Country Ham (sugar Cured)
From elgourmand2 9 years ago
- 2 hrs + 6 months to make
- Serves Lots
Except for canned (yuck), finding a cured ham here is difficult now and was impossible 5 years ago. Fortunately, you could/can buy a pig and cured ham is a no brainer. You may say, “it can’t be that easy”. Read more It is. You may say, “it will spoil”. It won’t, if you do it right. I have done maybe 30 hams this way and never lost one. This recipe works. The wild pigs I shoot are modest in size and have less fat compared to the ones you’ll buy. It’s all by weight so go for it. The commercial guys are in a hurry and use some serious chemicals to speed things up. Wham, bam, thank you mam and here’s your ham. No thanks. My average full ham (cured) is about 17 lbs. You’re likely to get a bigger cut so I set the recipe at 25 lbs. (just over 11 kg.). Smoke them if you like. I hang mine in the smoke house and give them a few hours of smoke about once a month. They hang for at least six months so no rush. Two full cured hams and 2 cured shoulder (Picnic) hams each pig, twice a year. One Picnic goes to Andrew. You got to pay your dues. Let’s get to it. Get a fresh ham (the cut of pork) nicely trimmed up. Weigh it. Adjust the following recipe to the weight of your ham and do your arithmetic carefully. See less
Ingredients
- For a 25 pound ham mix: shopping list
- • 1 pt. coarse salt - never the table variety = 1 ¼ Tbs. per pound. shopping list
- • 1/2 c. dark brown, or raw sugar - no more = 1 tsp. per pound. shopping list
- • 2 tbsp. ground red pepper = 1 pinch per pound. shopping list
- • 4 Tbs. ground black pepper = ½ tsp. per pound. shopping list
How to make it
- 1. Score the skin of the ham in a diamond pattern to let the mix in See Photo. Cut through the skin and fat, but not the meat. Use a very sharp knife or a builder’s knife.
- 2. Rub the ham with the mix and rub and rub until your hand is hot and the ham has taken in all that it will.
- 3. Stuff the remaining handful into the hock end and bandage it on.
- 4. Wrap in two layers of cheese cloth and bind it around and about with string to hold the mix close to the meat. See Photo
- 5. Wrap in two layers of brown paper, more string.
- 6. Drop it hock-down into a cloth bag and tie tightly. An old pillow case works fine for this.
- 7. Hang free from a hook in the ceiling and leave six months to two years. See Photo
- Your garage is a good place for this. I hang mine in the old smoke shed and give it a bit of smoke now and then. See Photo
People Who Like This Dish 2
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