Bacon Cure

Air dried cured Meat Techniques

Bacon Cure

Postby deb » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:25 pm

Can this be used for Ham?
I was just looking on the main site and on the welcome page it says

" Have you tried our latest range of bacon and ham cures?"

I pressed for more info and it came up with the usual page for bacon cures, salami stuff, saltpetre etc. so was wondering if the "Ham Cures" was referring to the bacon cure and this could in fact be used.
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Postby Oddley » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:29 pm

I made a ham at Christmas using franco's smoked bacon cure it came out really good funny thing is I am just eating a sandwhich made from it now. lol
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Postby deb » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:17 pm

Thanks Oddley.
Did you use the same proportions as for the bacon, e.g. 30g per kilo (for the trad. cure which is what I have)?
How long did you leave it to cure (as in days per inch), the same as for the bacon (1 day per half inch I believe)?
Did you use the same method as the bacon - rub the cure over, put in a bag and leave in the fridge - or was there a bit more to it?

Lucky you eating your own ham. I've just eaten some supermarket ham, bet it wasn't a patch on yours. I will consol myself with the lovely smell of the fruit loaf I have cooking in the oven at the moment :) .
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Postby Oddley » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:26 pm

mmm fruit loaf.

Do it exactly the way you do bacon except add about 6gm brown sugar per kg. I left mine in for about 3 weeks - 1 month for about a 12 lb ham. Leave it in about the same it won't do any harm.
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Postby TobyB » Wed Feb 23, 2005 5:00 pm

Oddley,

could you air dry following your cure period (I'm assuming you haven't as you are eating it already and air dry would have taken 3 months min) or is cure #2 a requirement for air dried ham??

Interested as i have a very cold and drafty loft space and want to cure and then air dry a ham.
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Postby deb » Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:16 pm

Thanks Oddley this will definately be getting a whirl.

The fruit loaf was good, ashamed to say I've eaten half a loaf already.

Toby, I could be wrong as I am no expert in such things, but isnt air-dried ham pretty salty, if so I would think a cure that is suitable for an ordinary ham may not contain enough salt.
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Postby Oddley » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:00 pm

I think air dried ham will have about 5% salt in the finished product whereas Franco's cure I think has about 1.5 - 2% salt.

I would use cure #2 or a mixture of cure #1 and saltpetre to give protection in the period of susceptibility to bacterial infection this being before the ham has actually dried out.

You can of course use less cure but cover the ham in salt. but I think for my tastes this would be slightly too salty.
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Postby TobyB » Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:09 am

Thanks Oddley that's what I thought. I'll give it a whirl with the #2 cure and, of course, let everyone know how it goes. Pig is being collected on 19 March so watch this space.

I've found the most fantastic farm shop in Warwickshire and the bloke who runs the butchery side will get anything you want and butcher it to your own spec. I'm going along in the morning so that I can tell him exactly what cuts I want and from where (ie long ham, long loin for bacon etc etc.) He's such a nice bloke and also does lamb and beef. If anyone wants contact details PM me and I'll let you know how to get hold of him. I went last sat and he was showing me how to cut up lamb. Watching someone as skilled as he is is quite amazing and well worth the visit.
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