I was going to visit my brother and his family in Alberta and wanted to take some cured meat. I did back bacon and buckboard bacon but they also like my Honey Loin Ham So I made one up.
Loin hams are not nicely marbled with fat like a butt or hock ham but they make a great deli style ham that slices up well for sandwiches. It also fries up nicely for breakfast if cut thick into steaks. The lower fat is better for you (or so She Who Must Be Obeyed says).
I started with about a 1kg (2 pound) piece of pork loin. You can trim it of excess fat or not per your tastes.
I measured the amount of water it took to cover the meat. Each litre of water weighs one kilogram. It took 6 litres to cover the meat so I had 6 kg of water. The total weight of the water and meat was 7 kg.
For the metrically challenged, that is 2.2 pounds of meat and 6.3 quarts of water. Each quart of water weighs 2 pounds. So there was 12.6 pounds of water. The total weight of water and meat is 14.8 pounds.
For each KG of water and meat I added the following to the water:
If you are working in US measures, for each pound of water and meat I added the following to the water:
I stirred the ingredients until all were dissolved.
For each 1 kg (2 pounds) of meat, I put 50 ml (1/4 cup) of the brine in a container and added 25 ml (2 tablespoons) of honey for each 1 kg (2 pounds) of meat. I stirred to dissolve. I injected that every inch or so into the loin.
I put the loin and any liquid that came out while injecting into my curing vessel and weighted the loin down with a plate.
I let the ham cure in the brine for 12 days. I took it out and rinsed it well then dried it with paper towels.
I like to tie my loin every inch or so to get a rounder shape for the ham.
I put the ham on a rack in the fridge overnight to dry the surface (get pellicle).
I fired up my A-Maze-N Tube smoker with apple pellets and smoked the ham on my pellet smoker at 200 F to an internal temperature of 150 F.
I let the ham sit in the fridge for a couple of days to mellow and then cut it in two and vacuum sealed the halves for the trip loaded in a cooler. Some how a couple of slices fell off and I had to eat them before packing.
The Verdict
This is one of my favourite sliced sandwich meat for ham and cheese and other deli style sandwiches.
Disco
Loin hams are not nicely marbled with fat like a butt or hock ham but they make a great deli style ham that slices up well for sandwiches. It also fries up nicely for breakfast if cut thick into steaks. The lower fat is better for you (or so She Who Must Be Obeyed says).
I started with about a 1kg (2 pound) piece of pork loin. You can trim it of excess fat or not per your tastes.
I measured the amount of water it took to cover the meat. Each litre of water weighs one kilogram. It took 6 litres to cover the meat so I had 6 kg of water. The total weight of the water and meat was 7 kg.
For the metrically challenged, that is 2.2 pounds of meat and 6.3 quarts of water. Each quart of water weighs 2 pounds. So there was 12.6 pounds of water. The total weight of water and meat is 14.8 pounds.
For each KG of water and meat I added the following to the water:
- 3 grams (2 ml) Prague Powder #1
- 40 ml brown sugar
- 40 ml honey
- 15 ml kosher salt
If you are working in US measures, for each pound of water and meat I added the following to the water:
- 0.048 ounce (1/5 tsp) Prague Powder #1
- 1 1/4 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 1/4 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/3 teaspoon kosher salt
I stirred the ingredients until all were dissolved.
For each 1 kg (2 pounds) of meat, I put 50 ml (1/4 cup) of the brine in a container and added 25 ml (2 tablespoons) of honey for each 1 kg (2 pounds) of meat. I stirred to dissolve. I injected that every inch or so into the loin.
I put the loin and any liquid that came out while injecting into my curing vessel and weighted the loin down with a plate.
I let the ham cure in the brine for 12 days. I took it out and rinsed it well then dried it with paper towels.
I like to tie my loin every inch or so to get a rounder shape for the ham.
I put the ham on a rack in the fridge overnight to dry the surface (get pellicle).
I fired up my A-Maze-N Tube smoker with apple pellets and smoked the ham on my pellet smoker at 200 F to an internal temperature of 150 F.
I let the ham sit in the fridge for a couple of days to mellow and then cut it in two and vacuum sealed the halves for the trip loaded in a cooler. Some how a couple of slices fell off and I had to eat them before packing.
The Verdict
This is one of my favourite sliced sandwich meat for ham and cheese and other deli style sandwiches.
Disco
