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To Pickle Cheeks of Bacon and Hams

A method of pickling pork using salt, sugar, saltpetre, pepper, vinegar, and brine, followed by smoking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,121 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Pickle Cheeks of Bacon and Hams

Ingredients

Directions

Cure the pork

  1. Mix the salt, sugar, saltpetre, and black pepper (if using) in a bowl.

  2. Rub the mixture thoroughly over the pork.

  3. Place the pork in a deep pickling pan with the rind facing down.

  4. Cover the pork with the remaining salt and sugar mixture and let it sit for 3 days.

Brine and smoke

  1. After 3 days, discard the brine and pour a bottle of vinegar over the pork.

  2. Baste the pork daily with the brine for 4 to 5 weeks.

  3. After salting, drain the pork well, rub it with bran, and smoke it over a wood fire 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. Pepper + porktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + porktop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,579 recipes

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

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Pork
The main meat, which is cured, pickled and smoked until firm and preserved.
Common salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, slowing spoilage during curing.
Coarse sugar
Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cured flavour.
Saltpetre
Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the meat and gives it a pink colour.

The step that matters

Rub the mixture thoroughly over the pork. Salt and cure must reach every part of the meat. Missed or thin spots can let bacteria grow during the long cure, so even coverage matters for safe preservation.

“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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