Why it works: Beef and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,435 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
To Cure Hung Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Rub a small quantity of salt on the thin part of the beef and let it sit for three days.
Pound the saltpetre and brown sugar together, then rub it well into the beef.
Turn the beef every day; if it becomes slimy, sprinkle a little common salt on it.
Place the beef on a sloping board to allow the brine to run off.
Dry
Let it cure for a fortnight, then hang it up to dry away from heat sources.
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.
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Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,435 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
- Beef ribs
- The main cut that is salted, cured and dried into a preserved meat.
- Saltpetre
- Cures the meat, helping it keep its colour and resist spoilage during curing.
- Brown sugar
- Adds a mild sweetness that balances the salt and softens the cure's harshness.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and helps preserve it during curing.
The step that matters
Turning the beef daily. Salt cures draw out moisture and form brine on the surface, and if the meat is left unturned, the brine pools and spoilage can begin, so turning and adding salt where it turns slimy keeps the cure even and safe.
“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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