I am at the moment soaking and salting some meat (specifically chicken thighs with and without bones and turkey wings). First I put them in a colander in a big bowl and weigh them (2070 g), then I fill the bowl and run water slowly for at least half an hour (longer this time, as the bony thighs were frozen), then squeeze out any blood I can, drain them, add the salt (41.4 g, plus a little more for bad measurement), runnel them to cover them evenly with salt, and leave in the colander to drain for at least an hour, covered by the bowl.
When I came back after soaking, I found the packages of thighs with ants in them and an ant trail along the rim of the sink. I washed the ants down the sink, including what I could wipe up with a knit scourer from the trail, and proceeded to drain and salt the meat. I left it salting and came here. I haven’t noticed lots of ants on previous times I salted meat; is it too salty for them?
In most parts of Earth’s landmass, salt is a scarce resource and is sought out by mammals at least. A saltlick is often a good place to spot animals. I am not sure if insects seek out salt. In this case the ants might have been more interested in the chicken than the salt. Ants also seek water in dry times. That’s why they sometimes get in your kettle providing you with ant tea when you boil the water.
i moved into an apartment and noticed quite a lot of ants showing up in the bedroom, i set out my usual borax+sugar water trap, but zero ants were attracted to it. i looked online and read about protein/grease ants, then mixed borax+peanut butter and it drew lots of ants - and the issue was gone afterwards.
I took the meat out of the colander and put it in the fridge, except for one wing which I cooked, and IDed while waiting for it to cook. There were ants in the sink, but none on the meat or the colander. I think they dislike salt.
I don’t have a kettle, and the “tea” I make is a medicinal tea, which I make in a glass pot.