so now to cook it

[tinca]

Got two 1kg hams and a shank done in a brine cure from here , also smoking it , gave an alnighter last night, and will carry on through the day, the csg seems to be going forever so now to the cooking part, i have heard that cooking at a low temp keeps the meat moist, but my last attempt it came out dry and tough, so how many mins per lb, and do i chuck the usual veg in a stock fillers Cheers Gaz

[captain wassname]

If youve got a slow cooker put the ham in,preferably in bags,Turn it on low and cook till insde temp of ham is over 66 deg.mine takes about 5 hours for a couple of kilos.
Otherwise you could stick em in a big casserole dish and put em in the oven on 100 deg you need to keep checking the temp especially as they are different sizes
Ive roasted chicken like this and it takes 3 or 4 hours to get to 74 deg.
The secret seems to be cook it slow.
Im not too sure but I think someone on here steams them.

Jim

[wheels]

Im not too sure but I think someone on here steams them.
Jim

'Tis I! I steam with the temp around the meat at 75 - 85°C (ish). I use this method for whole legs as they don't fit in my slow-cooker.



For smaller pieces, I use the slow-cooker; I've found that mine will hold a temp of 80-85°C (ish) if I use the 'keep warm' setting rather than 'low', after I have got it to temp.

I guess that this will vary by machine so a few tests with a thermometer maybe in order.

I would suggest to anyone cooking hams to invest in a probe thermometer - they're not expensive, certainly under £20 even with p & p.

I don't time the cooking, I just cook the meat to 72-75°C (sometimes 80° if I forget it!). It takes hours, but I find that doing it this way the muscles don't separate, the meat is moist, and I get less weight loss.

Hope this helps

Phil

[wallie]

Hi Phil
So is the picture in your post showing your setup for steaming?
It seems like your pork is resting on a grid in the bottom of the pan, clear of the water I presume.
Is 85c a high enough temperature to create steam?

Cheers
wallie

[wheels]

Wallie

Yes, it's a picture of the meat steaming. Whether it's steaming at that temp, or 'wet cooking', or some other term, I'm not sure - it seems to work OK though. I've been using this method for a while now. My cures tend to be lightly spiced and cooking fully immersed in water left them a little bland.

What I do is put an upturned sandwich-cake tin in the bottom with a grid on top. With the lid on the pan, I slide my probe thermometer under the edge of the lid and adjust the heat until it holds a steady temperature. In the early stages I tend to keep it around 72-75° ish. As it progresses I increase it to an absolute maximum of 85°, more normally around 80°. It all sounds a bit complicated, but in reality, it normally means bringing the water up to 80° and then turning the heat down to minimum (or very near), check it after a while and make any fine adjustments.

I've not tried it with a smaller pan though, the one in the picture is 22 litres, so an inch or so of water in the bottom is still a reasonable amount. I use the smallest gas burner just under the edge of it.

I think I cook my ham to a higher temperature than many would recommend. I just like it this way, particularly with legs off larger pigs.

HTH

Phil

[tinca]

Thanks for the replies, would it be worth simmering in water with the meat vacpacked got meself a salter thermometer probe from argos, coool so keeping an eye on the temps will be k , but just keeping everything on a slow simmer is hard work on my cooker, so it might have to be the oven goner have alook in argos for a slow cooker Cheers gaz

[wheels]

Check your oven with a 'blank run' first, is my recommendation, domestic oven thermostats are notoriously inaccurate - you may be lucky and have one that says 100C but runs at 80!

Unfortunately, mine's the opposite.

Phil

[tinca]

Well cooked in my new slow cooker for around 2 hours until it reached 68c but think next time will cook longer, it hasnt got the salty ness i would like but not to bad, didnt vacpac either all vacpaced up now and in the freezer to distribute to my tasters gaz

[dorsets21]

hello new to this forum also new to curing and cooking ham. when i cured my ham the taste was good but very dry what did i do wrong? boiled it for 4 hours as per instructions. when you say vacpack do you mean boil in bag type thing

[saucisson]

Which instructions were you following? and how did you cure it?

[dorsets21]

was following river cottage cookbook recipe for cider ham

[saucisson]

Thanks, I will go have a read...