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To Pickle Cheeks of Bacon and Hams

A method of curing pork with salt, sugar, saltpetre, and optional pepper for several weeks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,121 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Pickle Cheeks of Bacon and Hams

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cure

  1. Mix the salt, sugar, saltpetre, and black pepper in a bowl.

Cure the pork

  1. Rub the mixture thoroughly over the pork.

  2. Allow the pork to cure for 4 to 5 weeks, depending on the size.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Pepper + porktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + porktop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,579 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork
The meat being preserved, whose firm texture and flavour develop during the long cure.
Common salt
Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it, slowing spoilage during curing.
Coarse sugar
Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the finished cured meat.
Saltpetre
Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the meat and gives it a rosy colour.

The step that matters

Rub the cure thoroughly over the pork. Salt and curing agents only preserve the parts they reach. Even, thorough coverage makes the cure penetrate evenly, so no area is left under-salted or at risk of spoilage during the long cure.

“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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