modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> On Sat, 01 Sep 2007 17:45:45 -0500, zxcvbob >
> wrote:
>
>> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>
>>>> Modom,
>>>> Practice on a decent quality fresh pork "picnic" from the supermarket
>>>> when you can find one on sale. Cure yourself a really good ham *next*
>>>> time you buy a half a pig and you know what you are doing. It's really
>>>> easy to ruin a ham (especially if you cure it with the bone in.)
>>>>
>>>> BTW, the jowl makes good "bacon".
>>>>
>>> I'll take your advice under advisement.
>> Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy your pig. I've had good pork
>> occasionally, but I haven't had *great* pork in over 30 years. (I
>> should see if there are any small hog farmers around here... Maybe
>> check with the local 4H...)
>>
> Thanks. The local small-time meat producers around here a largely
> religiously motivated -- the idea is responsible stewardship of
> Creation, as far as I can tell. To find a producer in your area, you
> might look into local religious groups. Also there are some online
> databases where you can search for farmers in your area. Here's one:
> http://www.localharvest.org/
>
> I like this one better: http://www.eatwellguide.org/
>
> Would you mind telling me your ham curing experiences? Tell me about
> the bone, for example. How does it affect the curing process?
> --
>
> modom
>



I helped my dad butcher 1 or 2 hogs per year a long time ago. A *long*
time ago. The hanging weight was usually about 200 pounds. We built
big walk-in cooler that we used to cool down the carcass and also to
smoke the sausage, bacon, and hams (mostly sausage.) We cut and wrapped
a lot of fresh pork and froze it, and made our own lard and cracklins.
I don't remember what we did most of the cracklins.

Did I mention that it was a long time ago?

The hams can spoil at the bone if the salt doesn't penetrate fast
enough. We used Morton's "Sugar Cure" and IIRC we boned out the hams to
avoid the possibility of spoilage. The hams were rubbed with the cure
at the prescribed rate, and stored in the crisper of the refrigerator
until the salt fully penetrated the meat. Then they were hanged in the
smokehouse-cooler and smoked with hickory chips and oak sawdust. The
ham was incredibly salty.

If I were to do it again today, I think I would leave the bone in and
inject a salt/nitrite solution along the bone, and rub the outside with
the sugar cure (despite its name, it is mostly salt.) After a week or
two in the refrigerator I'd hang them in a cool place -- a cave would
be good -- until they dried out properly and aged.

I have made dry salami recently, and the problem is finding a cool place
for them to dry that is *humid* enough so it doesn't form an impermeable
layer on the outside and rot in the middle. I think ham would have the
same problem. You want it to dry slowly so the moisture in the middle
can migrate to the surface.

Bob