First Ham time! - Virginia Dry Cured (Final finished product pics!!)

[viper125]

You know I was just thinking of my grandfather and his big  smoke house. He used to have large wooden barrels the size of large wine barrels. They were full with salt and not sure what else. But he buried them in there until time to hang and smoke. Wish I knew what he forgot. He made the best smoked meat out of need for his family.

[ExpatCanadian]

I wasn't too successful finding out if the salt and/or cure must cover the ham at all times; either. I'm finding the same, in that the information I found is vague. I found directions stating to keep it in the salt and/or cure for the length of curing time, but does that mean there must be visible salt and cure; I don't know.

You will have better chance of finding an answer if you post your question on a site where members may be more experience in curing country hams can provide help.

I just became aware of the below forum. I was on it earlier, but it now seems to be down.
http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/

This is another forum that may be helpful.
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/

Thats great, thanks.  I decided to repack the shank end with salt as it's really just exposed bone and very little meat and I thought a little extra safety on that end couldn't hurt.  I've left the rest alone for now.  I think I just need to trust the process...  if it doesn't work this time, well...  I need something to put in this new box I'm building anyway so I'll just try again!

[Habanero Smoker]

You know I was just thinking of my grandfather and his big  smoke house. He used to have large wooden barrels the size of large wine barrels. They were full with salt and not sure what else. But he buried them in there until time to hang and smoke. Wish I knew what he forgot. He made the best smoked meat out of need for his family.

When they make country hams that way or in a large salt box they would stack the hams in there. Then every 5 - 7 days they would reposition the hams, and resalt them so that they would cure more evenly. I admire craftsmen like that, who could cure those hams under unpredictable weather conditions.

Thats great, thanks.  I decided to repack the shank end with salt as it's really just exposed bone and very little meat and I thought a little extra safety on that end couldn't hurt.  I've left the rest alone for now.  I think I just need to trust the process...  if it doesn't work this time, well...  I need something to put in this new box I'm building anyway so I'll just try again!

That's a good idea. The worst that can come of that is that the ham will have a little more salt. Believe me, with Country Ham's, that is not going to make much of a difference in taste.  :)

[ExpatCanadian]

Well it's that time....  done with the cure, now onto cure equalisation.  I'm off to Canada tomorrow for 2 weeks, so I've given the ham a soak and dried it off and now it's hanging in my unheated conservatory for the next 2 weeks.  I've decided ham making is easy.  You mostly just look at it  :D

More importantly it does still seem to smell just like pork...  so I'm hoping it's ok.  Before smoking in January I'll poke a skewer down the bone to see what it smells like inside.  Sounds disgusting...  but rather find out now than when I'm about to serve it!

Anyway, some pics...

Just out of the fridge:


Soaking for an hour:


Hanging up...

[Tenpoint5]

Out of curiosity. Wouldn't you want to wrap that with cheesecloth to keep the critters out/off of it while it is hanging?

[ExpatCanadian]

Out of curiosity. Wouldn't you want to wrap that with cheesecloth to keep the critters out/off of it while it is hanging?

I plan on wrapping it after smoking...  but to be honest we don't have many critters here.  There just aren't flies or anything this time of year in London. I reckon the pollution kills 'em...  so I'm sure the air-dried ham will be fine  ;D ;D ;D

Seriously though...  there's nothing flying around right now that I need to be worried about.

[Tenpoint5]

I thought about that after I posted and walked away from the computer. It is winter time

[Habanero Smoker]

Your ham is looking good. That is a good idea to poke a skewer down in there to see if you can detect any bone sour. I'm not sure when my bone sour occurred, so you may want to poke it periodically, until you have enough water loss.

I may try to cure another country ham in March. At this time I'm still thinking of sticking with salt only. I'm going to use your suggestion and rebuild my box so it stands vertically, and hopefully it will fit in my refrigerator.

[Geoff_S]

I've just bookmarked this thread!!

I too got into this and so has a friend, and another friend and the third leg is about to be started. We've taken a slightly different route inasmuch as we buy half a pig and make bacon and sausages as well.
And we have started a charcuterie club, which involves deconstructing the pig whilst eating pulled pork rolls and drinking beer. It's quite good fun.

I've got some pictures showing a different technique. Should I post them here or start a new thread?

Looking forward to your future postings!!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Geoff_S;

I will be looking forward to your postings, as well.

[devo]

I've just bookmarked this thread!!

I too got into this and so has a friend, and another friend and the third leg is about to be started. We've taken a slightly different route inasmuch as we buy half a pig and make bacon and sausages as well.
And we have started a charcuterie club, which involves deconstructing the pig whilst eating pulled pork rolls and drinking beer. It's quite good fun.

I've got some pictures showing a different technique. Should I post them here or start a new thread?

Looking forward to your future postings!!

It's best you start your own thread so we don't get mixed up and it is easy to find if someone wants to search for it.

[ExpatCanadian]

Just got back from Canada this past weekend and the ham was ready for the smoke.  Took it down and gave it a pretty careful sniff to make sure it smelled like it should and fingers crossed, I think I may have gotten away with it!  I even stuck a skewer down alongside the bone and no trace of off smells, so hopefully no bone sour.

Couple of pics:

Doesnt' show up in the pic to well, but the skin had a slight coating of salt that had leached though during the last couple weeks.  Also had a few spots of white mold, all of whic I've wiped off with a damp cloth. I didn't use any vinegar, as I fiugred smoking would inhibit the return of the mold somewhat.


Really nice colour I think...  starting to look like a ham now!


Skewer test (Sterilised the skewer in boiling water prior to sticking it in):


Cold smoke setup all ready to go:


Smoke 'a rollin' - Gave it 12 hours total...  was trying to get it nicely browned... but it didn't really take up much colour:


DAMN...  got a little black rain staining on it...  guess even cold smoking produces some humidity.  This was with the vent wide open too  :( :(


I've now wrapped it in some muslin stockinette and it's back hanging in my conservatory for the next few months.  I could swear I took a pic of the final product, but it seems to have disappeared from my camera.  Oh well...  will post it later.

Just a waiting game now... I still haven't decided if I am going to give it 10-12 months and eat it like Prosciutto or maybe just give it until Easter and cook it up as a normal baked ham.  I might just order another leg and do one of each type  :D

[Habanero Smoker]

Your ham is looking really good. I like the color. I'm a little surprised you didn't get much smoke color.

[Tenpoint5]

That's looking real good! I'm with Habs on this one thought it would take on more color with a 12hour smoke.

[ExpatCanadian]

That's looking real good! I'm with Habs on this one thought it would take on more color with a 12hour smoke.

Yeah, no idea why it didn't. The surface was pretty dry, although I had wiped it down with a moist cloth to get the salt dusting and mold patches off before smoking. I wonder if the temperature made a difference? The cabinet never went above 70...  and the publication mentions not letting it get above a max of 95...  so maybe at a slightly higher temp it would have taken on more colour?