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High-flavoured Hams

A ham cured in a brine of saltpetre, salt, sugar, and porter, then smoked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,579 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

High-flavoured Hams

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the brine

  1. Hang the leg of pork for 3 to 4 days.

  2. In a pot, mix saltpetre, salt, coarse sea salt, coarse sugar, and porter; boil together.

Cure the ham

  1. Pour the hot mixture over the ham.

  2. Turn the ham in the brine twice a day for about 3 weeks.

  3. Add 1 ounce each of finely powdered white pepper and allspice, if desired.

Smoke

  1. After pickling, wipe the ham dry, cover it with bran, and hang it in wood smoke for 1 month.

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. Pork + sugartop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,579 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Leg of pork
Forms the main body of the ham that absorbs the cure and becomes firm and sliceable.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the meat and gives cured ham its characteristic pink colour.
Salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while slowing spoilage during curing.
Coarse sugar
Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cured flavour.
Porter
Adds liquid to the brine and contributes malty, roasted flavour to the ham.

The step that matters

Turning the ham in the brine. The cure must reach evenly through the meat. Turning twice a day keeps every surface in contact with the brine, so salt penetrates uniformly and no area is left under-cured or prone to spoilage.

“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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