Cold smoked italian style prosciutto

[Serial344]

Hello Guys,
As requested, I'll give you a good recipe to make italian "Prosciutto cotto" ham at home using your Bradley Smoker.

Of course is impossible to cover all aspect of curing pork meat in topic so I'll give you some highlights that you can study to bring your prociutto to perfection.

Let's start saying that italian prosciutto is a fashioning marriage between art and techniques. Quality of meat is the most important thing. Not only just for taste but also to achieve the best curing environment.

You CANNOT make prosciutto if just one of following conditions are not satisfied:

Sick or stressed pigs: There's not enough glycogen so less acidity to permit curing process.
Pigs slaughtered during digestion process: too much bacterial flora within lymphatic system after death. It will spoil the meat faster.

Too young pigs: More water than adult pigs so more salt concentration after driying (it will lose more water than adult). Water also expose meat to wet environment that can spoil meat.

Leaving livers too much time inside. They will contaminate the meat.

Pigs slaughtered from too much time. Low PH so good bacteria doesn't act with nitrite to cure the meat.

Raising smoking/cooking temperature: It will melt collagen, before creating pellicle (it comes from salt solution soluble protein)

These conditions make your prosciutto different from others and of course it will taste better than others ever eaten!

Let's start with some pictures and explanations:



Choose a good shoulder or thigh, remove the bone.
In this case I suggest using dry cure method. This just to give the right amount of salt and the minimun pink salt (nitrite) needed. Health matters are not secondary!

For a 3kg pork shoulder (no bones, no skin) use:

3 tbspn of non-iodized salt
1-½ tspn of Cure #1
1 tspn garlic powder
1 tspn coriander seeds powder
1 tspn white pepper
1 tspn nutmeg

Mix cure accurately to dissolve pink salt. Put it in a container and allow 5 days of curing for each kg of meat. Put lid on and leave in the fridge. Re-arrange every day and rub the meat with the liquid that will come out. This to distribute heavenly all the curing agents.



As you can see, the right amount of pink salt will fix the meat color (hemoglobin).

After curing time, you can "personalize" your prosciutto. In mine I put fresh rosemary and black pepper.



Now you need this kind of device that give to prosciutto is classic shape:



If you don't have to buy it just roll the meat and tight well, you'll get almost the same result.

If you are not using the shape, preheat your bradley to 160°F and dry your prosciutto until you get the "pellicle". Just one hour or two...
Raise temperature, gradually, to 185°F and start warm smoking using Bradley Hickory flavor Bisquettes.
Smoke for 4/6/8 hours depends from your taste. Be sure to leave dumper completely opened.

After smoking time, remove water pan with dirty water, put clear and hot water in the water pan, close dumper and cook it (185°F-190°F) until you get 160°F internal temperature.

Remove it from the smoker and rinse under cold water until completely cold. Blot dry and put in the fridge, uncovered 2 to 4 days to let the smoke mild down.

This is the best prosciutto you ever tasted. I bet that I'm right....try it! :D






Hei guys, I wait your suggestion... :D

Bye

[Tenpoint5]

Serial,

If using a ham press, how long do you leave the ham in the press before smoking?
Thank you for posting this recipe.

[Mr Walleye]

Serial344, Thanks for posting this!

Looks fantastic!  ;)

Mike

[Caneyscud]

Serial

Thanks much for the recipe.  One of my dreams is to do a prosciutto.  This looks like something I could do!   Have you ever tried to age it for any amount of time or do you just eat it as soon as it is done!

Shakespeare
The Bard of Hot Air

[smokeitall]

That looks great,  looks like the list got even longer ;D

[carnie1]

Looks yummy , How long do you leave it in the press and can you use picnic shoulder for this ?