Potassium nitrate

high hazard

Also: saltpeter

FoodGardenPreserve

An oxidizer used in some traditional meat-curing chemistry and as a stump-rotting treatment. It is not a toy, not a firework recipe, and not something to mix with sugar, sulfur, charcoal, or wax.

Shelf life: Indefinite dry
Container: Sealed, labeled OXIDIZER, away from all fuels
Grade: Food/curing grade if it will touch meat. Stump-remover grade is not food.

What it does

▸Some old curing formulas (modern pink curing salt / Prague powder is the safer, measured product — prefer it)
▸Stump decomposition when applied as labeled on a stump-remover product

Store

▸Alone. Cool. Dry. Away from sulfur, charcoal, sugar, waxes, oils, and solvents.
▸If you do not cure meat on purpose, you do not need this chemical.

Hazards

▸Oxidizer — makes other things burn that would not have.
▸Do not invent mixtures. Do not mill it with fuels.

Never mix

Sulfur Beeswax Paraffin wax Petroleum jelly Glycerin Ethanol Isopropyl alcohol 70%Camphor

Gear

Gloves

In the field

For bacon and ham, buy a current curing salt with instructions and a scale. Loose saltpeter from a stump can is the wrong tool.

Source

Curing-salt suppliers for food. Hardware stump remover only for stumps, and only as the label writes.