Name: Super-excellent Bacon
Ingredients: one ounce of saltpetre in fine powder mixed; three ounces of very brown sugar; eight ounces of bay-salt; four ounces of common salt; one pound of treacle; an ounce of ground black pepper is often mixed; three ounces of bruised juniper-berries are rubbed on to the meat before the sal; 14 lbs; salt

Why it works: Pepper and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,777 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Super-excellent Bacon

Ingredients

one ounce of saltpetre in fine powder mixed
three ounces of very brown sugar
eight ounces of bay-salt
four ounces of common salt
one pound of treacle
an ounce of ground black pepper is often mixed
three ounces of bruised juniper-berries are rubbed on to the meat before the sal
14 lbs
salt

Directions

Cure the meat

Rub hams with salt and drain from brine according to previous directions.
For each 14-lb pork, mix 1 oz saltpetre with 3 oz brown sugar; rub the meat thoroughly with this mixture; let it remain for 8 to 12 hours.
Cover the meat with 8 oz bay-salt (dried and pounded) mixed with 4 oz common salt.
After four days, add 1 lb treacle; keep the hams turned daily and basted with pickle for one month.

Dry and smoke

Hang the hams to drain for a night, fold them in brown paper, and send them to be smoked for one month.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

55Calories

0 gProtein

0 gFat

14 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Acton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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.

Pepper + meattop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,777 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,401 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + meattop 34% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,866 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Saltpetre: Helps cure the meat and gives bacon its characteristic pink colour and cured flavour.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the saltiness of the cure.
Bay-salt: Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it during the cure.
Common salt: Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it during the cure.
Treacle: Adds sweetness, colour and a rich, deep flavour to the cured meat.

The step that matters

Keeping the hams turned and basted during the cure. Turning and basting keep the cure in even contact with the meat, so salt and curing agents penetrate evenly and no part spoils or cures unevenly.

“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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Super-excellent Bacon