Why it works: Molasses and ham work together. They rank in the top 38% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 55 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
To Cure Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pickle
In a large container, combine the coarse salt, saltpetre, and molasses.
Add enough soft water to cover the hams completely.
Cure the hams
Submerge common-sized hams in the pickle for 5 weeks and larger hams for 6 weeks.
Once a week, remove the hams, flipping them so the top ones go in first and the bottom ones last.
Smoke
Smoke the hams for 2 to 3 weeks using walnut wood or a mix of sawdust and corn cobs.
For delicate flavor, use corn cobs for smoking.
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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Molasses + hamtop 38% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together55 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Coarse salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping it cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps keep the cured meat's pink color and inhibits spoilage bacteria.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and a deeper flavor to the cured ham.
The step that matters
Weekly flipping of the hams. Brine concentration and penetration vary between the top and bottom of the container, so turning the hams once a week helps the cure reach every part evenly. Missing turns can leave some areas undercured.
“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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