Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Corned Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pickle
Combine 6 gallons of water, 9 lbs. of salt, 3 lbs. of brown sugar, 1 qt. of molasses, and 1 oz. of pearlash in a large pot.
Boil the mixture and skim off any impurities that rise to the surface.
Once boiling, add 3 oz. of saltpetre and ensure it dissolves.
Pack the beef
Dip each piece of beef into the boiling saltpetre water for a few seconds.
Allow the beef to cool, then pack it into a cask.
Once the pickle is completely cold, pour it over the beef, ensuring it is covered with a weight.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + beeftop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together606 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Sugar + beeftop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,435 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it, helping preserve the beef.
- Saltpetre
- Supports the characteristic pink colour of cured beef during the pickling process.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the harshness of the salt in the pickle.
- Molasses
- Adds depth of flavour and extra sweetness to the pickle.
- Beef
- The main cut being cured, which absorbs the pickle over time.
The step that matters
Cooling the pickle before pouring it over the beef. Pouring hot pickle over the meat would partly cook its surface and warm the cask, encouraging spoilage. The pickle must be fully cold before it is poured over the beef.
“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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