Ham Questions

[Oddley]

I would leave your leg in the fridge for at least 24 hours. I think I have read this will drop the ph a bit.

I will explain how I have worked out the cure so you can do it yourself. First I think 1 litre of water per kilo of meat should be about right. so we will use 8 litres of water.

The amount of cure to use for 8 litres of water is:

Water Millilitres * 23.9894
------------------------------- = Cure in Grams
-----------------------100

8000 * 23.9894
------------------------ = 1919 gm
-------------100

We can check this amount by doing a simple calc to check we have our 145 ppm nitrite.

Grams premixed cure * % Nitrite in mix * % Pump * 1000000
---------------------------------------------------------------------- = PPM
-----------------------100 *100 * Weight of Brine

1919 * 0.75 * 10 * 1000000
---------------------------------- = 145 ppm
--------------100 *100 * 9919

We Know our cure is right up to now. We have now got to find out how much to pump at 10 %. The bone weight in the leg has to be first taken off. The bone weight is about 20% of the weight of the leg so:

Percent * Meat Weight
------------------------------ = Bone weight
-----------------------100

20 * 7800
--------------- = 1560 gm
-------100

7800 - 1560 = 6240 gm

Right we have found our meat weight without bone, so we can pump this with 10% of our cure.

10 * 6240
--------------- = 624 gm
-------100

We have now got all the info we need.
******************************************
Pickle

7.8 kg Leg Pork
8 litre Water
1.919 kg cure

Pump with 624 gm of pickle

Method

Mix 1.919 kg of cure into 8 litres of water that has been boiled and cooled to hand hot, Put the pickle in the fridge to a temp of 2-4 �C. Now put into a separate container 624 gm of the pickle and inject the meat especially down the bone with this amount. Put the leg into a plastic/glass/pottery (not metal) container and cover with the remaining pickle. If necessary weigh down the meat to keep it below the water. Keep the pickle/ leg at between 2-4 �C. Turn the meat every day. Leave the leg in the pickle for 7 days.

[Smokin in Korea]

Hi Oddley,
Thanks for all of your help, I can follow your calcs most of the way but I am wondering where the figure of 23.9894 came from. Is this the weight of cure per 100 grams and if so how did you arrive at this figure.

Ok moving on, now I have the leg in and I pull it out after the 7 days do I now presume I wash/soak it for a period and then cook it,
If so for how long and at what temperature range and what internal temperature do I remove it?

If I was going to do a air dried ham would I use the same recipe and then store the it in a suitable environment.

Once again thanks for your patience and help.

Darren

[Oddley]

Hi Oddley,
Thanks for all of your help, I can follow your calcs most of the way but I am wondering where the figure of 23.9894 came from. Is this the weight of cure per 100 grams and if so how did you arrive at this figure.

2lb Bag
Salt, Cane and Maple Sugars Dextrose Sodium Nitrite (0.75%) with not more than 2% propylene glycol.
Directions:
Use 2lbs Cure to 100lbs of meat or 2lbs cure per gallon of pickle for 10% pump.

This is the percentage of cure to water weight. I US gallon weighs 8.337 lb.

Weight of cure * 100
-------------------------- = % Cure for weight of water
Weight of water

2 * 100
--------- = 23.9894%
8.337

Ok moving on, now I have the leg in and I pull it out after the 7 days do I now presume I wash/soak it for a period and then cook it,
If so for how long and at what temperature range and what internal temperature do I remove it?

Just wash it off, you can now cook it. You could leave it a couple of days for it all to equalise. Taste the water after 1/2 hour if it is really salty change it. I cook my ham to an internal temp of 160 �F. Check out the MAFF graph. Link below for cooking times.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=396

If I was going to do a air dried ham would I use the same recipe and then store the it in a suitable environment.

This cure in my opinion is not suitable for an air dried ham, as it only has nitrite in it.

[Smokin in Korea]

Thanks once again Oddley,
I think I might take your advice on letting it sit for a couple of days in the fridge prior to cooking as I have had good sucsess doing this with my bacon.

Could you recommend some herbs to add to the cooking water and also advise if I could add some honey also.


I shall now dive into the deep end and keep you posted on my progress.

Cheers

[Oddley]

I normally add to my cooking water some, carrot, onion, a stalk of celery and a few parsley stalks. I have never added honey so have no idea.

[Smokin in Korea]

Hi Oddley,
I have just hit a bit of a hurdle.
I have just measured my cure and found out that I only have a total of 1397 grams, is it possible to reduce the amount of water to offset the lack of cure.
I have a closing fitting container to hold the leg and feel that I may be able to get away with about 6 litres of water to cover the leg.

Alternatively I do have 3.4 kgs of Mortons sugar cure which is made up of the following:
Contents
Salt, Sugar, Propylene, spice Extracts, Dextrose
0.5% Sodium Nitrate
0.5% Sodium Nitrite
However the method of application uses it for a dry rub cure.

Can this be used as a pickle/brine?

Appreciate your help.

[Smokin in Korea]

Oddley,
I also have Mortons tender quick at the same ratio as the sugar cure, the directions advise to use 1 cup TQ to 4 cups water as a pickle/pump.
What are your thoughts?

[Oddley]

If you think you will get away with it use.

5823 gm/Milliliters Water
1397 gm Cure

Pump with 624 gm of pickle

[Smokin in Korea]

Hi Oddley
I am now into my 6th day of curing the ham and I have a question in regard to my brining time, when I first put the ham in I had to add another 1ltr of water so as I covered the leg completly, should I now leave the leg in for an extra couple of days?
The ham looks and smells good.

[Oddley]

No, don't leave it in any longer, just take it out after seven days it will be ok.

[Smokin in Korea]

Thanks Oddley,
I will take it out tomorrow and try and post some pics for your comments.

[Smokin in Korea]

Hi Oddley/Dougal,
Well I have just taken the ham out and it looks great with a nice colour and no smell at all thank god.
My first 2 pics are prior to pumping and the second 2 are just as I have taken it out of the brine.
Any comments or feedback will be appreciated.
I think I will now leave it in the fridge for a day or 2 and then slow boil it.



Thanks for all of your help and I shall keep you posted on the end result.

[Smokin in Korea]

Sorry about the size of the photo's, can anybody tell me how to make them smaller?

[Oddley]

Click the link below to download PIXresizer. Install it and resize your images. It a freeware program, it's the one I use.

http://bluefive.pair.com/PIXresizer.zip

[Smokin in Korea]

Pre Cure



Post Cure



Thanks Oddley
Let me know what you think