Why it works: Ham and molasses 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 ↓
How to Pickle Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cure
Mix the salt, saltpetre, and molasses thoroughly.
Pack and cover
Pack the ham closely together in a container.
Cover the meat with plenty of rock salt.
Pour cold water over the meat to cover it completely.
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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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 meat being cured, which the salt mixture penetrates and preserves.
- Fine salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping to preserve it.
- Saltpetre
- Converts to nitrite during curing, helping preserve the meat and give it a pink colour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and a deeper flavour that balances the saltiness.
The step that matters
Covering the meat completely. Any part of the ham left above the brine or cure is exposed to air and can spoil. Keeping every surface submerged and covered in salt protects the meat during curing.
“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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