Questions about dry curing, a bit confused.

[Andreas]

Hi all,

First of all I just want to say that Im very happy that I found this forum and that I hope to use it a lot.

I have done some experiments with air dried ham, and I used the recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall http://www.channel4.com/food/how-to/how-to-prepare-air-dried-ham-prosciutto-style-08-02-18_p_1.html
with very good result, it was only my first attempt but it tasted great!

That inspired me to look around for more recipes and this is where the cofusion comes in. Hugh does not mention using any type of cure, nitrites or nitrates in any of his recipes for ham, bacon or salami. Could this be dangerous, not using the cures?

The only thing I can get a hold of in Sweden is salpetre, these cure1 and cure2 I have read about does not to my knowledge exist here.

Does anyone have some input for me?

[grisell]

Hi Andreas and welcome!

As you see, I live in Sweden too. There is a Martin Olsson in Gothenburg. You'll need a customer's card - maybe someone can lend you one; they can order a sack of nitrite salt for you. 25 kgs is SEK 80 or so.

Otherwise, talk to your local butcher. Maybe he can sell you some.

Only saltpetre will also work, though. The difference is that nitric bacteria has to do some work with the saltpetre in order to convert it to nitrite, so the safest is to use nitrite. I know that if you use sea salt, it already contains some nitrate and so you wouldn't need to add any, but I always recommend people to add nitrate/nitrite to be safe.

[Andreas]

Thank you for the answer, nice to see another swede here

How do you sugest I incorporate salpetere into the recipe I use? I was thinking about making a mix of herbs, salt and salpetre, rub that onto the ham and then proceed as Hugh do. IE put it in a container with atleast a 2cm layer of salt around and with a weight on top. What is your input regarding this theory? I think his way takes a bit longer but I prefer that as Im away for periods and my vegetarian girlfriend refuse to rub and change the cure I left my ham alone until I hung it up to dry last time and that seemed to work fine.

[grisell]

What are you making? Prosciutto/pancetta/salami?

[Andreas]

What are you making? Prosciutto/pancetta/salami?

Sorry, Im talking parma style ham in this case, big air dried hunk of pork I will try pancetta aswell at a later stage.

[grisell]

Ok. This is my mehod:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=6427

It's not ready yet, so I can't promise anything, but I'm quite confident that this is the right method and it sure seems promising so far.

[grisell]

As for your question: no, I think it's better to control the amount the of salt than just 'burying' the ham. Calculate 35 gms per kg and rub it into the meat twice (the second half after one week). Keep it at 1-4 C (ie your fridge). Massage it regularly (twice a week - this is for the distribution of the cure and the partial homogenization of muscles and fat). Keep it there for at least two months before advancing to the next step.

[wheels]

Andreas

Welcome to the forum.

There's a tutorial on making a parma style ham here:

http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/M ... a_Ham.html

If you're not using the ready made product from the site shop, you can use this recipe with the same method:

http://community.rivercottage.net/users ... ic_id:5681

If you need help calculating this for a 0.6% cure, or have any problems/questions just post them here.

I hope this helps.

Phil

[grisell]

Those methods depict the fast way to make prosciutto. If you have the patience, I suggest you go for the slower method.

[Andreas]

Thank you for your answers, Im a very patient man but with very little room in my two room apartment so curing a ham in the fridge for 30 days is out of the question im afraid.

I think I will try a combination as I mentioned before with HFW method but rub in a bit of cure/salpetre and then leave it in the basement. I work on ships for 28 days at the time so I will start a ham just before I leave and then prepare it for hanging, possibly cold smoke it for a few days as soon as I come home. But "unfortunately" the summer aproaches so it have to wait a while.

[wheels]

It should be noted that saltpetre is a dangerous chemical if not used in the correct amounts. For a full ham this could be as little as 1 - 2 gms so accurate scales are needed to weigh it.

Phil

[grisell]

Not to mention pure sodium nitrite, where wrong measurements can mean the difference between life and death....

Anyway, as for saltpetre, ½ tsp is about 3 grams and 1/4 tsp (Swedish kryddmått) equals 1-2 grams.

[wheels]

1/4 tsp (Swedish kryddmått) equals 1-2 grams.

...and therein lies the problem - a potential 100% error.

Phil

[BriCan]

1/4 tsp (Swedish kryddmått) equals 1-2 grams.

...and therein lies the problem - a potential 100% error.

Phil

And the reason why curing salt was produced.

Robert

[Andreas]

I cant say thanks enough, Im happily surprised for the help from you guys, I finally tracked down a place in sweden that sells nitrite salt. 99.4%Na Cl and 0,6% E 250 (Natriumnitrite)

I know I saw some converting tables here so now im on my way to pork heaven