Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
A Brine to Preserve Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the butter
Work the butter into small rolls and wrap each in a clean muslin cloth, tying them with string.
Make the brine
Make a brine by dissolving enough coarse sea salt in 3 gallons of water to float an egg.
Add ½ cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of saltpetre to the brine.
Boil the brine, then let it cool and strain it carefully.
Submerge and keep
Pour the brine over the butter rolls to completely cover them, excluding air.
Place a weight on top to keep the rolls submerged.
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.
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter (in the method)
- Is the fat being preserved, so its texture and flavour are what the brine protects.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the butter's surroundings and inhibits microbial growth in the brine.
- Pure white sugar
- Adds a mild sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the salt.
- Saltpetre
- Helps inhibit spoilage bacteria and contributes to the preserving effect of the brine.
The step that matters
Submerge the butter completely. Any butter left above the brine is exposed to air, which allows oxidation and spoilage microbes to grow. Keeping every roll fully covered and weighted limits contact with air and keeps the preserving brine working throughout.
“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
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 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.