Why it works: Meat and pepper 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 ↓
Curing Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine
In an iron kettle, combine salt, molasses (or sugar), saltpetre, black pepper, and baking soda.
Boil the mixture, then cool it in a wooden vessel.
Cure the hams
Pack the hams in a barrel and weigh them down.
Pour the brine over the hams.
Let the hams cure in brine for 4 to 5 weeks, ensuring they are similar in size.
After boiling, add the ground black pepper.
Smoke
Smoke the hams with hickory wood and a little sulphur to prevent flies.
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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Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,777 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Molasses + peppertop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together897 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Meat + molassestop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together441 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and inhibits bacteria, preserving the ham during curing.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the meat keep a pink colour and adds to the preserving effect of the cure.
- Molasses or sugar
- Balances the harshness of the salt with sweetness and adds depth of flavour.
- Ground black pepper
- Adds aroma and a mild, sharp bite to the cured meat.
The step that matters
Keep the hams fully submerged in brine. The hams are weighed down so they stay under the brine for the whole 4 to 5 weeks. Meat left above the liquid can spoil and cure unevenly, so the cure only works where the brine reaches.
“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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