Why it works: Sugar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Bacon, to Cure Breakfast
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Rub the bacon with coarse sea salt, sugar, and black pepper.
If using, add saltpetre for preservation.
Place the bacon in a cool, dry place for several weeks to cure.
Dry
After curing, rinse and hang to dry before cooking.
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 + peppertop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bacon
- Is the meat being cured, so it gains flavour and firmness from the salt and sugar.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, helping preserve it during curing.
- Sugar
- Balances the salt and adds mild sweetness to the cured meat.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the colour and adds protection during the long cure.
The step that matters
Keeping the cure cool and dry for the full period. Curing relies on salt drawing water out of the meat and slowing spoilage. A cool, dry place keeps the meat from spoiling while the salt works through it over several weeks.
“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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