever. From there it's not much of a leap to think that "niter," as it was called in the old days, might cure "sexual fever," and in fact a few doctors urged it for that purpose centuries ago.
From what I can tell the idea wasn't taken too seriously, but apparently sailors in the British navy leapt to conclusions when they learned that potassium nitrate was being used to preserve the meat used aboard their ships. Ever since the inmates of almost any large all-male institution, ranging from boarding schools to the army, have been convinced that the higher-ups were slipping the stuff into the mashed potatoes (or whatever) to cool the jets of the rank and file. During the world wars, for example, it was widely believed that government-issue cigarettes were soaked in saltpeter.
(It's supposed to make the paper burn evenly. That's the word on that.)
The truth is that even the most tyrannical general wouldn't inflict the stuff on his men if he expected them to be of any use — too many side effects. Among other things potassium nitrate can cause gastroenteritis (violent stomachache), high blood pressure, anemia, kidney disease, and general weakness and torpor. It also has an alarmingly depressive effect on the heart. Too strong a dose and not only would you not be able to get it up, chances are you wouldn't be able to get up, period. All in all, there's still no substitute for the cold shower.
saltpetre, also spelled Saltpeter, also called Nitre, or Niter, any of three naturally occurring nitrates, distinguished as (1) ordinary saltpetre, or potassium nitrate, KNO3; (2) Chile saltpetre, cubic nitre, or sodium nitrate, NaNO3; and (3) lime saltpetre, wall saltpetre, or calcium nitrate, Ca(NO3)2. These three nitrates generally occur as efflorescences caused by the oxidation of nitrogenous matter in the presence of the alkalis and alkaline earths.
Ordinary saltpetre.
Potassium nitrate occurs as crusts on the surface of the Earth, on walls and rocks, and in caves; and it forms in certain soils in Spain, Italy, Egypt, Iran, and India. The deposits in the great limestone caves of Kentucky, Virginia, and Indiana have probably been derived from the overlying soil and accumulated by percolating water. In former times, the demand for saltpetre as an ingredient of gunpowder led to the formation of saltpetre plantations, or nitriaries, which were common in France, Germany, and other countries; the natural conditions were simulated by exposing heaps of decaying organic matter mixed with alkalis (lime, etc.) to atmospheric action. Potassium nitrate was used at one time in many different diseased conditions, especially asthma; but now it is rarely used medicinally, except as a diuretic. Its alleged value as a drug for suppressing sexual desire is purely imaginary.
Potassium nitrate is white in colour and soluble in water; it has a vitreous lustre and a cool and salty taste.
wine-
Here’s a few things to keep in mind
Just because a bottle of wine says “No added nitrite” on the label, that doesn’t mean it’s nitrite-free. All wines naturally contain nitrites – usually a concentration of about 10 parts per million, but they can have anywhere from 20 to hundreds of parts per million of nitrites. But after aging for a few years, they will have a concentration of nitrite that is impossible to measure. So if you are concerned about nitrites, drink wine that is two years old or older.
Even if the wine you choose does have negligible levels of nitrites, there may be other preservatives added that are much worse. These are what you should really be concerned about, since nitrites are rarely the problem in the first place. If you are serious about wine, try organic varieties. However, be forewarned that they are uneven in quality.
If none of this works, I suggest you give up wine altogether. Sorry.
The fact is, only one person in a hundred is sensitive to nitrites. However, 5 percent of those people, usually asthmatics, can have a serious reaction. (but saltpeter is used to help asthma?)Many foods also contain much higher nitrite levels than either version of wine. Crackers, frozen shrimp and other shellfish, most dried fruit and fruit toppings, canned tomatoes, pickles, and orange juice all contain more nitrites than wine. And each day our own bodies produce more nitrites than any bottle of wine contains.Chile saltpetre.
Sodium nitrate occurs, under the same conditions as ordinary saltpetre, in deposits covering immense areas in South America, abounding especially in the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta in Chile. The chief applications of Chile saltpetre are in the nitric acid industry and particularly as a fertilizer.
Lime saltpetre.
Calcium nitrate was once common as an efflorescence on the walls of stables; it is now manufactured from atmospheric nitrogen. Its chief applications are as a manure and in the nitric acid industry.
I realize there is another question about corned beef from scratch, but the answers don't really cover my question. Many recipes for making your own corned beef still refer to the use of saltpeter (potassium nitrate) or sodium nitrate. From what I've been able to find out saltpeter is never used anymore nor available to the home cook, and sodium nitrate is not commonly available. Sodium nitrate in the brine gives cooked corned beef its classic reddish color (without it corned beef comes out gray), and it kills botulism spores. I like my corned beef pink (the gray color is somewhat unappetizing), but more than that I'm concerned about the flavor of the corned beef. The last time I made corned beef I tried to use Morton Tender Quick. The cooked brisket turned out beautifully pink and almost inedible. It was terribly salty and actually made my tongue numb. So, is there anything that can be used in place of the sodium nitrate, if used in the proper quantities does its absence or presence have any effect on the flavor of the corned beef, and is there any good place to get it?
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9 | Saltpeter is potassium nitrate, which does not directly cure meats. Bacteria convert nitrate into nitrite, which is the real preservative. Saltpeter can be replaced by a smaller amount of nitrite to get the same curing effect (most commercial cured meats do this), though a prolonged cure that converts nitrate into nitrite can develop more flavor. Tender Quick is not a direct substitute because it contains mostly salt. I've heard that you can replace the salt in your recipe with Tender Quick, and drop the saltpeter, and have a success. You would have better luck finding a recipe that was meant to use Tender Quick, though. It is definitely possible to buy (food-grade!) saltpeter. I would check online, or at specialty stores. It's a little more difficult than picking it up at your local grocery store, of course. (Chemistry lesson, courtesy of McGee: nitrate (NO3) is converted to nitrite (NO2), which then reacts to form nitric oxide (NO), which bonds to myoglobin in the meat, which turns it pink and prevents oxidation. Nitric oxide is also present in smoke, which gives that "pink ring" around the outside of smoked meats.)
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3 | I decided to do some more of my own research on this with the nitrate/nitrite confusion. Thanks to the other answerers, that definitely helped give me a good starting point. I'm writing my own answer so I can include some links. I made it a community wiki (seemed like it might be good for this one). Firstly, from everything I've been able to find online (wikipedia has remarkably little info about nitrates/nitrites as applies to meat curing) there is no substitute for the nitrites. They occur naturally in many vegetables, so when used appropriately they don't pose an undue health risk. Nitrates/nitrites are added to meat cures (at least historically) largely for their preservative qualities. So, in a corned beef brisket that is going to be brined then cooked and consumed immediately the nitrites are unnecessary. Also, nitrites do make the meat turn reddish when cooked. Opinions seem to be split as to whether there's a significant impact to flavor in meat brined with nitrites for a relatively short time, say around a week. But since the flavor development is unmistakable in longer curing processes, I doubt there is zero effect on flavor even with a short brine. As Bob explains in his answer, nitrites are the preservative, and potassium or sodium nitrates are converted into nitrites during the cure. I'm guessing that saltpeter (potassium nitrate) was used more frequently than sodium nitrate/nitrite in the past because it was more readily available. From what I've been able to find online, it's no more available now than sodium nitrite preparations, which are more appropriate for this kind of meat curing. The sodium nitrite preparations are often called by the generic name "pink salt" because they are colored pink to avoid confusion with regular salt. The brand names I've found online are Insta Cure #1 and DQ Curing Salt #1. The #1 indicates a preparation of 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% regular salt. Pink salt #2 indicates the preparation also includes sodium nitrate. #2 is only necessary when dry curing like pepperoni and dry salami, which are not cooked or refrigerated. Pink salt is used in small quantities in addition too, not instead of, regular salt. (Most brine recipes I've seen use 2 cups kosher salt and 4 teaspoons pink salt.) It seems like there are two widely available books that people recommend for meat curing: Charcuterie, by Ruhlman, and this one (which seems to get the hardcore purist vote), by Rytek Kutas. I don't own either, so can't recommend one, but Ruhlman does have a blog where he posted the corned beef recipe from his book. Best of all, the blog post has a link where you can mail order the pink salt, and it's way cheaper than the small handful of other online sources I've been able to find. Finally, note that saltpeter is poisonous and flammable (it's used in pyrotechnics and to burn out dead tree stumps). Sodium nitrite itself can be fatally toxic if a human were to ingest an amount equivalent to 4.6 grams (citing from wikipedia), which again is why they make the curing preparations pink. Given that, there is no way I'd use the 99% pure form of sodium nitrite even if it is labeled food grade. I'm no where near good enough at math to be sure I wouldn't kill myself with it. (I found a hunting supply website that sells that stuff to use in curing fishing bait.) To sum up, it seems like sodium nitrite is worth using but can be omitted, it has no reasonable substitute, and it's unfortunately not easy for most of us to come by. Thanks again to the commenters and answerers. | |||
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1 | I bought some from my local pharmacy. I just took in my grandmother's recipe, showed it to the pharmacist and he ordered me a bottle; the bottle was really too big for my needs but it keeps really well in the cupboard
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0 | Yes, pink salt is often used in food preparations. Sodium nitrite is the chemical name. Be careful here, there are some nasty uses for the other forms of the chemical. you can order it online, usually in quantities far more than you would ever need at home. It is hard to find, but not terribly expensive. Yes you can omit it from your preparations. But the final result is never quit the same. Th texture and Colour is dramatically different. Unappealing without it. Flavour can also be affected. In my experience, without is yourv preparation tastes more like "cooked meat" and with it it tastes like "deli meat"
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0 | Heck, it's easy to get. Just go to your local pharmacy; they have it. I use it every year, and have yet to puke up my tender, red brisket. | ||
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