Pickle for Curing Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine
Boil salt, sugar, saltpetre, and potash together until dirt from the sugar rises to the top, then skim off the dirt.
Cure the meat
Pour the solution over the meat.
Leave the meat in the solution for 4 to 5 weeks.
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
What each ingredient does
- Salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and preserves it, while seasoning it through the brine.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cured meat.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the meat and gives it a rosy colour.
The step that matters
Skim off the dirt while boiling. Impurities from the sugar rise to the surface as the brine boils. Removing them keeps the solution clear and stops unwanted residue from settling onto the meat during the long 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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