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Cubing Hams

A method for curing hams using salt, molasses, saltpetre, brine, and cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Cubing Hams

Ingredients

Directions

Cure

  1. Hang the hams for a week to ten days in a cool, dry place.

  2. Mix salt, molasses, and saltpetre in a bowl.

  3. Rub the mixture well into the hams, focusing on the bones and recesses.

  4. Repeat the rubbing process until all the mixture is used.

  5. Let the hams sit for two to three days.

Brine and dry

  1. Submerge the hams in brine for three weeks.

  2. Soak the hams in cold water for eight hours.

  3. Hang the hams to dry in a convenient place for a week or more.

Smoke

  1. Smoke the hams for three to five days, keeping the hocks down and avoiding heat.

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. Molasses + eggtop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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 moisture out of the meat and preserves it against spoilage during curing.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and a mild flavour that balances the sharp salt.
Saltpetre
Helps keep the cured meat's pink colour and inhibits harmful bacterial growth.
Brine
Carries salt into the meat deeper and more evenly during the long soak.

The step that matters

Rubbing the cure in thoroughly. Salt penetrates meat only where it touches the surface, so missed spots, especially around bones, can spoil or cure unevenly. Repeating the rub until all the mixture is used helps the cure reach the whole ham.

“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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