My first "Proper" Ham

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My first "Proper" Ham

Postby sundodger » Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:35 am

Ok a bit of a risk I know for a relative beginner, but having bought a 40 kg half pig for bacon & sausages I was at a loss what to do with the leg ! Tempted at first to cut in into joints & freeze it but in the end, took off the fillet end, boned it & used the pump & rub method to cure, this I have done successfully before no problem. The remainder of the leg was a large lump - 9 kg & I decided to cure it as it was, bone in. I deducted a guestimated 1.5 kg for the bone, then calculated the total cure required & used just 20% as a rub, due to only exposed flesh being the area where the fillet was severed. The remainder I made into a 6% of meat weight brine mixture & flavoured with bay & honey & injected it, then bagged it & removed air. I tried some as gammon last night & it tastes very good, so am quite pleased with myself :D Question is...Cutting the gammon steaks with the bone in ? The way I did it seemed wasteful - I cut vertically down the bone from both sides & then cut the steaks from both sides giving me just under a half section of the cross section area (hope this makes sense?) This however left a fairly large rectangular lump of gammon either side of the bone !
Is there a better way of cutting with the bone in, or is removal a better deal & then slice?
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby BriCan » Sun Jun 02, 2013 8:27 am

sundodger wrote:Is there a better way of cutting with the bone in, or is removal a better deal & then slice?

It is in my umbel opinion is to remove bone/cure/slice ~~~ less wasteful and bones go for soup stock ~~ another added sale for the market :lol: :lol:
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby sundodger » Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:00 pm

Thanks Robert - Your "Umbel" opinion, is as usual much appreciated & yes you are right, all additional produce for the monthly market will be well appreciated & adds to my wide ranging service to the scrambling hoards :D
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby wheels » Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:13 pm

My 'Umbel' opinion's the same as 'is!

Phil :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby sundodger » Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:37 pm

I certainly bow to the knowledge of those far greater than I.... It's just that my whim was to cure a gammon, bone in. I seem to recall many years ago, at Christmas time we used always to order a full "York ham" & it had the bone in it, so real ham for me has the bone - Am I being just nostalgic or delusional - Please don't tell me both ! :D
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby yotmon » Sun Jun 02, 2013 2:06 pm

I think that hams do look better and are more impressive when cooked on the bone, especially for a festive occasion such as Christmas. But if you decide to slice the ham into Gammon rashers then I would recommend removing the bone first. Learn to 'tunnel' bone by running the knife down the shaft of the bone and it should come out clean with no waste. There is a special tool for this action (looks a bit like an elongated metal shoe horn) but a good boning knife will suffice.
ATB Ste.
"Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm." - Sir Winston Churchill
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby captain wassname » Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:12 pm

There is a certain attraction about selling ham carved from the bone and to do so in customer view would probably enable you to charge a premium.
I suspect that this will not be the case as you will be busy selling rather than carving.The one you have nww it is most likely best to carve and pack for sale and use the bone with the residule ham to make a batch of pea and ham soup.
Just as an aside did you roast the ham?

Jim
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby sundodger » Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:26 pm

Hi Jim - For purely selfish reasons & not wishing to unleash an untried product on an unsuspecting public, I did this gammon/ham for myself & a few close friends.... Friends don't mind too much if it's crap but free :D
Luckily it seems to be fine & mainly due to your previous good advices (Grovel, grovel :D ) I have so far taken off twelve good gammon steaks & am left with just over three kilos (on the bone) I am in a mind to steep this tomorrow as a boiled rather than roast ham. As to your advices Yotman & thanks for that. Got me thinking, I have some old wood turning tools & maybe a long handled, half round chisel will do a good job for your suggested tunnel boning ? Will give it a go.
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby BriCan » Sun Jun 02, 2013 6:32 pm

sundodger wrote: As to your advices Yotman & thanks for that. Got me thinking, I have some old wood turning tools & maybe a long handled, half round chisel will do a good job for your suggested tunnel boning ? Will give it a go.


I have one in my workshop somewhere under piles ov stuff :shock: this is what you are looking for (scroll down the page and look for Ham Gouge) http://www.s-staniforth.co.uk/range/1/Samprene
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby sundodger » Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:38 am

Yeah - That certainly looks the kinda thing Robert. It's a bit more curvy though than my half round chisel, but I note a lot more expensive :D
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Re: My first "Proper" Ham

Postby captain wassname » Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:58 am

I found a video on U tube about tunnel boning a lamb leg.Im sure if you looked you could find one for pork leg.
You should try some of the simmered ham roasted just to let you know what your options are'
That's simmered then roasted ,probably not glazed as you could try this later if you or more importantly your customers like it.

Jim
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