3 Best Saltpeter Substitutes (Alternatives To Saltpeter)

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There are certain types of chemical compounds in the world that have a wide range of functions. These functions are so different in nature that they can confuse people.

For instance, a salt that is used in fertilizers and fireworks is also a popular food preservative. This salt is known as saltpeter.

Rich and flavorful dishes require long time durations for cooking. However, there are some products in the market that make cooking a lot easier for us.

Especially when it comes to cooking meat, various types of salts do the job pretty well.

Potassium nitrate, which is extensively known as saltpeter has been around for more than 2000 years. This nitrate salt has a lot of applications. But food processing is the only wide usage of saltpeter.

Due to its lesser availability in the market, you might want to keep some of the substitutes of saltpeter in mind.

In this post, we will walk you through the best substitutes for saltpeter that you won’t regret using to compensate for your curing pickling needs. Read on.

What Exactly Is A Saltpeter?

Before we introduce you to a fine list of the best saltpeter alternatives, let’s give you an idea about what exactly this salt is. After all, it is good to have brief knowledge about the food item that you are going to substitute.

Saltpeter is chemically called potassium nitrate. This is an ionic compound of salt that has got several uses.

Besides military gun powder use and agricultural uses, the most effective and credible use of saltpeter is curing, pickling, and brining meat.

Many health and food laboratories in America even call those meats uncured that don’t go through the curing process with saltpeter.

Western cuisines usually have saltpeter as a great thickening agent, especially for soups and stews which means that saltpeter isn’t only meant to cure meat.

Saltpeter softens and thickens the meat in quite a lesser time which makes cooking quite easy. This intense curing salt helps you follow a recipe easily.

You don’t have to cook meat for hours for it to soften. You can save a great deal of time by using saltpeter.

However, the well-established application of saltpeter is that this salt is used commercially in the curing and pickling process. But make sure to add only a little quantity of saltpeter or its alternative.

A salt like potassium nitrate can be good for curing and pickling, but there are also a few precautions you should keep in mind when using it.

You may be excellent at cooking but if you don’t know anything about chemicals, you may have a hard time figuring out how to use saltpeter and what’s the right amount of it for a dish.

In any case, knowing the basics of salt is important before you decide to use it. Keep in mind that you will ruin the quality of your dish if you add too much saltpeter.

Too much potassium nitrate can also be harmful to your health. So, only use saltpeter in moderation. Even if you are using a substitute for this salt, moderation is the key.

What Is The Best Saltpeter substitute?

Saltpeter is a rare salt. It isn’t easily available in the majority of local stores. Besides that, due to health concerns, you might not want to use saltpeter and replace it with other similar items.

You can still consider plenty of items instead of saltpeter for curing, hamming, brining, pickling, thickening, and softening your food and fulfill the need of your recipe.

Saltpeter is mostly used commercially. Restaurants use it so they can reduce their cooking time. They also use it as an additive and preservative. Some restaurants have contracts with labs to get saltpeter.

As a result, this salt cannot be found in local markets. However, you can use other items in place of saltpeter as a preservative or for curing and pickling processes.

If you are picking a substitute yourself, you can go for healthier options. This way, you won’t have to worry about your health when you are adding a preservative to your food.

Here are a few healthy and natural alternatives for saltpeter:

1. The Healthiest Substitute for Saltpeter– Celery Juice and Celery Powder

No matter how useful something is, if it is harmful to your health, it is best to avoid it. Saltpeter may have a lot of useful properties, but it can affect your health negatively.

So, it is best to opt for something that can do the job without hurting your body.

If you are considering going for a healthy substitute for saltpeter, green vegetables such as celery might interest you.

Many health professionals suggest using celery juice to replace saltpeter as the nitrite part of saltpeter can be found in the green leafy vegetables, especially, celery.

Celery, having lesser flavors and coloration won’t compensate for the reddish color of meat you can get with saltpeter but the curing can be smoothly done to a good extent.

So, if you need a quick alternative for saltpeter, just use celery juice or celery powder. Both will prove to be effective to replace saltpeter.

Another reason to go for celery is that it is easily available everywhere. You can get celery from the vegetable market and make its juice at home.

If you are looking for a dry option, you can celery juice powder from any grocery store. Because of the many uses of celery powder; it is easily available.

If you go for celery powder, you can save time that would have been spent on making the juice.

2. Another Quick Alternative of Saltpeter – Sea Salt Or Non-Iodized Salt

Sea salt or non-iodized salt and table salt or normal salt are very different from each other. Both are cured and textured differently.

If you are looking for a substitute for saltpeter, you can use sea salt, a non-iodized salt which will brine or cure the meat you have been longing to cook.

Sea salt or kosher salt has a nitrate part although it might not bring the same flavors as saltpeter would.

Despite the difference in flavor, sea salt is still a better option than saltpeter. It is also easily available in supermarkets. Many people use kosher salt regularly.

If you are one of them, then you will have this salt available at your home. You won’t have to make a trip to the store to find a substitute for saltpeter.

3. Highly Recommended Substitute Of Saltpeter – Beet Juice

Beet juice has a reddish or purple-colored pigmentation that compensates for the dark color of the saltpeter which it gives to cured or brined meats.

There are exceptional health and immune benefits associated with beet juice. One of the most well-known benefits of beet juice is that it reduces inflammations. Beetroots are naturally rich in vitamins and nutrients.

So, when you use them in cooking, you will be doing yourself a favor. Many people drink beetroot juice for health benefits.

Nitrates are naturally present in beet juice which is why it is a good substitute for saltpeter.

However, just like the other two alternatives, the shelf life of beet juice cured meat would be lesser as compared to saltpeter cured meat. But shelf life is mostly a concern of restaurants.

If you are using beet juice at home for curing, you will only use the amount of meat you are going to cook.

You don’t have to be sick to start eating healthy. A healthy diet is good for everyone. The more vegetables and fruits you incorporate into your daily life, the healthier you will become.

Because of their many health benefits, beetroots should be a part of everyone’s daily diet. Whether you go for beet juice, powder, or beetroots in raw form, you can get the benefits of this vegetable.

Conclusion

It can be quite difficult to make some people eat healthy food. If you have kids at home, you must always be in search of delicious vegetable recipes so you can make food that not only tastes good but is also healthy.

Saltpeter is a great curing agent. It can also help you with preserving food. But it is not something that will benefit your health in any way. With saltpeter, you will have to ignore the health concerns to reap its benefits.

But if you pick a healthier substitute for saltpeter, you will be able to get the same benefits without affecting your health. The substitutes mentioned in this article are good for your health because they are naturally occurring.

They are not prepared in a lab so you don’t have to worry about how they would affect your health. Next time you are planning to cure meat, you should try the substitutes of saltpeter mentioned in this article.

We can assure you that you won’t get disappointed by the results. Once you see how good these substitutes are, you will never look for saltpeter again for curing meat.