Why it works: Molasses and sugar 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 ↓
Ham Brine
Ingredients
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large container and stir until fully dissolved.
Add the mixture to the cold water.
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 + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 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 sea salt
- Draws water out of and into the meat, seasoning it and firming its texture.
- Saltpetre
- Helps cure the meat, preserving it and giving it a pink colour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, a deep flavour and a darker colour to the meat.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the salt and supports browning.
The step that matters
Fully dissolve the mixture before adding it to the water. Salts and sugars that stay undissolved settle unevenly, so parts of the brine would be stronger than others. Dissolving them first gives the cold water an even concentration that penetrates the meat uniformly.
“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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