Determining Cured/Aged Ham Doneness

[mjacobsen]

Hi all,
I started curing a 20 lb ham last night, following the Rhulman recipe for a Blackstrap Molasses Ham. Per the recipe, my plan is to rinse, smoke, and then hang it after 20 days of curing. One thing that the book doesn't go into is when to tell that the ham is done (as in, can be eaten without cooking). It just says "hang for 7 weeks". My ham is much larger than the recipe calls for (20 vs 12-15 lbs), so I upped the ingredients proportionally. Another thread in this sub-forum said that country hams needed to lose up to 18% of their weight to qualify as a country ham. I've dry aged salami before, and the target for those is 30% of their weight.

Anyone have any thoughts or experience here? What weight loss should I shoot for in order for it to be safe to eat uncooked?

Thanks!

Matt

 

[chopsaw]

Yes and no ,,, I have the book , and when I compare it to what I have learned here , and other trusted sources , I look real close at what he is saying . I think he is off on alot of things , like percent of salt he uses .
I just went and looked at the recipe you are doing . He says 7 weeks , I would think that goes with the weight of the ham he has in the recipe . Gets me he says if it's not dried to the center , it's still good cooked . ? really ? What kind of method is that . Maybe he can't say because he don't know .

I just wanted to comment on what I find the book to be . Someone will help you with getting the end result you want .
Good luck .

 

[daveomak]

If you Google Rhulman, you will find he is a writer... Not a charcuterist... He's not even a chef... I don't trust or use any of his stuff... I get ideas from his writings and then search a reputable source...
https://gallatin.ca.uky.edu/files/how_to_make_a_country_ham.pdf
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/country-cured-ham-from-go-to-show-q-view.134415/