The Easter Ham

[white cloud]

Like I said, when my brother brought a country ham up from TN it was quite salty, Now this place is well known for ham and bacon and do the mail order thing. They say the ham will keep 9-12 months and they ship their bacon un- refrigerated. Well you gave it a go and learned something and everyone else benefitted by your experience. Thanks Rich. It does look good.

 

[smokin' joe]

Looks nice rich...I am fighting salt issues too, thank god a quick soak works both ways. Points for your project!!!

 

[smoke_chef]

Wow Rich. Points from me on the process alone. Really Awesome!

 

[smokin' joe]

I am thinking about trying burlap sacs for aging the hams. I saw you used a pillow case...yea or nea?

any breathable fabric would be fine I am sure but I am taking notes here for future reference.

Let me know...

 

[erain]

good job rich! looks good,too bad about the salt bu next time be better i bet. also great job o sharing procedure with all. points 4 ur effort and play by play!!!

 

[richtee]

Yanno WC... I don't doubt this one would ship AND keep. Big ole hunk of pork jerky LOL! Second soak and I froze the balance of it. Man it'll be good pulled.

 

[richtee]

Thank you kindly..and others following this thread. it's all about the MEAT! :{)

 

[erain]

you got it rich, its tuff bein the top predator in the food chain eh!!! ha

 

[nh3b's]

I liked how pink it turned. Im sorry it was too salty for taste but nice save with the water soak. At least it came out a 7 for ya witch is great for first time anything. Hope the next one ya do comes out a 10!

 

[lcruzen]

That ham looks wonderful. Glad all of your efforts payed off. If folks are taking it home it must have been tasty. I did a brine cured picnic and after smoking sampled an outside piece and was very salty. Put it in the fridge overnite and tried an inner piece by the bone and it was perfect. I did notice that after I sliced it the deep rich color of the meat deteriorated kinda quick. Some kind of oxidation?

 

[richtee]

How long did you cure it for? if you mean the meat went to normal roast color, you did not get a full cure on the ham. Which would explain the "salty at surface" thing too.

 

[lcruzen]

Cured it for 5 days after doing several injections along the bone. Here's what it looked like when I cut into it to serve. It was falling off the bone.





Towards the end of dinner I noticed some of the first cut pieces color seemed to change. This was a 9.5 lb picnic so what would the optimum cure time? I did also freshen it over night before smoking.

 

[richtee]

Well, according to Hoyle...heh.. allow 7 days per inch. It looks pretty darn good. I do see a couple SMALL areas that seem the 'roast brown' color.

Your method was no doubt a standard brine mix of 1-4 ratio TQ to water. Given the injection, I would have to assume there's an inch thick strip of meat somewhere inside that is gonna need the full 7 days. My tendency would be to cure for a longer time, since freshening SHOULD remove excess salt.

Also, aging appears to really add the extra dimention to the meat. Even a week seems to solidify the cure and color of the product.

I'm pretty green at this myself and am still learning the art. I have a full loin under TQ and a Smitty's/spice cure vacpaked for 6 days now. Playing around heh.

Keep data and keep trying!

 

[lcruzen]

I'll always be trying and keeping notes. Too much fun. Next time I'm going to use a fresh ham instead of a picnic. Gotta try some bacon soon to add to the repertoire.