Fresh ham

You will have a cooked leg of pork....  No ham flavor....... 

If you want a ham, I have developed a method of curing that takes about 6-8 days for it to cure thoroughly in the refrigerator... 

If you have cure #1, kosher salt and white or brown sugar, and something to inject with, you've got it made....

What I inject with is the syringe from ...  Cajun Injector injectable marinades.... 


For a 7 pound ham,......

Water for the liquid 10% of the weight of the ham leg...  7#'s X 454 X 10% =  317 grams of water... 

Cure #1 at ~150 Ppm nitrite = 7.6 grams of cure #1...  or 1.5 tsp.....

Salt at 2%...   65 ish grams of salt...

sugar at 1%...  32 grams of sugar...

Dissolve the above in cool water ....  then put in the refer...

Start with injecting along the bones at  ~ 5 cc's per injection..( 5 grams ).  inject ALL along the bones... the joints etc...   You will feel the bones with the injector...   inject along all sides...    this is important to prevent bone sour...   Keep the ham cold...    inject about every 1.5 inches....   

When you feel the bone is completely surrounded in the mix, inject all over the ham at  1.5" intervals in a checkerboard pattern...   this is called stitch pumping...   The commercial meat processors use this method....

When all is said and done, you will have made approximately 60 injections....

Because they are about 1.5" apart, the cure liquid only has to travel about 3/4 of an inch to meet up with the other injections...  that takes about 6 days for the inside of the ham to be thoroughly in contact with the mix...

Be sure to inject ALL of the liquid mix... the meat needs all the ingredients to be properly cured...

This method eliminates the UNKNOWING if the curing stuff gets to the bone... If all the ingredients are dispersed adequately throughout the meat...  If you weigh stuff correctly and inject for a thorough contact, it is idiot proof and makes a very good ham......

I recommend injecting with the ham on a sheet pan so any liquid that runs out, can be added to the bag you place the ham in when all is done.. I use those 2-2.5 gallon zip bags...   pour the liquid that has leaked out into the bag with the ham...

I have done 3 hams using this method and I am very happy with it.....

If you want to add any spices, heat the water and put spices in it in a muslin bag or cheese cloth so the water absorbs the flavors...  add the salt and sugar to dissolve......    Then COOL the water to about 80 degrees before you add the cure #1...  cure does not do well with heat...    then cool the liquid in the refer before injecting....  no need to heat the meat with warm liquid....  It is important to keep any spices out of the liquid so the needle does not plug....

Smoke per normal.... enjoy...

That will work....   Well, now you can make your own ham....   Nothing lost, everything gained....    Dave

 Good description, Dave.

Chuck

stovebolt said:

 
 Good description, Dave.

Chuck

Click to expand...

Thanks....   I found waiting and not knowing, if large hunks of meat were thoroughly cured was a gamble....  So, I thought, inject like the commercial guys do....   It saves on time, refer space and the knowing if stuff got to the center of the  hunk of meat.....

I like the method.... you can inject flavor into the center of the meat.... something equilibrium curing doesn't do too well.....  

Any questions about the specific piece of meat you want to cure, just ask...   It works on pig loins, roasts, anything that is thick...   over 2" or so...