Salt, animal fat, preserving, hopes for the upcoming advancements to cooking.

[Bumbleebee95]

I've been thinking about some of the possibilities for the upcoming overhaul to the cooking system, here's what I'm hoping to see:

Water from fishing holes, sea water could be boiled dry to create salt. Water from lakes and ponds would still need to be boiled to make it safe to drink.

Salt uses: 
Drying and smoking meat and fish. Meat/fish + salt, hung indoors for several days or over a fire for several hours. Cooking skill would determine condition.
Creating a brine to preserve food.
Combining portable water with a lot of salt to make saline solution for use as an antiseptic.

Animal fat uses: 
Collected from hunted animals, bears would be the best source and rabbits would provide little to no fat. Needs to be rendered over a fire before it can be used in cooking/crafting.
Used in cooking to up the calorie count in food, make Pemmican and for making confit or potted meat/fish (cooking and storing in fat is a early method of preserving food)
Candles: recycled can + rendered animal fat + cloth, provides a small amount of warmth and burns for a long time (8-12 hours) provides less light than a torch or lantern but can be used to craft by. Can can be recovered by harvesting.

Other things I hope to see:
Cooking spits, for cooking in bulk. Instead of cooking meat 1-2 kilos at a time over a fire you could add a few kilos of meat to the spit. Wooden spit (craftable, low durability) 1-3kg, metal spit (found item) 1-8kg.
Drying rack, used by a fire for smoking or indoors for drying meat.
Stock pot, for bulk cooking.
Bulk preparation of rose hips, reshi mushrooms, birch bark ect.
Pine needle tea.
Improvised ice box
Camping stove. Fueled by lantern oil, allows cooking indoors in locations without a stove/fire.

[RegentRelic]

The main thing I am hoping for is that with improved cooking comes a hit to the power of starvation.

[Kranium]

7 hours ago, RegentRelic said:

The main thing I am hoping for is that with improved cooking comes a hit to the power of starvation.

Totally. I mean, hunger should be tied to other things, as well: the more hungry you are = the quicker you tire (both sleep & stamina). That's how it works in real life. Otherwise, right now, I find the new glimmer fog more scary than starving LOL

[Lexilogo]

I am personally under the impression that Hinterland's meaning is being able to prepare specific stews and etc out of a combination of different ingredients, that make for something greater than the sum of their parts.

However, I would adore a proper food curing/preservation system that replaces the current system of littering 0% Bear steak everywhere to eat off the floor once you've unlocked Lvl5 cooking.