Brine for Hams

[Twoscoops]

Thanks PS. Below is the recipe copied from the recipe resource on this site's main page.

"Easy Ham Recipe

3 Gallons ice cold water
6oz salt (preferably iodine free or unrefined)
6oz cure No. 1 (same stuff Franco sells)
1 level tbsp ground white pepper
20 bayleaves or 1tbsp ground bayleaf
1 tbsp ground cloves
3oz brown sugar or replace 3 pints of the water with 3 pints coca cola (not diet) - I prefer the coke, trust me it works!!

This should make enough brine for a whole ham.
I use a food grade plastic container (don't use metal)
leave to cure in a fridge for 14 days turning daily.
When the cure is finished drain and dry the ham thoroughly. "

Franco has put some of the cure in the post to me, and I will be doing the hams in a home-brew container, I guess each cut will be approx 1.4kg.

[Parson Snows]

This is the one that was posted by Spuddy and it is also the one that I am going through at the moment. Breaking it down into

1) Immersion Cured
2) Injection Cured and
3) Combination Cure/Dry Salt Curing Ham Method (10 % Pump)

I won't however have it done until probably after Christmas. Spuddy says that it works fine so for 3 hams I would say go ahead and use it. The amount of cure with this brine is sufficient for 19 kilos of meat so no problem there

Hope that this is of some use to you.

kind regards

Parson Snows

[Twoscoops]

The amount of cure with this brine is sufficient for 19 kilos of meat so no problem there

Do you mean I should just use the 6oz cure for the three hams, or triple it to 18oz? Maybe, seeing as they are small hams, I should use 12oz..?

[Parson Snows]

Don't change anything yet, just use the brine as the recipe states (6 oz cure). What I am saying is at the moment the brine AS IS is sufficient to cure a maximum of 19 kilos of meat, and as your three hams will weigh less than this you're covered, ie the meat will be cured. If there wasn't enough cure then that would have been a problem. DON"T START CHANGING THE RECIPE.

hope that this clears up a few things

kind regards

Parson Snows

[Twoscoops]

Cure No1 arrived yesterday - thank you. I bought a leg and a half (three pcs) from the butcher this morning and dropped them into the brine. They were boned-out so I left the strings on, I hope this is OK. I also have about 1oz of cure no1 left - any ideas what i can do with it?

[Parson Snows]

Twoscoops

a couple of questions for you

1) how much did the hams weigh (as purchsed weight)?
2) how much did the cure weigh (as purchased)?

kind regards

Parson Snows

[Twoscoops]

Erm, forgot to weigh them before I plonked them in the bucket - I was in a hurry to get to work. About 2KG each piece I reckon.

The cure must have weighed 7oz, as I measured out 6 oz dead and there is about one left in the bag.

[Parson Snows]

Twoscoops

Continue as the "Easy Ham Recipe" states. As I mentioned before the 6 oz of Cure #1 will cure up to 19 kilos of meat so no problem. More than enough for your 6 kg (approx). In the future try and weigh the pieces, as all calculations etc. are performed on the largest piece of a particular lot. Also try and get pieces (legs, etc) of a similar size then they are all cured at around the same time. Hope that they turn out well.

kind regards

Parson Snows

[Twoscoops]

Another question: How do I cook the ham! I'm thinking baked might be easier than boiled, if I can just leave it in the oven while I'm doing other Christmassy things. Also, how do I glaze it? (can you tell I'm a complete novice at this?!)

[deb]

I've never cooked a ham before but I do cook boiled bacon sometimes.
If you have a pressure cooker you could use this, I do. Some water, peppercorns herbs of choice etc. and I add a LITTLE white wine vinegar. I usually cook it for SLIGHTLY less time and then remove the skin, leaving the fat, score it in a diamond pattern, glaze with honey and bake for around 20minutes. You could use other things to glaze e.g. mustard, maple syrup etc. but we like honey glazed. You could also just roll the boiled meat in breadcrumbs, particularly if you were going to eat it cold (obviously give it the full time cooking if you're not finishing off in the oven). If you don't have a pressure cooker boil it instead, just cover it with water rather than just using some water.
I hope this is of some help. I never cook it completely in the oven, it's just my opinion but I think it could dry out a bit too much. If you really want to cook it in the oven and nobody comes up with a method within a couple of days or so, I visit a couple of food boards and I could ask there.

[Twoscoops]

Thanks deb. So simmer, remove skin and bake gently with glaze of choice. Seeing as it has already steeped in Coca Cola will I need to add any thing sweet to the glaze? A friend does his with mustard and demerera sugar mixed together, and then pours a small tin of pineapple chunks in juice over. (He buys his hams so has no good advice).

[deb]

O.K. Twoscoops, I have a book dealing with cookery techniques rather than recipes so I had a look.
It seems that a ham needs to be boiled first then oven baked (if desired).
It says to soak the ham for 12-24 hours in cold water, changing the water often. Drain the ham, put in large pot with water to cover. Boil and simmer of 30 minutes, skimming as necess., if water is very salty discard and start again with fresh water and subtract 30 mins from total cooking time. Add seasonings, suggested onion, apple, wine, cider, bay leaf peppercorns alspice berries and clove (make your own choice to your own tastes!!). Allow to cool in tepid water then proceed with removing skin etc..

COOKING TIMES FOR WHOLE RAW HAM.
3-5lb: Simmer half hour per lb/500g.
5-10lb: Simmer 20 minutes per lb/500g plus 20 minutes.
Over 10lb: Simmer 15-18 minutes per lb/500g allowing less time for larger hams.

My MIL gave me the times for pressure cooking bacon (my book says to cook bacon/gammon joints the same as ham) as 12mins per lb at high pressure, allow to cool and the pressure to drop at room temp before removing. Use 1+3/4 pints water (do not more than half fill pan). It's probably a good idea to bring the ham to the boil in a pan of cold water and then discard it before starting (all to do with the salt).

To bake a cooked whole ham. Oven temp. 175C/Gas4 10mins per lb, baste constantly and make sure glaze doesn't scorch on the bottom of the pan.

As far as I can tell glazes are up to you, if you think you'll like it try it. For a crispy coating use breadcrumbs etc. to cover before baking.
I don't have any idea what effect the coca-cola will have had on the ham so can't really comment on what glaze to use. My thought is (and it is JUST my opinion) that it will have made the whole ham slightly sweeter. Problem is most glazes are based around sweet things as they caramalise and give a good finish (this is usually what we're after), if it were me I would still go with honey (perhaps with some wholegrain mustard?), we wouldn't have mustard as hubby doesn't like it very much but it migh make the glaze slightly less sweet if that's what you want.
I can't remember whose recipe the coca-cola ham is but maybe you could ask them what effect it has on the taste and then decide on the glaze from there.

Hope this helps and all goes well with the ham, however you decide to cook it in the end.
I'm pretty jealous of you having your own home-cured ham but it was my own fault, I just didn't get myself sorted enough to get one going - next year will be different.

[janedouglas]

I have two legs of pork each jointed in three pieces and on the bone, I am looking for a nice tasting, not too salty easy recipe for a beginner and this sounds just right, but which is Franco's cure No. 1, is it the traditional cure? I would like to purchase some asap.

[Oddley]

Welcome to the forum janedouglas.

Clck the link below to go to the relevent page.

http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Cures.html

[janedouglas]

Welcome to the forum janedouglas.

Clck the link below to go to the relevent page.

http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Cures.html

Thanks for your help, I didn't realise that it would be under the heading salami and dried meat, also not sure how much meat it will cure, but I'm sure I've read that in someone's else's message, this info may be useful on the product page for beginners like me!