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Earthworm Express

Unusual and untold stories from the world of food science, from the present and ages past.

The EarthwormExpress
Best Bacon and Rib System on Earth
Bacon & the Art of Living
Nose-to-Tail and Root-to-Tip: Re-Thinking Emulsions
Artisan Meat – Practiced from the beginning of time!
About Nitrite
Eben’s Consumer Product Reviews
In Search of the Origins of the Kolbroek
Eben interviews food people
My memories
Gallery
Water Activity and Moisture Sorption Isotherms
Aside
Useful Documents and Links
Pic’s history of meat processing
Mechanisms of Meat Curing
Advertising and Marketing Matters
The Salt Bridge
Mechanisms of Meat Curing
Pic’s History of Meat Processing
The Quest for Nitrite Free Curing
Nitrate and Nitrite – their history and functionality
The History of Bacon, Ingredients and related technologies
The Power of Microparticles: DCD Technology
Microbiology
The Present and Future of Food Processing
About Eben
The Fascinating History and Use of Ascorbate

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05/21/2020 eben van tonder

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Welcome to our blog.

The main habitat of earthworms is the earth. Commonly found feasting on interesting living or dead matter. These are unusual and untold stories from the world of food science from the present and ages past.

Inside our Blog: Bacon & the Art of Living

The most complete record of the history of bacon on record. The history is revealed for the first time ever and I give a comprehensive review of all technical matters related to the production of bacon. Click on the logo or Bacon & the Art of Living to land on the index page.

My fellow explorer, Minette and me.

Inside our Blog: A comprehensive discussion on fine emulsion meat products.

A new approach to fine emulsions. Click on the logo or go to the index page: Nose-to-Tail and Root-to-Tip: Re-Thinking Emulsions. Because It’s Good for Us, our Kids, our World!

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Email Address

Contact the editorial staff:

ebenvt@gmail.com

Whatsapp: +27715453029

Cape Town
South Africa

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Site pages

About Eben
About Nitrite
Advertising and Marketing Matters
Anatomy of the pig
Artisan Meat – Practiced from the beginning of time!
Background studies to Bacon & the Art of Living
Bacon & the Art of Living
Best Bacon and Rib System on Earth
Big Yellow Bacon Man
Chapter 99: The Art of Living
Drinks, Soup, Stock: Bovril
Eben interviews food people
Eben’s Consumer Product Reviews
- Denny’s Beef Style Mince vs. Frey’s Veggie Mince
Honey – the magical super-food
Kolbroek and the Kune Kune
Mechanisms of Meat Curing
Microbiology
My memories
Nguni: Living Works of Art
- The Domestication of Cattle and Eurocentrisity in Regards to Heritage Breeds
Nitrate and Nitrite – their history and functionality
Nose-to-Tail and Root-to-Tip: Re-Thinking Emulsions
Notes on Spices
ORIGINS Smallgoods Co
Pic’s History of Meat Processing
Sausages and Blended Hams
The EarthwormExpress
The Fascinating History and Use of Ascorbate
The History of Bacon, Ingredients and related technologies
The Master Butcher from Prague, Ladislav NACHMÜLLNER
The Prehistory of Food
- 01. How did Ancient Humans Preserve Food?
- 02. An Introduction to the Total Work on Salt, Saltpeter and Sal Ammoniac – Salt before the Agricultural Revolution
The Present and Future of Food Processing
The Salt Bridge
Useful Documents and Links

Earthworm Express (Instagram)

– Inside our Blog: Best Bacon System on Earth

We developed a bacon grid system with custom designed processing aids which is rated the Best Bacon System in the World. It is in use in New Zealand and in South Africa. My son, Triatan sells the system through his company GMT. His whatsapp number is +27 727428793 or email him on tristanavt@gmail.com See a detailed discussion on the system at: Best Bacon System on Earth Have a look at the videos below which showcases many features of the system.

The Best Bacon System on Earth – Loading the grids

Best bacon System on Earth – Restructured Belly

Best bacon System on Earth – Restructured Loin

Best Bacon System on Earth – Slicing Restructured Loin

Best bacon System on Earth – Restructuring Topside

Earthworm Express Family and Friends Photos (Instagram)

What readers say – Recent comments

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Origins Smallgoods Co, Cape Town

Origins is designed to bring exquisite artisan products to life. Some of our creations are featured below. Most are photos of the work of curing experts from around the globe. These products are being made available to South Africans.

Inside the blog, it is featured here: Origins Smallgoods Co, Cape Town

Origins Small Goods Co Cape Town (Instagram)

– Inside our Blog: Pic’s history of meat processing

As an ongoing project, I am building up a collection of old meat processing pictures. View it inside the blog at: Pic’s History of Meat processing

Please share any contributions with me at ebenvt@gmail.com

Earthworm Express Historic Pictures (Instagram)

Recent Posts

The Quest for Nitrite Free Curing 01/18/2021
Bacon & the Art of Living -> Chapter 06: Drums of Despair 12/19/2020
Bacon & the Art of Living ->Chapter 5: Seeds of War 12/19/2020
Meat-on-Meat Injection for Bacon and Ham Production: Injection for Profit and Taste 12/12/2020
Origins of the South African Sausage, Called a Russian 11/28/2020
Review of comminuted and cooked meat product properties from a sol, gel and polymer viewpoint. 11/22/2020
Soya: Its Utilisation and Processing 11/22/2020
Meat Emulsions – A Roadmap to Investigations 11/07/2020
Protected: Chapter 11.11: The Quilliam Family and the Early Days of Pig Breeding in South Africa. 10/11/2020
Notes on Collagen 09/27/2020
Denny’s Beef Style Mince vs. Frey’s Veggie Mince 08/28/2020
Poultry MDM: Notes on Composition and Functionality 07/05/2020
Notes on Proteins used in Fine Emulsion Sausages 07/04/2020
Bovril 05/27/2020
Chapter 17: The Boers (Our lives and Wars) 05/21/2020
Yunnan Xuanwei Ham (宣威火腿/xuān wēi huó tuǐ) 05/13/2020
Hot Boning in America 04/26/2020
Part 8.1: A Basic Introduction to Lipid Chemistry and the History of the Recognition of the Role of Lipids in Nutrition 04/14/2020
Protein Functionality, the Bind Index and the Early History of Meat Extenders in America 04/14/2020
How to Cook a Gammon / Ham 04/13/2020
Chapter 16.00: Family Photos 04/12/2020
Chapter 15.00: Lauren Photos 04/12/2020
Chapter 14.00: Tristan Photos 04/12/2020
Chapter 13.00: Woody’s Photos 04/12/2020
Chapter 12.03: Finally 04/12/2020
Chapter 12.02: Eskort Ltd. 04/12/2020
Chapter 12.01: The Castlemaine Bacon Company 04/11/2020
Chapter 12.00: The Best Bacon on Earth 04/10/2020
Chapter 11.10: Meat Curing – A Review 04/10/2020
Chapter 11.09: The Curing Reaction 04/09/2020
Chapter 11.08: Erythorbate 04/08/2020
Chapter 11.06: Regulations of Nitrate and Nitrite post-1920’s: the problem of residual nitrite 04/07/2020
Chapter 11.05: The Preserving Power of Nitrite 04/07/2020
Chapter 11.04: The Direct Addition of Nitrites to Curing Brines – The Spoils of War 04/06/2020
Chapter 11.03: The Direct Addition of Nitrites to Curing Brines – the Master Butcher from Prague 04/05/2020
Chapter 11.02: Fresh Meat Colour vs Cooked Cured Colour 04/05/2020
Chapter 11.01: The Fathers of Meat Curing 04/04/2020
Chapter 11.00: The Union Letters 04/03/2020
Chapter 10.02: C & T Harris in New Zealand and other amazing tales 04/03/2020
Chapter 10.01: Our Manuka Bay Wedding! 04/02/2020
Chapter 10.00: Letters from New Zealand 04/02/2020
Chapter 09.15 The English Pig with links to the Kolbroek and Kunekune 04/02/2020
Chapter 09.14 Dublin and the Injection of Meat 04/01/2020
Chapter 09.13: The Salt of Meat 04/01/2020
Chapter 09.12: The Salt of the Sea 04/01/2020
Chapter 09.11: The Salt of the Earth 03/31/2020
Chapter 09.10: Engaged to be Married 03/31/2020
Chapter 09.09: The Wiltshire Cut 03/30/2020
Chapter 09.08: Irish Animosity 03/30/2020
Chapter 09.07: John Harris Reciprocates! 03/29/2020
Chapter 09.06: Harris Bacon – the Gold Standard! 03/29/2020
Chapter 09.05: Ice Cold Revolution 03/28/2020
Chapter 09.04: Ice Cold in Africa 03/28/2020
Chapter 09.03: American Icehouses for England: Year-round Curing 03/27/2020
Chapter 09.02 – Sweet Cured Irish and Wiltshire Pork 03/27/2020
Chapter 09.01: Lord Landsdown 03/24/2020
Chapter 09.00: The UK letters 03/23/2020
Chapter 08.09 David Graaff’s Armour – A Tale of Two Legends 03/23/2020
Chapter 08.08 Von Liebig and the Theory of Proteins of Gerard Mulder. 03/22/2020
Chapter 08.07 Lauren Learns the Nitrogen Cycle 03/21/2020
Chapter 08.06 From the Sea to Turpan 03/20/2020
Chapter 08.05 The Polenski Letter 03/19/2020
Chapter 08.04 The Saltpeter Letter 03/18/2020
Chapter 08.03 Minette, the Cape Slaves, the Witels and Nitrogen 03/18/2020
Chapter 08.02 – The Danish Cooperative and Saltpeter 03/16/2020
Chapter 08.01 – Mild Cured Bacon 03/14/2020
Chapter 08.00: The Denmark Letters 03/13/2020
Chapter 07: Woodys Bacon 03/12/2020
Chapter 06: The Greatest Adventure 03/12/2020
Chapter 05: Seeds of War 03/10/2020
Chapter 04: The Shambles 03/08/2020
Chapter 03: Kolbroek 03/07/2020
Chapter 02: Dry Cured Bacon 03/06/2020
Chapter 01: Once upon a time in Africa 03/04/2020
Bacon & the Art of Living 02/05/2020
Chuck Vavra’s Prasky 01/05/2020
The Old and the New Pig Breeds 12/25/2019
Christmas Gammon ala Robert and Jaques 12/18/2019
Kolbroek – Chinese, New Zealand, and English Connections 12/07/2019
In Search of the Origins of the Kolbroek 11/23/2019
Pic’s history of meat processing 09/21/2019
The Rib Project 09/16/2019
Difference between Fresh Cured and Cooked Cured Colour of Meat. 09/04/2019
Ducks and Stuphins – Sausage Makers and their OXFORD SAUSAGES 08/20/2019
Salt Bush 08/16/2019
My Memories of Van Wyngaardt 08/10/2019
Builders of the Stone Ruins – From Antiquity to the Pô 08/04/2019
The Stories of Salt 07/18/2019
The impact of Sodium Bicarbonate and the Twaing Impact Crater 06/26/2019
Project – Legendary Foods 06/08/2019
Mild Cured Bacon – Recreating a Legend 05/19/2019
Nguni: Living Works of Art 04/29/2019
MDM – Not all are created equal! 04/21/2019
Tank Curing Came From Ireland 03/12/2019
Weight Loss During Chilling and Freezing of Meat 03/10/2019
The Origins of Polony 03/09/2019
Pancetta 03/08/2019
The Mother Brine 03/03/2019
A Most Remarkable Tale: The Story of Eskort 02/26/2019
Soya: Review of some health concerns and applications in the meat industry 02/10/2019
Recipe: Liver Sausage 02/09/2019
Determining Total Meat Content (Part 7): Connective Tissues and Gelatin 01/21/2019
Counting Nitrogen Atoms – The History of Determining Total Meat Content (Part 6): The Codex 01/07/2019
Best Bacon System on Earth 01/03/2019
Counting Nitrogen Atoms – The History of Determining Total Meat Content (Part 5): The Proximate Analysis, Kjeldahl and Jones (6.25) 01/03/2019
Counting Nitrogen Atoms – The History of Determining Total Meat Content (Part 4): The Background of the History of Nutrition 12/30/2018
Soy and Pea Protein and what in the world is TVP? 12/26/2018
Bobotie – its origins 12/26/2018
Counting Nitrogen Atoms – The History of Determining Total Meat Content Part 3: Understanding of Protein Metabolism Coming of Age 12/24/2018
The Freezing and Storage of Meat 12/18/2018
Concerning the Aging of Beef 12/10/2018
The Chemistry of Sulfur Dioxide in Boerewors 11/16/2018
Oupa Eben’s Boerewors 11/08/2018
Counting Nitrogen Atoms – The History of Determining Total Meat Content (Part 2) 11/08/2018
Counting Nitrogen Atoms – The History of Determining Total Meat Content (Part 1) 10/21/2018
Basics of Dry Curing 09/02/2018
Factors Affecting Colour Development and Binding in a Restructuring System Based on Transglutaminase 08/31/2018
Salt and the Ancient People of Southern Africa 08/05/2018
Factors Affecting Colour Development and Binding in a Restructuring System Based on Transglutaminase 07/30/2018
Concerning the lack of salt industry in pre-European New Zealand and other tales from Polynesia and the region 07/21/2018
Searching for Salt in New Zealand 07/07/2018
An Introduction to the Total Work on Salt, Saltpeter and Sal Ammoniac – Salt before the Agriculture Revolution 06/03/2018
Honey – powerful preserving and healing power (Fascinating Insights from Arabia) 05/18/2018
How did Ancient Humans Preserve Food? 04/18/2018
Carcass Sanatising 03/22/2018
Honey in cured meat formulations 03/18/2018
Joshua Penny and Khoikhoi Fermentation Technology at the Cape of Good Hope 03/06/2018
Erythorbate 02/09/2018
The Sal Ammoniac Project 02/05/2018
Listeria Monocytogenes: Understanding the enemy and plotting the defenses 01/07/2018
Listeria Monocytogenes: Its discovery and naming 12/17/2017
And then the mummies spoke! 12/09/2017
Restructuring of whole muscle meat with Microbial Transglutaminase – a holistic and collaborative approach. 12/02/2017
Bacon Curing – a historical review 11/26/2017
Nitrate salt’s epic journey: From Turfan in China, through Nepal to North India 11/26/2017
Kathmandu’s Urban Food 10/13/2017
Where life stands still and flavours abound – observing life at the Mardi Himal Eco Village, Kalamati, in Nepal. 10/13/2017
Kathmandu’s Urban Food 09/28/2017
Regulations of Nitrate and Nitrite post-1920: the problem of residual nitrite 09/02/2017
Saltpeter, Horse Sweat and Biltong: The origins of South Africa’s national food 09/02/2017
Salt – 7000 years of meat-curing 05/28/2017
The Anglo-Boer War and Bacon: Old enemies become friends 05/21/2017
Saltpeter: A Concise History and the Discovery of Dr. Ed Polenske 01/15/2017
Saltpeter: A Concise History and the Discovery of Dr. Ed Polenski 10/09/2016
Mechanism of meat curing – the wonder of nitrogen 09/04/2016
Mechanisms of Meat Curing – From Hoagland in 1914 to Pegg and Shahidi in 2000 08/14/2016
Bacon Curing – a historical review 05/30/2016
Fathers of modern meat curing 05/27/2016
The Naming of Prague Salt 05/11/2016
Eva’s Beloved Dad 01/28/2016

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The EarthwormExpress
Best Bacon and Rib System on Earth
Bacon & the Art of Living
Nose-to-Tail and Root-to-Tip: Re-Thinking Emulsions
Artisan Meat – Practiced from the beginning of time!
About Nitrite
Eben’s Consumer Product Reviews
In Search of the Origins of the Kolbroek
Eben interviews food people
My memories
Gallery
Water Activity and Moisture Sorption Isotherms
Aside
Useful Documents and Links
Pic’s history of meat processing
Mechanisms of Meat Curing
Advertising and Marketing Matters
The Salt Bridge
Mechanisms of Meat Curing
Pic’s History of Meat Processing
The Quest for Nitrite Free Curing
Nitrate and Nitrite – their history and functionality
The History of Bacon, Ingredients and related technologies
The Power of Microparticles: DCD Technology
Microbiology
The Present and Future of Food Processing
About Eben
The Fascinating History and Use of Ascorbate

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