Why it works: Pork and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,121 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Dry-cured Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cure
Mix the coarse sea salt, molasses or sugar syrup, saltpeter, black pepper, and red pepper well.
Rub the mixture thoroughly over the pork.
Cure the pork
Pack the pork in a barrel, box, or on a table.
After three days, break the bulk and repack to ensure thorough contact with the cure mixture.
Allow the meat to cure for two days for each pound of meat; for example, a 10-pound ham will take 20 days.
Finish
After curing, hang the meat in the smokehouse without washing.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Molasses + peppertop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together897 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pork + molassestop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together825 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork
- Is the meat being preserved, and its thickness sets how long the cure must penetrate.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and slows bacterial growth, preserving and seasoning it.
- Molasses or sugar syrup
- Adds sweetness and balances the salt's harshness while helping the cure cling to the meat.
- Saltpeter
- Helps preserve the meat's pink colour during long curing.
- Black pepper
- Adds aroma and pungent flavour to the cured surface.
The step that matters
Repacking after three days. Salt and cure only penetrate where they touch the meat, so breaking the bulk and repacking ensures even contact. Skipping this can leave uncured or spoiled spots in the pork.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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