Why it works: Sugar and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 34% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,866 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
A Formula for Pumping Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pickle
Dissolve 15 ounces of refined saltpetre and 6 pounds of refined sugar in 12 gallons of 100 degree brine.
If using for export meats, add 3 ounces of granulated boracic acid.
Agitate the mixture well while pumping.
Pump and pack
Use 5 to 6 gallons of this pickle for every 300 pounds of meat.
Pack the meat in a 50 degree pickle.
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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Sugar + meattop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,866 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Refined saltpetre
- Supplies nitrate that helps set the curing colour and flavour of the meat.
- Refined sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the salt, softening the cured flavour.
- Brine
- Carries the cure into the meat and provides the moisture for pumping.
The step that matters
Agitate the mixture well while pumping. Dissolved cure ingredients settle if the pickle is not kept moving, so the strength varies and parts of the meat receive uneven cure.
“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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