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 the beef
Sprinkle ½ cup coarse sea salt on the beef.
Let the beef sit for 3 days.
Pound 2 ounces of saltpetre and 2 ounces of very brown sugar.
Rub the mixture into the beef.
Turn the beef daily.
If the beef becomes slimy, sprinkle a little common salt on it.
Place the beef on a sloping board to allow brine to run off.
Let the beef cure for 2 weeks.
Dry and hang
Hang the beef up to dry away from heat.
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
- Forms the main body of the dish, and its muscle fibres firm up as curing draws out moisture.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives cured beef its characteristic pink colour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the beef and slows spoilage during curing.
- Very brown sugar
- Balances the salt and adds a mild sweetness and flavour to the cure.
The step that matters
Hang the beef to dry away from heat. Drying too quickly or near heat can cause the outside to harden and spoil before the inside dries evenly. Slow, cool air drying lets moisture leave gradually and keeps the meat 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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