Dry cured ham

[KGB-1]

Excellent photographic documentation!

KGB

 

[Pumbaa]

6 days after the last cure application this is whats left, the rest has been absorbed

collected about 3/4 a cup of liquid this time, about the same as after the first week and about half of the week prior

cure brushed off (with a vegetable brush) and back into the fridge for another 2 weeks for the cure to evenly distribute through out the ham . . . Meat is now VERY firm and much deeper of a red then from when it was totally "green". To me it almost is starting to look like beef < shrug > Liking the progress so far . . .

 

[StMarcos]

"Cooking by Hand" by Paul Bertolli has a very good description of traditional style dry-cured serrano/proscuitto. Also has the only decent technical description that I've found (in English) for making traditional balsamic. I also always find a few tidbits in the Marianski and Kutas texts. Have never done a dry cure ham myself. Iberico is quite pricey - about time I made an attempt! http://www.jamon.com/shopiberico.html

 

[Pumbaa]

Well since we are getting hit with a blizzard figured no time better then today to smoke the ham. Been about 5 weeks since I started this thing and it's been equalizing for 16 days now. I modified my UDS so I can hang it in there and I will be building a net for it in a few minutes. Using a 50/50 combo of oak and hickory dust with my a-maz-n cold smoke generator Of course photos will follow just need to get the wife and kid out of the house and ot of my way then get the caffeine levels up adequately first . . . will edit this post with updates.

**EDIT**

Lay out the risers for the net. Note to self next time anchor them onto something, preferably a big heavy something so they dont keep flopping out of position as you work with them

start weaving in your cross strings. Wasnt to difficult but thinking next time I'm going to knot each intersection had a bit of a issue with slippage cuz it wasnt staying tight until weight was added to the mix. did 1 side first then flipped it over (at which time all my risers when KAH- BLU-EY forcing me to re adjust them) and do the other side.

weight added and working like a charm. Note to the rest of you . . . if you try to take this picture get help. Holding a 18 lbs ham over your head at arms length in 1 hand and a camera/phone in the other at arms length and trying to see WTF you are doing isnt as easy as it sounds.

OK it isnt pretty but it works, and thats what matters. Got the smoke generator all loaded up. Initially was going to use a piece of charcoal to get it going cuz I couldnt find my pocket torch for the life of me BUT . . . yeah 1 trip to the hard ware store later I got it lit with my new pocket torch that I promptly hid in my basement tool box where my wife fears to tread.

Got it hanging in my UDS now. I added a U bolt to the inside of the lid to hang it from. That little generator will give me about 8 hours of good smoke at which time we'll take a look and figure out if we are going to add more smoke or not. I'm looking to get it a nice deep brown before I pull it out.

Stay tuned

***EDIT***
24 hours in the smoker and not gonna pull it yet, we'll see how it looks tonight

 

[Pumbaa]

OK last installment for a while . . . Pulled the ham out of the UDS after 48 hours. It's just getting too cold at night to keep it going and not end up with a 18lbs porkcycle. (13f last night) Was hoping for another 2 days but ya do what ya can with what ya got . . .

black streak is from condensation dripping down on it . . .

little schmutz when I set it on the grill while reloading the smoke generator . . .

wrapped in a brown paper bag (bottom cut out) and tied with more butchers twine to keep the bag on

Hanging down by the sump . . . it's new home until at least Easter

 

[manoaction]

This whole thread was awesome. Thanks for posting and be sure to come back in April.

 

[manoaction]

And when I say April, I of course mean March, because I'm a heathen who can't remember when Easter is.

 

[Pumbaa]

Time to turn this into a necro thread and bump it....

I cut the ham down on 01 May all I can say is GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY

Kinda looks a little brutal but it cleaned up very nicely with a vegetable brush and a bit of warm water

The inside. Tasted great just as is, just need to cut it PAPER thin cuz it's a touch salty raw. . . . but I have to say not bad for raw moldy pork that's been hanging in a basement for 5-6 months. Anyway... I soaked it for 2 days changing water every 8-12 hours to pull some of the salt out then stuck it in the oven at 325 for 25 min/lbs. The last hour I pulled the skin off and coated it in a stoneground mustard glaze....

Only thing I'll change is next time I'll be cutting that hock off a bit lower... Trying to debone it around the knee joint was a royal PITA

yeah I'll be doing 4-5 again starting in early Aug

 

[Revvy]

Moldy pig bits....AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[StMarcos]

Looks awesome! Did you really need to bake it?

 

[Pumbaa]

didnt need to but if I tried to eat all 15+ pounds as is I'd be retaining more water then a Olympic pool