Why it works: Pork and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,638 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Pickle for Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine
In a large pot, combine 6 pounds of coarse sea salt, 2 pounds of light brown sugar, and 2 ounces of saltpetre with enough water to cover the hams.
Boil the mixture and skim off any impurities until the liquid is clear.
Just before removing from heat, stir in 1 ounce of baking soda.
Cool and apply
Allow the brine to cool, then pour it over the ham.
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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Pork + hamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,638 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Sugar + hamtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,084 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Pork + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,579 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
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out and seasons the meat while helping it hold water as it cures.
- Light brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the salt, and helps the surface brown later.
- Saltpetre
- Supplies nitrate that gives cured meat its pink colour and characteristic cured flavour.
- Baking soda
- Raises the brine's pH, which can help the meat stay tender and absorb the brine.
The step that matters
Skimming the boiling brine. Impurities that rise from the meat and salts can cloud the liquid and affect flavour. Removing them while boiling leaves a clear brine that is safer to cool and use.
“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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