Cooking Hams

[Ruralidle]

Me, challenge BriCan. Never. Question - yes, challenge - I think not

Even a person who does not like ham said it was "lovely" so I'm happy with that!

Thanks to everyone on the forum for all their help and advice during 2012 - because of your generosity we enjoy better, tastier food .

Happy New Year.

[BriCan]

That's way to much of a cliff hanger Robert...are you going to share it this year or will I have to wait till the next?

Just about 4:30 pm my side which means that there is still seven and a half hours to go. All I have left to do (last of the bacon down) is wash the floors, it is this final step that denotes the end of another era and another one is about to begin.

Like all good things I cannot see you waiting on tender hooks for what may ... or may not be a prize winning glase ... yours to decide

Take 1 kg of dark brown sugar

to this add the following;

1 heaping tablespoon of dry mustard (I use Colemans)
1 heaping tablespoon of corn starch

mix well so that there are no lumps in the mix

add enough hot water (from the hot water tap) to make a thick paste (like molasses )

add to the mix a couple of splashes of white vinager

mix well

the last and most important ingredient

3 fingers (yes you read right) of your favorite tipple

for this I use a good Cognac but each there own

enjoy

[EdwinT]

An excellent tutorial Robert. thank you!

But to me that roasting pan of water that you cook the ham in could do with spicing up with some favourite aromatics/herbs. Also, why not substitute some of the water with cider and/or apple vinegar.

Would you normally use just plain water or is it for demo/tutorial reasons only?

[BriCan]

Would you normally use just plain water or is it for demo/tutorial reasons only?

There is a method in my madness which I will share with you shortly

Trained as a Butcher under City and Guilds ..... part of the coarse was 'Utilization of waste' .... and there in lies the answer .. to make a few bob you have to think way outside the box

[Ruralidle]

What about this advice here: http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html which recommends a minimum safe cooked temperature of 145F?

[EdwinT]

There is a method in my madness which I will share with you shortly

You have me intrigued. What can you possibly make with 'plain ham juice' that can not be made using the aromatic version?

hmmmm

[captain wassname]

Could be Ham beer.

Jim

[BriCan]

Could be Ham beer.

Jim

Nah... think pork pies

[DanMcG]

Hey Robert I used your method for baking my ham yesterday, and I was almost surprised to see it worked just like you said it would.

I placed my 5.6k ham in the 300f oven ( it was a little colder then yours to start) and let it go. Just under 4 hours it hit 145 and I shut off the heat.
I slowly watched the temp rise over the next 50 minutes when it hit 160, then it held there for another 40 minutes before it started dropping...
Frickin amazing.
Worked like a charm, Now if I can figure why my ham tastes like a pork roast I'd be even happier.

[Ruralidle]

Hey Robert I used your method for baking my ham yesterday, and I was almost surprised to see it worked just like you said it would.

You mean you doubted him?? Heresy

As to the roast pork issue - are you sure you were working in degrees F - not degrees C

[BriCan]

As to the roast pork issue - are you sure you were working in degrees F - not degrees C

I do not think there was an issue with the temperatures F verses C ........


I just think he got the pork roast mixed up with the ham

[DanMcG]

Well it was suppose to be ham, but it had an off roast pork smell and taste.
right now it's sitting in a snow drift waiting to be binned.

[DiggingDogFarm]

I do mine by wet methods. These include: In, above, or surrounded by water whose temperature is at little more than the finished temp that you want in the meat. It takes a long time, but is a great way of cooking ham. As is the "Oven on lowest temp and ham put in overnight" method that many UK butchers have used over the years.

I do mine the same way, actually, below the lowest oven setting of 200F.
It's a gas oven so it'll easily go down to 160-165F.



~Martin

[captain wassname]

Im with Robert
Sounds more like a curing problem than cooking problem
I always take a slice off before I cook You can see if its cured then when you fry the slice it should be like bacon.

Jim

[BriCan]

I pm’d Dan with a general inquiry and he was kind enough to include in his reply the recipe he used – my concern was the ppm – to me it is too low (140) where I am up at 170/180. The smokehouse where I used to work had the same problem; in essence it was taken over by a greenhouse grower who was looking to make some quick money to help with his retirement. The big change he did was (because he was on a health kick) to lower the salt content as well as the fat content both of which screwed up all of his sausage and ham (brine's) recipes

We use “All purpose curing salt” which contains the cure, in dropping the salt content down to 15g per kg from 20g per kg sure dropped the salt content but also dropped the cure content as well. The brine's he made up ran along the same lines – looked cured but tasted (as Dan has said) like pork --- he ended up ruining a profitable business in less than two years

Dan I have not replied to you pm as I need to check a couple of things