Traditionally, salt was added to food as a form of preservation. Since the invention of refrigeration, salt is more commonly used to enhance flavour, but its ability to reduce microbial growth, improve texture, and increase shelf life are still utilised. In some food preparations, such as cold smoked salmon, the curing process remains essential for the preservation and shelf life of the fish. In the case of cold smoked salmon, the salmon is cured by soaking in a brine solution (a mixture of salt, pepper, and spices) for up to 3 days, before being cold smoked. Cold smoking is a process of smoking the fish over low heat for an extended period of time and results in a more delicate texture and milder flavours than hot smoking. The salmon is cold smoked in a smokehouse at temperatures ranging from 21-32°C, and this process can take anywhere from 4 hours to 3 weeks. The heat in the smoking process is so low that the salmon never truly cooks, which is why proper curing of the salmon is so important.