Pickle for Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Boil all ingredients together.
Allow the mixture to cool.
Pour the cooled brine over the hams.
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
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the ham and draws out moisture, helping preserve the meat.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the cured meat keep its pink colour and slows spoilage bacteria.
- Treacle
- Adds sweetness and a darker colour and flavour to the cured meat.
The step that matters
Cool the brine before pouring it over the hams. Hot brine can partly cook the surface of the meat and leave it warm for longer, which encourages bacterial growth. Letting the brine cool first keeps the curing process controlled and safer.
“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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