Why it works: Molasses and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 34% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,879 recipes. The science ↓
Curing Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cure
Hang the hams for 7 to 10 days in a cool, dry place.
Mix the salt, molasses, and saltpetre in a bowl.
Rub the mixture thoroughly into the hams, focusing on the bones and recesses.
Repeat the rubbing process until all the mixture is used.
Let the hams rest for 2 to 3 days.
Brine and soak
Submerge the hams in brine for 3 weeks.
Soak the hams in cold water for 8 hours.
Dry, smoke and store
Hang the hams to dry in a convenient place for at least a week.
Smoke the hams for 3 to 5 days, keeping the hock down and avoiding heat.
Store the hams in bags for the summer.
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 + eggtop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,879 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the meat by slowing bacterial growth.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives the cured ham its characteristic pink colour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and flavour that balances the saltiness of the cure.
The step that matters
Smoking the hams. Smoking at high heat can cook the ham and drive off moisture the cure needs to keep. Keeping the hock down and avoiding heat lets the meat dry and smoke slowly.
“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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