14 hours in, have we ruined our ham and prosciutto?

[SlocombeM]

My wife and I just got our pig back from the butcher, she made a cider brine from a river cottage book we have. We left the brine on the kitchen side overnight to cool. Our kitchen is a steady 20c. In the morning we cut up both hams, most of which was soaked in the brine and a 1.3kg chunk was put into a salt box. I hadn't read about the curing techniques, my wife read the books whilst I was dealing with the sausages. She said that we could leave the brine soaked meat and the salt box on the side in the kitchen. I woke up in the middle of the night about 14 hours after putting the meat into brine and salt box. I started thinking about this temperature, so I started to read the books and both the recipes say to keep the meat in a cool area whilst salting/brining. I wouldn't say 20c (68f) is cool and the brine would have been 20c when we started. My wife is always complaining about the house being to cold, we have very different ideas about a comfortable room temperature.

Have we ruined our meat before we have even started?

 

[BradMT]

My wife and I just got our pig back from the butcher, she made a cider brine from a river cottage book we have. We left the brine on the kitchen side overnight to cool. Our kitchen is a steady 20c. In the morning we cut up both hams, most of which was soaked in the brine and a 1.3kg chunk was put into a salt box. I hadn't read about the curing techniques, my wife read the books whilst I was dealing with the sausages. She said that we could leave the brine soaked meat and the salt box on the side in the kitchen. I woke up in the middle of the night about 14 hours after putting the meat into brine and salt box. I started thinking about this temperature, so I started to read the books and both the recipes say to keep the meat in a cool area whilst salting/brining. I wouldn't say 20c (68f) is cool and the brine would have been 20c when we started. My wife is always complaining about the house being to cold, we have very different ideas about a comfortable room temperature.

Have we ruined our meat before we have even started?

No, you should be fine. Just move them to cooler temperatures. It hasn't really been THAT long and you're curing whole muscles and the salt should inhibit any problem contamination which would be on the surface. The muscle should not be contaminated inside the muscle (unless it was abused).

 

[chef jimmyj]

Was there any Nitrite Cure (cure #1) in the Brine? Please post the Recipes you are following. Cool temps usually means 10 to 13°C. Under refrigeration, below 4°C would be the best choice. I don't think you are in any trouble, yet, but get the meats in the refer...JJ

 

[SlocombeM]

No, just salt PDV.

Ham - Brined:
Half Leg/Ham
2.2kg Salt PDV
2l Apple Juice
2l Cider
2kg Brown Sugar
Pepper Corns - Handful
Coriander Seeds - Handful
Cloves - Tablespoon
Bay Leaves - 2
Thyme - Bunch
Zest of 2 oranges

AND

3 litres of water

 

[chef jimmyj]

That is A LOT of Salt and Sugar. Add in the the Brine liquid is Acidic and you are Fine to proceed. For best result store under Refrigeration...JJ

 

[SlocombeM]

I moved them outside when I woke up, its about 5c. I have just moved them to our fridge which is 3c.
The recipe says 3 days per kilo for brine. Soak overnight before roasting.

Do you think the salt box ham will be alright? Its laid on an inch of salt, surrounded in salt and compressed slightly. This was also left a 20c for 14 hours before I woke up in the middle of the night and put it in the fridge.

Thanks for your help.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Even though the Salt Box may be Oxygen free, the conditions are not conducive to Bacterial Growth. Packing Meat in Salt and leaving it at an ambient temperature of 10°C to 33°C is a millennium old. No worries there...JJ

 

[SlocombeM]

Thanks for all you help