Attempting a Cider-Cured Ham

[pickledgarlic]

Hola,

I'm a new member (just today actually) and I'm trying to get some info from the expertise that is floating around on the forum.

In short, I'm attempting a cider cured ham from The River Cottage Meat Cookbook on a 20 lb pork leg from an organic, grain-fed, free range pork. I'm crossing my fingers.

The interweb has been unhelpful in wet brining of pork --most recipes I find deal with injection methods with short cure times of 3-10 days. I'm not interested in treating my damn good looking pork leg like a heroin junky. The recipe from the River Cottage Cookbook is unique so far in that it's a traditional wet brined ham that soaks for around 2 days / pound.

It's going to brine in my fridge for the start (around 4C). Though some information I've seen on the web says that if it drops around or below this then the brine doesn't work. I live on a 4th floor apartment complex with a covered porch that is sitting around 8-9C during the day. In a week or so I'll transfer it outside (it's going to be in a coleman cooler) to sit out there once it hits a solid constant 4-5 C outside.

The brine, so far, provided it covers the ham which I'll find out in a few hours once it's cooled:

2 L water

4 L pure unconcentrated apple juice (I'm going 2 L apple juice 2 L apple cider actually)

1 L honey-crisp apple hard cider (8% alc)

2 kg non-iodized pickling salt

2 kg brown sugar

30ish juniper berries

10 bay leaves, crushed

handful of black peppercorns

It calls for saltpetre (optional) but I have absolutly no idea where to find it in Vancouver. I've tried contacted Oyama sausages (sellers of damn fine cured products) but the Big Boss is out so they weren't able to direct me where I could buy them or if I could score the 30g or so I need off of them. If someone knows where I can find it I'll happily add it to my brine. It's not essential, but I'd rather have a pinkish ham.

Total cost of ingredients is around $130 canadian (which is surprisingly around $130 american, go loonie!). Hopefully it works out as I'm a poor starving grad student who shouldn't be spending money on things like this.

Does that seem right? Too strong? To weak? Should I inject some down the bone as a 20 pound ham is rather large to ensure some solution deep in the ham? Has anyone attempted this? Any tips?

The plan is to cure for 30-40 days and then wrap it in cheesecloth, then put it in a coarse burlap bag, and in it's cage of chickenwire I made to hang it from my clothesline. No sun really hits my porch right now and it seems to be a very good temperature here in Vancouver to air-dry stuff. Mid-late november should be 2-3 C out there, with a good breeze, and no bugs. The cage is to keep away birds and such.

I'll post pictures sometime later tonight or tomorrow, as well as the brining solution as it gets updated. The plan is to keep you posted and let you know how it turns out, and what crazy party it eventually gets eaten at (and how).

Advice is more than welcome, I've never attempted anything like this before --though I've cured and smoked my own bacon before.

cheers,

-mat

edit -> do I need to trim fat? Leave the rind on?

edit -> had my salt proportion wrong, was 3kg, is 2kg in the actual brine.

edit -> The joys of living a block from a good butcher. He turned my ham into 2 full hams (I pulled it out of the brine). Now brining a much smaller piece of ham (10 lbs) and working on recalculating my brine today. It's sitting in the old stuff right now, but it'll be in a new batch tonight. The other ham is going to get turned into something to eat on sunday.

Edited October 26, 2007 by pickledgarlic (log)

[canucklehead]

I was just looking at that recipe last night - good for you for trying it out. The RC recipes are always tempting - just because the weather seems like its pretty close to Vancouver.

Take some pictures.

You may want to contact the Gourmet Warehouse to see if they can locate some saltpeter for you. Otherwise - beside Oyama, the British Butcher on the North Shore could perhaps provide some guidance.

Good luck!

[qrn]

For saltpeter. You will want #1 curing salt...Saltpeter is not used any more, as the amount you need is to small to measure accurately. the #2 and #1 cure are 6.25% so they are easier to measure...They also have a huge recipe file that you can d/l ...Probably has ham info

Try www.stuffers.com . They are in Langly B.C.

Bud

[pickledgarlic]

For saltpeter.  You will want #1 curing salt...Saltpeter is not used any more, as the amount you need is to small to measure accurately. the #2 and #1 cure are 6.25% so they are easier to measure...They also have a huge recipe file that you can d/l ...Probably has ham info

Try www.stuffers.com  . They are in Langly B.C.

Bud

←

Ordered some pink salt from butcher and packer. Brine is made (it's cooling) but when the pink salt shows I'll modify my brine chemistry accordingly to make it happen. Which won't be too hard.

Not ideal, but I don't see too much wrong with it if it sits for 30 days total, but only 18 with the nitrates.

-mat

[pickledgarlic]

Which brings the question...

since I'm not pumping my ham, how much pink salt to add?

The River Cottage Cookbook calls for 40g of saltpeter. My brine is 2x that so 80g of saltpetre. No idea how much pink salt that is.

Other sources seem to mention 4 oz pink salt / 100 lb of meat. so 1 oz / 20 lb meat which is what I have. 1 oz = 28.8 g.

I've seen a lot of 8 tablespoons of instacure / curing salt #1 / pink salt for a 20 pound ham as well --again injected.

Going to add the 1 oz of curing salt #1 (I'm assuming somewhere near 8 tablespoons, but I'll weigh it out) when it shows I guess.

Hrm. Crap.

Edited October 26, 2007 by pickledgarlic (log)

[dougal]

Sorry, but there are serious elements of running before walking in this thread!

1/ Its a great idea to start curing with much smaller bits of meat.

Its easier, cheaper, and potentially quicker.

All round a better learning experience.

BUT a smaller quantity of meat does demand more precision in measuring smaller quantities of cure. (See later)

2/ IMHO many of HFW's cures need to be taken with a pinch {specifically less} of salt - or rather as 'inspiration', since if followed exactly, they seem to turn out at least rather salty.

Generally, I'd suggest at minimum cross-checking with other authors as a comparison before diving in.

For example http://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.php?t=7491 when I was starting to learn...

I'm not saying "don't follow HFW's ideas" - but I am suggesting that you should not follow his detailed curing advice with total blind faith that you will produce something with a 'usual' amount of saltiness. Do some cross-checking!

Even search his own site's forum http://forum.rivercottage.net/ for the experience of others...

3/ Curing whole legs, bone-in. There is a problem that any rot tends to set in around the bone (sometimes called "bone sour"). Sure, care, experience, etc all help to minimise this risk. However, injecting cure, deep down to the meat near the bone, is one means of helping to combat this problem.

Curing bone-in legs (especially by air curing in uncontrolled conditions) is something with a sadly low probability of success for the novice curer.

4/ Before doing any curing its worth getting some accurate scales! They are cheap.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=107829

You need to be weighing things to an accuracy of 1g or better. Probably 1/10g or better for working with saltpetre ("saltpeter").

Weigh stuff.

And work in Grammes (grams). Consistently. It makes the maths much simpler! (and there is maths if you deviate at all from authoritative recipes.)

Don't use volume measures (spoons and cups). And that goes for saltpetre especially.

And salt. Different brands of ordinary salt, because of different size/shape crystals, pack different weights of salt into a cup (or spoon). Weight is the quantity that matters.

5/ "Pink salt" (or rather "Prague Powder No 1"/Cure No 1) should be standardised at 1/16 (an ounce in a pound, 6.25%) of Sodium Nitrite.

6/ Nitr*i*te and Nitr*a*te are not the same. Nitrite is very much 'stronger' and more immediate.

Nitrite will 'pink' ham just fine though.

Nitrate is however still needed for salami curing - because some Nitrate hangs around, long term. There is Nitrate in Prague Powder/Cure No 2, for that very reason. For an air cured ham, hanging for many months, and to be eaten raw, I therefore think No2 (and its saltpetre/nitrate) would be better at reducing the risk of Botulism - though many air cured, raw hams (like Parma) have notionally neither Nitrate nor Nitrite...

Nitrite is so 'strong' (hence potentially dangerous) that it is only readily available diluted with salt as cure pre-mixes.

7/ "Air curing" - hanging the thing up where it will dry really slowly - is a form of preservation by *drying*. (snip detail about "water activity"). The usual preliminary is salting to pull water *out*, and get some salt in. This makes for a less good place for spoilage organisms to live while you do the air drying.

But brining (whether with injection or not) actually puts *more* water into the meat. As such its an 'unusual' preliminary to air curing. Because its kinda the opposite of drying...

Hence you'd either need to get a lot of salt in to preserve it while it dries (and so expect an even saltier product after drying has further concentrated the salt) or to be spectacularly clean in its handling and conditions while it dries.

I know HFW offered a "cider cure" for a boiled and roasted ham, but not, I thought a dried raw ham...

Are different recipes being combined/confused?

Raw ham and cooked ham are generally cured rather differently.

And, as below, even changing the brine quantity, can change the cure. This is not like putting double the cheese sauce on the macaroni.

It is standard advice not to adjust curing recipes. At the very least until you might understand the significance of the changes that you are making...

8/ Calculations.

Roughly a month in the brine is likely going to be fairly close to equilibrium, even for a "20 lb ham" - after that time it will have taken on very nearly all the water, salt, nitrite and flavouring materials that it possibly could.

Equilibrium brine curing is about preservation in the brine - you could leave it submerged in there for ages without significant change.

I think you are saying that with your "20 lb" ham (forgive me but for my calcs I'm approximating it for convenience to 10kg - do the accurate maths yourself!), you have 4kg salt and 12 litres of liquid.

The equilibrium assumption for calculation (see link below) would be that you'd end up with 10/(10+12) {roughly 45%} of the salt (yeah and of the nitrite, but wait) in the meat... that's 1.82 kg salt going in, so ending up with the meat being horribly salty even before drying {I don't actually know if it could physically hold that much salt - even the brine is just about saturated}.

Perhaps 2% salt in the dried product would be a target maximum (that's still pretty damn salty).

Many brining recipes include some form of pre-cooking soak, to remove excess salt...

A cooked ham having 1- 1.5% salt is about the norm.

Note that the way the maths works, changing the quantity of brine liquid changes the amount of the salt (and nitrite, etc) ingoing to the meat. HFW's original recipe (6 litres, 2 kg salt) would have had 10/(10+6) ie 62.5% of 2kg so 1.25kg ingoing to the meat ... so simply doubling the brine recipe, you've upped HFW's (probably already excessive) ingoing salt by almost half as much again (1.2 to 1.82 kg)

The same goes for the nitrate/nitrite, if you were to put in 80g of saltpetre, at equilibrium you'd have the same 45% {as above} of it "ingoing" to the meat, ie 36.36g, which for a 10kg (starting) ham would be 3.636 g/kg.

1g per kg is 1 in 1000, or 1000 in 1 million, so the saltpetre level is 3636 parts per million 'ingoing".

The FDA limit for "immersion cured meat products" is 700 ppm "ingoing" of Potassium Nitrate. You would potentially be getting three thousand six hundred. Say 5x too much... NOT good.

You might want to make allowance for bone weight, for example, but these are not justified as precise calculations - they nevertheless do give a clear indication of the way you are headed. And they are what the FDA use to regulate food products sold in the US. The best indication we have.

9/ Re "How much Pink Salt to add?"

For Brine Calculations re the FDA's commercial "ingoing" limits of nitrate and nitrite see http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1466678

and the PDF linked therefrom.

10/ Although it won't tell you about Brine Calcs, ppm limits or 'rolling your own', I nevertheless think it would be helpful for you to take a long look at Ruhlman & Polcyn's book "Charcuterie" (and the mammoth eGullet thread discussing it).

It leads you, one technique at a time, through the different processes.

By no means perfect, (authenticity is sacrificed, and the 'depth' slightly uneven IMHO), it is nevertheless rather sensibly structured. And an excellent guide.

For authenticity, (and an old-fashioned {now worryingly} heavy hand with the saltpetre), Jane Grigson's "Charcuterie" is one classic - but not so helpful at explaining 'why'.

Sorry to be discouraging, but there's just so much that's *so* adrift here, that I'm rather pessimistic as to the likely outcome.

[pickledgarlic]

I've come to realize that.

I've had one horrible night of tossed sleep and I've been up long before dawn fretting about it. This leg showed up and I just kind of ran with it. Talking with some other folk (elsewhere) has also made me get very cold feet.

The question, then, becomes what to do with it. I may not be ready to cure a ham of that size, but I sure as hell can eat a fresh leg.

I'm thinking about just leaving it in the brine as is until tomorrow. Drying it out for a few hours and then hijacking the 'aromatic shoulder of pork 'donnie brasco'' style recipe (5-8 kg pork shoulder) for me 9kg pork leg. Mix up a few BBQ sauces, gather the troops, and try to retain atleast a bit of my dignity.

Your thoughts on using a 'fresh ham'?

[rooftop1000]

do you know someone with a bbq smoker rig and 12 to 14 hours for drinking?

that ham would make some fine BBQ right now

tracey

[jackal10]

Have courage and faith in HFW

Look at his "pig in a day" course on his web site, which goes through ham making in detail

If it is too salty just soak it for a while..

[pickledgarlic]

Have courage and faith in HFW

Look at his "pig in a day" course on his web site, which goes through ham making in detail

If it is too salty just soak it for a while..

←

Dealing with a half ham now. Easier.

I just need to change my brine and recalculate. This is less worrying than bone rot and other fun things I was scared about with the whole 20 pounder.

- mat

[pickledgarlic]

do you know someone with a bbq smoker rig and 12 to 14 hours for drinking?

that ham would make some fine BBQ right now

tracey

←

I wish I knew someone with a BBQ smoker rig. The danger of living in Vancouver is that no one can afford to live in Vancouver, let alone with a yard, let alone have a smoker.

It's going to be, sadly, unsmoked, but cooked slowly in a 250F oven for a Very Long Time. I've even managed to rustle up 3-4 people for a BBQ sauce competition. Not bad for short notice.

- mat

[dougal]

Have courage and faith in HFW

Look at his "pig in a day" course on his web site, which goes through ham making in detail

If it is too salty just soak it for a while..

←

I had the chance to read the recipe yesterday.

It *is* for a ham to be cooked - not eaten raw.

It is supposed to be excessively salted, for preservation.

Then soaked (in plural changes of water) to {rehydrate and} de-salt before cooking.

The time in the cure is to be extended if one wants to then *store* the meat by hanging in cool ambient temperatures.

The idea is that its so heavily salted that it can withstand just being left hanging around. If it dries out, it can be soaked to rehydrate it... before cooking.

This is not a recipe for an air-cured ham. It is specifically suggested that the ham could go from cure to soak without air curing. Hanging is incidental and optional (rather than fundamental) to this recipe.

If its not going to be stored, hanging, it is proposed that the curing time be towards the shorter end of the suggested range.

Since this is a ham intended to be soaked to remove excess salt, it may be worth passing on a Jane Grigson tip for assessing the saltiness. She proposes tasting the poaching water once it is up to temperature. If it tastes "too salty" for you, dump that water, replenish with fresh, rewarm and retaste - repeating as many times as necessary.

My personal tip is to use thermometers (one in the meat, one in the poaching liquor) to control/time the cooking. With the liquid having been kept at about 75C, kill the heat source when the meat's internal temperature reaches 65C (it'll continue to rise slightly). This is what the various tables and historic rules of thumb seem to have been trying to guide towards - but nowadays we can actually measure such things pretty easily.

On another tangent, brining pork (and rabbit, chicken, turkey...) is quite commonly held to make the meat particularly moist and tender... The Zuni Café Cookbook might be the orthodox text to cite in that regard!

Hope you enjoy it!