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 ↓
Pickle for Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the brine
Rub the hams well with coarse sea salt.
Pack the hams in a tub.
Boil 4 gallons of water with 7 pounds of coarse sea salt, then skim.
When cold, add 4 ounces of saltpetre, 1 pint of molasses, and 1 pound of brown sugar. Boil and skim the mixture again.
Cure the ham
When cold, pour the brine over the meat, adding more water if necessary to cover.
Weight the hams down to keep them submerged in the brine for 4 to 6 weeks.
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.
-
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Ham + sugartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,084 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Ham + molassestop 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
- Ham
- The main meat that is cured and absorbs the brine over several weeks.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat as it cures.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives cured ham its characteristic pink colour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and a deeper, rich flavour to the cure.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the saltiness of the brine.
The step that matters
Keeping the hams fully submerged. Any meat left above the brine can spoil or cure unevenly, so the hams must be weighted down and kept covered for the full 4 to 6 weeks.
“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.
You might also like
Molasses Sauce32 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.