Why it works: Ham and molasses 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 ↓
How to Pickle Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Mix the fine salt, saltpetre, and molasses thoroughly.
Rub the hams with the mixture and pack them closely.
Cover the hams with the remaining mixture.
Cure and turn
Let them sit for 10 days.
Turn the hams.
Let them sit for an additional 20 days.
Finish
Remove the hams after the curing period.
Smoke the hams with corn cobs.
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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Ham + molassestop 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
- Ham
- The meat being cured; the salt mixture firms it and helps preserve it.
- Fine salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it while slowing spoilage.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the meat keep its pink color and adds to the preserving effect of the cure.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and a rounded flavor that balances the salt.
The step that matters
Cover the hams with the remaining mixture. Salt must reach every surface and the packed meat must stay in contact with the cure. Uneven coverage lets some areas cure slowly or spoil, so the mixture should be applied evenly.
“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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