creating my own local ham

Air dried cured meat and salami recipes

creating my own local ham

Postby bigJ » Sat Jan 23, 2010 11:51 am

Having made a variety of parma/ serrano style hams in the past, i have been inspired to create my own local style for my next lot of hams. I have grown my own pigs so they should have benefitted(?) from the local terroir as they have dug most of it up over the last few months and it seems to me the next step is to create a curing process to complement this region. Living as i do in the far north of England, i guess that our climate has more in common with that of the black forest than the mediteranean, and i should therefore maybe turn there as a starting point?
All my previous hams have been dried for a long period (10 months plus) as i understood that this allowed the subtle flavours to develop, but is this only in more temperate climates? the blackforest hams are only aged for around 7 weeks (which is tempting as waiting so long is hard when your will is weak!) yet they lose a similar amount of weight (25%) as a parma (30%)- does the prolonged smoking speed drying?and is it also this process that masks the subtle flavour changes that would be brought about by a long drying and as such making it unnecessary?
Also i have always weighted my hams during curing, if truth be told not really knowing why,yet i now learn this is not always the case- what are the effects of weighting/ not weighting on the finished ham?
Although surrounded by coniferous forest the idea of smoking with pine, as they do in germany, is unappealing having understood for so long that this is a complete no no. I think that i might use beach , as i have done previously, also with some heather in there as there is also a lot of that around. To flavour the cure i was thinking of using some local wild flower honey (plenty of heather in it) from a neighbour a couple of miles down the road (yes a couple of miles around here makes them practically next door neighbours). Also juniper, garlic and bay (all of which can be grown locally- ie in my veg garden (well not the juniper but it is wild around here)). Anybody know of a local salt producer to enable me to complete this 'local' cure?
Any comments, help, hints, tips, or ideas truly welcomed
Cheers
J
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Postby wheels » Sat Jan 23, 2010 3:41 pm

What a superb project, it'd be worth doing a fresh ham as well. Apparently Cumbria used to have a salt industry:

http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/salt.htm

The nearest sea salt I can find is from Anglesey and at £17.50 for a kg would make for very expensive ham! However, it doesn't seem that difficult to do your own. These people do for their restaurant in Kent and this article details their method:

http://www.thesportsmanseasalter.co.uk/ ... rticle.pdf

I hope this helps.

Phil
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Postby quietwatersfarm » Sat Jan 23, 2010 4:25 pm

Sounds great.

Might be worth looking at some of the Speck, beech smoked, and Loxschinken recipes which have a cooler climes feel to them.

I do a speck sometimes which is heavy on pepper and ages really well.

I too am experimenting with some brined then air dried ideas at the moment..keep us posted as you go :D
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Postby wheels » Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:12 pm

quietwatersfarm wrote:Sounds great.
I too am experimenting with some brined then air dried ideas at the moment..keep us posted as you go :D


Good luck with that John - I'd advise against injection though - it was a major failure when I did that!

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Postby quietwatersfarm » Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:18 pm

This is more along the lines of immersion to equilibrium in an all purpose cure mix, then chilled equalisation for two weeks followed by hanging with a fairly light salt and seasoning rub for a few weeks.

The dogs will probably love it! :roll:
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Postby wheels » Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:55 pm

I'm sure that done that way it will be fine.

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Postby quietwatersfarm » Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:51 pm

We will see, its that elusive search for a moist dry ham :lol:
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Postby saucisson » Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:54 pm

tell me about it :D

Me:

That looks perfect I'll slice it tomorrow, hang on, who swapped my perfect ham for a mummified brick? :)
Curing is not an exact science... So it's not a sin to bin.

Great hams, from little acorns grow...
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Postby bigJ » Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:29 am

Thanks for those links phil, great stuff, right up my street. I had vaguely considered making my own salt in the past but got the impression from John Seymour's 'complete guide to self-sufficency' (my bible) that you need a lot of sea water to get anything like a reasonable quantity, and i don't live very near the sea! that said i think it's definately one for more research- any one with any experience of this?
Also any comments of the hanging times etc?
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Postby wheels » Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:43 am

Maybe look to Cheshire for salt initially and then pursue 'The Holy Grail' later?

Do keep us informed whatever you do. This really interests me, as I know it does many other members who have yet to post.

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Postby Ianinfrance » Sun Jan 24, 2010 10:23 am

Hi
bigJ wrote:Thanks for those links phil, great stuff, right up my street. I had vaguely considered making my own salt in the past but got the impression from John Seymour's 'complete guide to self-sufficency' (my bible) that you need a lot of sea water to get anything like a reasonable quantity, and i don't live very near the sea! that said i think it's definately one for more research- any one with any experience of this?
Also any comments of the hanging times etc?


I think that you'd find it a lot better, and WAY cheaper to take a day trip across to France once in a while and bring back loads of coarse sea salt. I buy 10 or 20 kgs at a time though cash and carries sell it in larger packs too. You can get it both fine and coarse though in general coarse sea salt is better for many curing jobs.

I know it's less self sufficient, but IMO sooner or later one has to draw a line.... make your own guns and gunpowder, shot, fishing lines, hooks, bows and arrows, flights?

Philosophically, there seems to me to be a conflict between being part of a community and being totally self sufficient. An interesting subject.

Alternatively... ask me nicely and I'll bring you a few 10kg bags of coarse salt when I come back to the UK next December!
All the best - Ian
"The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching." c. 2800 BC
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Postby bigJ » Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:09 pm

Thanks for the offer Ian i may just take you up on that nearer the time. As for the potential conflict between community and self-sufficiency i have found a much greater sense of community since we started this self sufficiency lark even though the distance to neighbours is better measured in miles than meters. It may be termed self-sufficiency but it is communal self-sufficiency-if you need help or information its not usually hard to find - it just has to be repayed in kind, which it always willingly is- although no one keeps a tally.
I agree that making your own salt might be a hassle but even to do it once, to know you can and as such increase ones general knowledge and skill base is what living is about- it would be much easier, and better renumerated to get a proper job in a city and buy everything shrink wrapped and homogenised, every little step taken on ones own is a step towards a freer life. In a way thats what i assume we're all doing here, learning and gaining a sense of satisfaction through your own efforts, and even failures. Who was it that said "it is bettter to try and not succeed than never to try at all"?
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Postby wheels » Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:13 pm

Sorry, Ian, don't get me wrong - it was only that bigj wanted to keep things local that made me suggest this. I don't know the quantity of water involved, but if a restaurant kitchen based in a pub are able to make enough for their curing/kitchen etc, I imagine it could be viable.

The availability of sea salt isn't the issue here, it's comparitively cheap - about £11 for 25kg. Having said that, a trip to France would also offer other delights and bargains not available here. Mmm... booze! :lol:

Phil
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Postby bigJ » Sun Jan 24, 2010 10:17 pm

far better expressed than i did, wheels, but i agree whole heartedly, its about choosing how to live your life and the personal challanges one sets ones self, just to see if you can. That said i think this particular part of the challenge is for next years hams, i have a good supply of atlantic sea salt already in stock. I'm also a little concerned about the quality of the sea water- we're not too far from sellafield and i don't want my hams to glow in the dark!
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Postby wheels » Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:00 am

Oops, I forgot that bit! :oops:
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