Curing a "wee ham"

peppermchaggis

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Mar 24, 2016

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• Mar 24, 2016

• #1

Hello everyone!  First time poster longtime lurker.  I have gained a lot of information from you guys and cant begin to tell you how appreciative I am. With butt kissing aside I have a few questions to ask. 

I am looking to wet brine cure a very small ham, around 2.5 lbs. First wet cure for me.   I am trying to figure cure time out on such a small ham.  I have read in many places about 1 day per 2 lbs, using a higher amount of PP#1, as opposed to something like POPS brine.  If I did that im looking at 1 and a half day cure.  Seems very short to me. 

Is it risky using a higher ppm cure on such a small ham?

If I used POPS brine am I still looking at 3-4 weeks on a tiny ham?

If I were to mix up a gallon of water with say 2 tablespoons of PP#1 would I just use the one day per 1/4" rule?

Thank you guys for your time and advice!

 

daveomak

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• Mar 25, 2016

• #2

May I suggest injection curing....   I've done it many times and it works very well....

2.5# ham = 1135 grams...    2.7 grams of cure #1, 22 grams salt for 2% salt, 11 grams sugar for 1% sugar, plus any spices...

dissolve the salt and sugar and spices in 110 grams of clean water....  I use distilled...    filter to remove spices and cool the liquid... dissolve the cure in the liquid....   refer the mix then inject 5-10 ml injections at 1.5" intervals to thoroughly permeate the meat with the mix...  place in a zip bag and refer for 7 days....  inject ALL the mix...  

Injector I use most of the time, especially for small hunks of meat....

SYRINGES 2.jpg

• daveomak
• Feb 24, 2016

OR ...

SYRINGE.JPG

• daveomak
• Feb 26, 2016

 

Last edited: Mar 25, 2016

peppermchaggis

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Mar 24, 2016

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• Mar 25, 2016

• #3

Thanks Dave! I will give it a whirl. This will come in handy as I butcher my hogs mostly in smaller roasts. Wife and I and two boys 5 and 2. So we don't have use for 10 or 20 lb hams very often.

Just a few questions to help edjumacate myself..

Why inject All the brine instead of mixing larger batch and inject 10 or 20%? Faster cure time I assume?
This is not considered equilibrium brining as it is not immersed in more brine correct?

Thanks for all the help and fielding my NOOB questions

 

peppermchaggis

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Mar 24, 2016

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• Mar 25, 2016

• #4

Thanks Dave! I will give it a whirl. This will come in handy as I butcher my hogs mostly in smaller roasts. Wife and I and two boys 5 and 2. So we don't have use for 10 or 20 lb hams very often.

Just a few questions to help edjumacate myself..

Why inject All the brine instead of mixing larger batch and inject 10 or 20%? Faster cure time I assume?
This is not considered equilibrium brining as it is not immersed in more brine correct?

Thanks for all the help and fielding my NOOB questions

 

daveomak

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• Mar 25, 2016

• #5

PepperMcHaggis said:

Thanks Dave! I will give it a whirl. This will come in handy as I butcher my hogs mostly in smaller roasts. Wife and I and two boys 5 and 2. So we don't have use for 10 or 20 lb hams very often.

Just a few questions to help edjumacate myself..

Why inject All the brine instead of mixing larger batch and inject 10 or 20%? Faster cure time I assume? Accuracy...

Click to expand...

 

peppermchaggis

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Mar 24, 2016

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• Mar 25, 2016

• #6

Right on. Thanks again Dave.  I'll keep you posted

 

peppermchaggis

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• Apr 5, 2016

• #7

Hey Dave,

Just wanted to tell you that little ham turned out fabulous!  Its just as good for breakfast with some homegrown eggs too!

Thanks again for your recipe

 

daveomak

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• Apr 5, 2016

• #8

That's good....    easy to do also.....    You can use that method for any whole muscle meat....   For added moistness, read up on Amesphos...  It does wonders for hams and sausages too....   I use it in my beef sticks to keep them moist....

Suggested usage levels:
One third to one half of one percent (0.3 to 0.5%) of the finished product weight.

For home sausage making: Use approximately one fourth to one half teaspoon per pound of meat. Dissolve the phosphate in water before mixing into the meat mixture. Mix into meat until well distributed, mix for approximately five minutes.

 

peppermchaggis

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Mar 24, 2016

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• Apr 6, 2016

• #9

I will check it out thanks.  Im plan on grinding up about 25-30 lbs very soon. Im looking to make bratwurst and kielbasa along with some Italian and breakfast sausage links.