Ham from a loin help needed

[KyNola]

I am looking to make a ham from a 3-4 lb piece of pork loin.  I know it needs to be brined but am unclear of how long and exactly how much pink salt would go in the brine.  STC posted a thread a while back about a "lower salt" honey cured ham using a pork loin piece that he brined.  In the thread he mentioned that both the salt and cure #1 was reduced.  I am looking for more of a traditional ham brine recipe.

Any help you can supply would be much appreciated.

[Tenpoint5]

Larry
I would suggest making the same recipe that I use for regular hams. Except I would make half the brine. Still inject the same 10-15% of green weight. Then smoke just like a regular ham. If you need a ham net to hang it in let me know. I will get one out to you.

Here's the recipe again

Home Cured Ham

The Brine/Pickle for Ham that I used is
5 quarts ice water (38-40*F)
1 pound of Salt (I use Kosher)
1 cup Powdered Dextrose
2/3 cup Insta Cure #1

The recipe calls for the ham to be injected 10% by weight. I used 15%. To do the math here is the formula and explanation of how to do it.

Pump injecting formula is generally this...
15% x Xoz = oz per pump

My ham is around 22 lb or 352 oz; being 16oz per pound.
This now gives me  an easy plug in formula

.15 x 352oz =52.8oz needed for pumping

The injector I use holds 4oz at a time. Rounding off I get this...
52/4=13 or 52.8/4=13.2

So that means 13 full injections, or 13.2 if you wish to get technical, but the .2 isn't a problem


Mix the brine in the bucket. Then after injecting and making sure to get in the shank and around all the bones in the ham. Submerge the ham in the bucket and refrigerate for 5-7 days. Place in stockinette and hang in smokehouse.

Smoking
Hang Ham in preheated smoker to 120* and hold for 12 Hours (Vent Full Open) then
Increase temp to 140* start smoke and smoke for 8 Hours (Vent at Half) then
Increase temp to 170* until IT of 142* For a fully cooked ham, Hold until the IT reaches 152-155*

[KyNola]

Thanks Chris!

[SamuelG]

I used that recipe before with great results! It all just disappeared!
:):):)

[Habanero Smoker]

Ham is a cut of meat that is either fresh or can be cured. Making ham from a loin is really Canadian bacon. So you can use any dry cure recipe or wet cure recipe that is for Canadian bacon. Or use any ham cure recipe, and scale it down. Wet brining is faster then dry, so if wet brining you will only need to brine it 2 - 3 days. Depending on the shape and size of the meat and the container you will place it in, one gallon of brine will cure up to 18 pounds of meat.

The loin is not that large so injection is not necessary, though it would not hurt. I use a lot less cure. I use between 3.0 - 3.2 ounces per 5 quarts. If I calculated correctly 10.5 uses around 5.2 ounces. You can use as little as 1.5 ounces of cure #1 per gallon, and maintain a curing state that provides protective properties.  My recipe also calls for a lot less salt, around 7 ounces.

Here is an example of the curing recipe I use:
Smoke Cured Ham

[KyNola]

Habs, you hit on something I wondered about initially and that is that curing a loin for "ham" is essentially the same thing as Canadian Bacon.  With that in mind, I think I will scuttle the whole idea as I already know how to make Canadian Bacon and I have a pretty good cache of it stashed away in the freezer.

Thanks to Chris and Habs for answering my call for help so promptly.

[Habanero Smoker]

I prefer a dry cure (brine), but if you venture into using a wet brine you may be able to add additional flavors, and it is much easier to adjust the cure level to fit your particular taste. So if you haven't tried to wet brine a loin, you may prefer curing that way.

[Up In Smoke]

This is probably a stupid question but with this being a 3-4 pound piece of loin could you use the wet cure (brine) and tumble it in a vac tumbler and get the cure results faster?
or should you use a slower method for safety?

[Habanero Smoker]

I have never cured under vacuum, so I can't answer that question. I wouldn't know how to accurately judge the curing time. There are some members who have done so, and state they have saved some curing time. I've also seen posts from members vacuum sealing meat that is being dry cured.