Water-Holding Capacity
Also known as Moisture/protein ratio, PSE meat, Water binding capacity, Holding capacity
The meat's ability to hold on to its own water, which governs how it dries and cures. It depends on the meat's pH and is increased by salt, which is one reason salt is fundamental to curing.
Water-holding capacity is how tightly muscle holds its water, and it quietly shapes the whole cure. It is set largely by the meat's pH: near a pH of about 5.0, close to the muscle proteins' isoelectric point, the proteins hold the least water, while a higher pH holds more. This is why pale, fast-acidifying PSE meat is wet and drippy, and dark, high-pH DFD meat holds water stubbornly.
Salt changes it. Added salt makes the muscle proteins swell and hold more water, which is why a salted or brined meat feels firmer and juicier, and why salt does more than preserve. In a dry cure this interacts with drying: the meat must be encouraged to give up water steadily, neither too fast nor held too tightly.
Because it is a property of the raw material and its pH, water-holding capacity sits with Meat Quality. It is part of why the state of the meat before curing decides how well the curing goes.
Temple element. Pillar, Meat Quality