skinless

[welsh wizard]

Hi

I want to try the parma type ham cure and will start with a smaller piece of pork as suggusted.

Dose the pork (loin or belly) have to have skin on? I ask because the bacon loin I use is skinless and I was thinking of trying that first - thank you.

Cheers WW

[Kuma]

No, it doesn't have to have the skin on WW.

You need good drying conditions or some protection of the exposed meat to prevent a very hard surface forming on loin and belly (like case hardening on salami).

[saucisson]

As Kuma says drying is your enemy. I cured a very (very) small piece of naked loin with chorizo seasoning and cure 2, in a ziplock bag for a fortnight. left it overnight to dry and sliced some of it for mini spicy gammon steaks. The rest was left for a couple more days and was already beginning to harden on the outside, but beginning to look very nice as a young/baby parma. I whimped out though and cooked it

Similarly if you Parma a hock it is as likely to end up as a mummified mallet suitable for knocking tent pegs in as succulent ham. Still tastes nice if the former, but you need jaws of steel to enjoy it

Sorry if I'm rambling a bit (it's late )but it's a bit like keeping fish, the smaller the tank the more fiddling it takes to keep the fish alive, a big enough tank almost looks after itself

As you can make and keep bacon so have the skills already , I'd nip down to the local super and buy a big bargain vacuum wrapped 2 or 3kg boneless joint and start with that.

Of course all my advise is from a home user who will still eat anything he doesn't think will kill him

I'll post up a rogue's gallery of photos tomorrow if I get the chance, two joints, one mummified one looking good.


Dave

[welsh wizard]

Thanks both, very interesting.

I was at a fellow site members house over the weekend and his ham was to die for, which has spured me on. However when I look at the advice on curing, then seeing how long it takes I thought about starting with somthing a little larger than a 1lb bit of meat because in this household that would be gone in 2 seconds and I would have to wait a long time for the next bit.

Cheers WW

[Oddley]

Hi WW,

Curing Parma style ham is reasonably easy, especially if you have the right environment ie: 10�C 70% humidity. The problem in the past was knowing when it was sufficiently dried. I've seen loads of posts saying that people had left it too short a time and it was too wet in the middle.

I have found a way to overcome this problem. By monitoring water activity. It seems to have gone unnoticed.

I have just eaten a sandwich containing some Parma style ham I made a while ago, and I've got to say it is not bad. it has that cheesy taste one expects with dry cured Italian style meats.

If you would like to see how I did it, click the link below.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... c&start=15

[saucisson]

[color=indigo]Hi WW,

I have found a way to overcome this problem. By monitoring water activity. It seems to have gone unnoticed.

I noticed

Dave

[welsh wizard]

Nice one Oddley, thanks

Cheers WW

[Oddley]

Dave, as no one said anything, I thought it had just bypassed everyone. The thing is, if HFW had said this, there would be a flurry of activity around the forums, because it was only me saying it, makes the information no less valuable.

Don't get me wrong. I don't want any plaudits for it, but think members on this forum should perhaps investigate the idea and report back. As it would be a valuable tool for all those doing dried meats including salami.

[saucisson]

It was definitely worth mentioning again as I don't think many people spotted it first time through, and, personally, I'd take your advise and ideas over HFW's any day of the week

Dave

[Oddley]

Thanks Dave...