Wet Cure Ham Questions - Ruhlman victim, sort of

[beckbjj]

Somehow when I did a search for wet curing ham, this forum wasn't in the results, and it did not occur to me to search for a forum until just now. Just like it's my first day on the internet (which it very much isn't). I'm glad I found this forum before I get to doing the bacon. I'm good at smoking, but have never cured. I'm doing this because my farmer lost his processor and had to do all the butchering himself, and he didn't have time to do curing/smoking also. Anyway, I digress.

I looked at a bunch of different recipes. Some seemed way too salty, some not salty enough, etc. Ultimately I ended up doing sort of a combination of Ruhlman (oops) and a site with a calculator. My ham is more or less a very thick ham steak (i.e. a 1/4 ham), about 4" thick. I used 1 gallon water, 1.25 cups kosher salt, 2 cups brown sugar, 2 TBS Hoosier Hill curing salt #1. It was in the cure, in my fridge, 10 days. No cure was injected. After the 10 days I then put it in clean water for about 2 hours, now it's been on a rack uncovered in my fridge for about 24 hours.

So now that it's sort of too late due to my being too stupid to find this forum, I'm wondering:
1. Is this safe, nitrite-wise?
2. How long should I let it sit uncovered in the fridge before smoking? (I can smoke it tomorrow if the answer is "don't let it sit any longer".)
3. Since I'm hot smoking, and since it's been kept safely refrigerated anyway, I'm thinking the cure isn't really for bacteria per se, but rather for flavor...is that accurate?
4. Now that I've found this forum I'm not going to rely on my previous research regarding internal temp. What internal temp would you recommend I smoke it to? The plan is that I'm not smoking it on the day we're eating it because I can't monitor that and make the other things I need to make, so I'll be smoking it one day and then baking it in the oven the day we're eating it.

Thanks much for any advice.

 

[zwiller]

Welcome! We all have to start somewhere. If you have not found it yet, look for Pop's Brine. Best cure brine to start with. Ideally, we want to convert those volumetric measurements into weight so we can be accurate but I am gonna just eyeball it based on Pops as it is pretty close to it.

1. Cure wise, you are a bit over Pops but recall he was on the low side so will say you're safe. Penetration is 1/4" per day so at 10 days so you are good there too.

2. I would smoke it soon. I think waiting a few days is fine, but drying more than a day in the fridge is probably too much. I would do it today.

3. Would agree mostly for flavor with a hot smoke but cure does kill botulism and some other bugs but not all.

4. Great plan. I never eat anything I smoke same day. In fact, I think the rest makes it better. IT not critical as you are gonna cook it again but I would run to 155F IT.

Hopefully others chime in and confirm or critique me but that's my take on it. Good luck!

 

[chopsaw]

I used 1 gallon water, 1.25 cups kosher salt, 2 cups brown sugar, 2 TBS Hoosier Hill curing salt #1.

I've used 2 TBLS cure 1 in 1 gallon water . No issues there .
For me the salt would be heavy . I use 1/2 cup per gallon .
The sugar is ok in my opinion too . I use a combination of white sugar and brown sugar .

I always go 14 days when curing . 10 days will be right at the limit I think .
I have no issues leaving it in the fridge . As long as the fridge temp is between 36 and 40 degrees .

Post up your results . Plenty of different ways to do these things and they all work .
Some better than others . Take time to learn them 1 at a time .

 

[smokerjim]

I would take a little slice and fry it to check for saltiness, if it's to salty you can soak it in water to get some out once you smoke it it's to late for that

 

[sawhorseray]

Some solid advice right there, ^^^^, can't go wrong. I had a book from Ruhlman maybe 16-17 years ago, every recipe was about double the salt I'd ever used as I recall. RAY

 

[zwiller]

For me the salt would be heavy . I use 1/2 cup per gallon .

Yeah, on the salty side for sure but not a fail I bet. I think with the shorter cure and soak step, it might not be too bad.

Here's Pops: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pops-curing-brine.306181/

Heads up with volume, the salt type matters big time. Table salt is about HALF the weight of kosher/sea. IE one cup table salt would be TWO cups kosher/sea and fail territory. It's REAL easy to overlook.

 

[Brokenhandle]

All really good advice! And times 2 on taking a slice and doing a fry test. You could soak more in water to help with that but once smoked you're stuck with it.

Ryan

 

[beckbjj]

Wow, thanks all!!! Very helpful! I did see Pop's on here last night, which is when I realized maybe Ruhlman wasn't the way to go, LOL. Next time for sure.

I actually saw recipes that called for WAY more salt than I used. And I reduced Ruhlman's kosher salt by 1/4 c. and the curing salt as well (actual recipe would've been 1.5 c. kosher salt and 2 2/3 TBS curing salt for a gallon). Anyway, I'm glad I at least had the right instinct to reduce some, albeit not enough.

Great idea to cut off a bit and do a taste test. I will do that today. I'll also try to smoke today if the salt is okay and I don't need to soak it more.

Live and learn...I'll get it right next time, which will probably be doing the bacon. I'll be sure to read the bacon section here!

Thanks again!

 

[chopsaw]

Ruhlman wasn't the way to go,

He's salt heavy for sure , but the only way I knew that was because I was a member here .
I always wonder how many people get caught up in that because they don't know better .
The one thing I do use out of the book is the pickling spice for pastrami . So keep that in mind when you do one . You will , trust me .

Post up that ham when you get it smoked .

 

[thirdeye]

And one more note on Pop's Brine, there is quite a range of recommended salt, white sugar and brown sugar amounts per 1 gallon of water. The range is 1/3 cup to 1 cup of each. The constant is a heaping tablespoon of Cure #1 and this should never be changed. Where I'm headed with this is the fact you can experiment and find the amount of salt and sugars that works best for you.

 

[zwiller]

Not that I am really defending the guy but seem to recall Ruhlman was one of the "hot cure" guys? Higher salt the quicker the cure.

 

[beckbjj]

I did cut a small piece off and fried it, and it was good! I think it will be fine once smoked (which I did not get to do today but will do tomorrow). And now next time I'll have a better idea of where in the range I should aim for as far as salt in the Pop's recipe. I'm glad the Ruhlman one made me nervous at 1.5 cups and I reduced it to 1.25.

Thanks again all!

 

[beckbjj]

Well, believe it or not, my first ever home cured and smoked ham came out looking and tasting like...HAM. Even for a first try, it's at least as good as the ones we used to get from my farmer's processor, not overly salty or anything. Next time will be even better. This is not the best pic, but it tastes great. We served it with a sweet mustard sauce.

 

[KBFlyer]

salt brining calculator

 

[smokerjim]

Looks good

 

[GaryHibbert]

Yep, sure looks good to me.
Gary

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good . You're on your way now .
What temp did you take it too ? Looks like 160's plus .

 

[beckbjj]

Looks good . You're on your way now .
What temp did you take it too ? Looks like 160's plus .

Ack. I "starred" this in my inbox and then I forgot all about it until now.

I think it looks like more because of a couple things.... I smoked it to 160 but I did it a week or 10 days ahead of when I was serving it, so this pic was after heating it up again. I smoked it in a Cameron smoker in the oven because the weather here wasn't good for keeping my outdoor grill at a specific temp, nor for me to go out to check the thermometer; and the foil I used to cover the ham was touching the top which also makes the top/bone brown more.

I've been getting my meat from the same farmer for many years, it's actual pasture raised pork where they roam freely, and it's really delicious. I reheated it the same as I've always done when the hams were made by the processor, and I was really happy at how similar it ended up being. It's just two of us and we wolfed it all down before I even had a chance to make any of my "I'm sick of eating ham" recipes (fried rice, creamed eggs and ham, ham & peas pasta, etc.). But I do still have a smaller portion of the quarter ham that I can make stuff with, and then the two other portions are still uncured/unsmoked in the freezer so I can do them when the weather is better for it.

Probably looking at curing and smoking the bacon starting in a couple of weeks, weather permitting.

 

[chopsaw]

I smoked it to 160

I was thinking 160 . Nothing wrong with that temp . I was just wondering . Sometimes a higher temp will add to the tenderness .
Time for another one .

 

[beckbjj]

I was thinking 160 . Nothing wrong with that temp . I was just wondering . Sometimes a higher temp will add to the tenderness .
Time for another one .

Yes, I've found that's especially true with the pasture raised.