I WANT to make ham!

Desert Oasis Woman

purchased 5 "fresh picnic hams" at $1.49 / lb, each around 9#s. All have dark red meat at the open end, and about 4-6 inches of "leg."

toying with the idea of a citrus brine I found in Jim Tarantino's Marinades... cookbook: juice and zest from oranges, lemons, limes (have some Goya Bitter Orange Marinade), 5 qts. water, 1 cup kosher salt, and 3/4 cup light brown sugar....

The book suggests only brining for 8-12 hours. I like this because so many hams are WAYYY TOOOOO SSALTY No soaking or rinsing mentioned.

also considering finishing it with a lemon glaze from the cookbook -- the last 5 minutes is recommended.

Unsure about whether to score rind, trim, or leave alone...

Unsure about whether to poke a few holes into meat for brine to penetrate since the hunk o meat is large...

Unsure if I need to go purchase an injector and inject some brine into ham...

What do you think??? Anyone tried anything similar?

reelgem

Wow Kari!! That's alot of ham. You are very abitious. I've never cooked a fresh ham so I can't help. The price was right,that's for sure. This will be interesting. Good luck!!

Desert Oasis Woman

:laugh: just gonna start with ONE, Anne :silly:
but each is very large with bones, too....will give Ku a chance to make a pot of beans :silly: which he can eat all by himself [since I don't like beans ]

reelgem

Ok, I thought you were having a big "Hamming it up in the desert" party. Wish I was there right now and out of the cold. Can't believe you don't like beans. I love 'em!!! I hope you and Ku have a great Thanksgiving if I don't talk to you.

Desert Oasis Woman

:laugh: OPEN invite for you and Del to come down and "ham it up with us" ANYTIME!

Celtic Wolf

Fresh Ham is plain old pork. To turn it into the ham we all know and love it needs to be cured. 12 hours in a brine won't get you there.

Desert Oasis Woman

or is that not something one can do at home with any reasonable measure of success??
Thanks

Celtic Wolf

To properly cure a ham it takes a couple to three days or more. I'd steer clear of a brine with any acid in it because that will start to cook the meat. I am thinking Hi Mountain has cures for Ham.

One it is cured it need to be cooked. Lo 'n' Slow is best. Most smoke houses are maintained at 180-220 degs. You want to make sure the ham reaches 165. You aren't looking for this to be pulled. In the case of Ham the longer you let it take to get to 165 the better.

The longer it smokes the saltier it will be.

Desert Oasis Woman

I am thinking Hi Mountain has cures for Ham

am pretty sure they do...but was trying to do it without the extra chemicals :unsure:

Do you think the water/salt/sugar preportions are about right in that recipe to let it sit for 3 days or so???

Celtic Wolf

yes, just leave the citrus out of it..

Car Wash Mike

Kari tells me, your going to be an IEC at OKC next year.
I'm wishing for some snow.


Mike

Celtic Wolf

You are missing one ingredient though..

Salt Peter AKA Potassium Nitrate. You can buy this at most any drug store. Just make sure it's food grade.

Desert Oasis Woman

Thanks

Bordello

Just testing to see where this shows up.

Thanks,
Bordello

Desert Oasis Woman

sshhhhh, Mikey! You and I were going to "spring it" on her in OKC...now she may not show :(

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

made ham for easter, cured. great stuff.

a picnic shoulder is from the front end of the pig. you want the fresh uncured ham (leg) of the beast.

then you need to cure it (pink salts, etc.)

hard to type it all out here. you also don't really have time to do it for christmas, let alone thanksgiving. not sure what the intended serve date was.

heck, i'm late starting my easter one.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

zackly. some of them chemicals have a damn good reason for being there.

better to by the cures on line at a curing website. it's easy to do, but she might want to try something simpler first.

my ham was in a brine for a week and it still only penetrated abut half way in to the thickest part. cold slows it down...

Doug in Eggmonton

I made one using the Dizzy Pig instructions fo Canadian Thanksgiving and it was unquestionably the best ham I have ever tasted and have had comments from that days guests ever since. The cure and soak was 11 days.

Doug

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i think my recipe called for about the same amount of time, but my ham was 17 pounds or so. i also think i heard that the temp slows the cure, and my fridge was a spare fridge that i keep as cold as possible. stuff sometimes freezes

if i could cure for 11 days i'd be thrilled. gonna check out that recipe.

my half-ham/half-roast was delicious. was interesting seeing only half the depth of the meat being a ham, the other half white pork. hahaha

mtn egger

I have a customer that does fresh hams cooks them pretty much like boston butt but I think he pulls them at about 165-170 so he can slice them. Everyone I know that has had his ham loves it. I'm thinking about trying it, call a local butcher and all he had was a 30 lb ham. I'm waiting till next week to get a smaller one, maybe 20-25 lbs

Desert Oasis Woman

Thanks Mtn Egger,
How does your friend prepare them prior to smoking??

hornhonk

Hey, DOW! would you dance an Irish Jig for a mini?

BBQ Paddy

I'm wondering if injecting it would help.

 

Sea2Ski

Talk about resurrecting a post from the dead...

I want to make prosciutto from scratch...   I want to find a mentor, but I do not think they exist here in the states.  I can read all I want, but there is something necessary that books can not teach, and that is experience.

yzzi

Sea2Ski said:

Talk about resurrecting a post from the dead...

I want to make prosciutto from scratch...   I want to find a mentor, but I do not think they exist here in the states.  I can read all I want, but there is something necessary that books can not teach, and that is experience.

You and me both. I'm going to try with a wild boar from my next hunt. It's worth a shot and if it goes south, some gator in the lake will be happy.

Sea2Ski

When are you going to start? I mean, I know you first have to get a boar, but is this something you are planning to start ASAP?
I am thinking about starting next January'ish. That seems like the best time for me, and I know I do not know enough to start in a few weeks.