put lard on dry cured ham?

seadog92 · Apr 1, 2015

I put a couple hams into salt dry cure in November. They were smoked 40 hours, and left to hang in the smokehouse. Today i scrubbed the mold off and will re-sock to hang again until September. I've seen pictures where some processors coat the exposed end with a thick layer of what looks like lard. First, is it lard, and second, should i do the same? These are the 2nd and 3rd hams I've done. The first one just got washed and is being soaked for Sunday. I didn't put lard on that one. Any ideas? I don't get too much hot summer heat here in Washington state if that makes a difference.

themule69 · Apr 2, 2015

Happy smoken.

PS

seadog92 · Apr 2, 2015

Sorry, you're quite right of course.

20150401_161254.jpg

seadog92
Apr 2, 2015

20150401_161218.jpg

seadog92
Apr 2, 2015

atomicsmoke · Apr 2, 2015

Beautiful.

Why do you soak them?

Indeed ...lard is great to prevent drying of the ham during 2nd stage of curing....so laed away. I understand the Italians add some salt to lard before applying.

Do you have pics before the wash?

seadog92 · Apr 2, 2015

In every recipe I've found for preparing country ham, it says to soak the ham, then boil, then bake. Here's a picture before the ham was scrubbed of the mold.

ham.jpg

seadog92
Apr 2, 2015

atomicsmoke · Apr 2, 2015

Great ham there.

I see. I was assuming you will serve it raw. Do you plan to cook the 2nd and 3rd as well? I cook black forest ham too but these are dry hams - I would eat them just like that sliced thin.

cdn offroader · Apr 4, 2015

I followed a "southern recipe" for cooking my country ham. Even after a fair bit of soaking, boiling then baking it was still pretty salty(but not inedible) here is the recipe I followed from Chow hound

It takes a couple days.

Take ham out of the bag and throw it in the sink and scrub the outside throughly with a stiff bristled brush and warm running water to remove the mold and other things. Get down into all the cracks and crevases.

Place the ham in a large bucket and cover completely with cold water. Soak for 12 hours, drain the water turn the ham over and cover with cold water again for another 12 hours, Repeat this at least 3 times. (my mom always said for three days!) This will help remove the salt and cure.

Then place it in a large boiling (crab steamer) pot, cover with cold water Bring to a steady simmer. Add more hot water as needed to keep the ham completely covered. Simmer 20-25 mins per pound. Check internal temp, remove at 155-160, let rest. Skin the ham while still warm. Carve off extra thin slices for best flavor. or remove from water, add glaze and cook until sugars begin to crystallize, then serve hot or cold.

Anyways it turned out well, but to answer your question about the lard, I did add a light coat of lard, then added a layer of red pepper flakes(apparently it keeps bugs away) but it added a good flavor to the outer cuts. Also did up a batch of red-eye gravy and biscuits. good stuff.

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put lard on dry cured ham?

seadog92

Smoke Blower

themule69

Epic Pitmaster

seadog92

Smoke Blower

20150401_161254.jpg

20150401_161218.jpg

atomicsmoke

Master of the Pit

seadog92

Smoke Blower

ham.jpg

atomicsmoke

Master of the Pit

cdn offroader

Meat Mopper

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