Why it works: Molasses and ham work together. They rank in the top 38% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 55 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
York Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Mix the salt, molasses, and saltpeter in a bowl.
Rub the mixture thoroughly into the hams, focusing on the bones and recesses.
Repeat the rubbing process until the mixture is used up.
Let the hams rest for 2 to 3 days.
Brine and soak
Submerge the hams in a strong brine for 3 weeks, ensuring it is strong enough to float an egg.
Soak the hams in fresh water for 8 hours before using.
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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Molasses + hamtop 38% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together55 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it, helping to preserve the ham.
- Saltpeter
- Helps the meat keep its pink color during curing.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and flavor that balances the salt.
The step that matters
Soaking in fresh water after the brine. Soaking removes excess salt from the surface and inside the meat. Skipping or shortening it can leave the ham too salty to eat comfortably.
“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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