Directions for Curing Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine
Mix the salt, Freeze-Em-Pickle, and sugar in a large container.
Add 5 gallons of cold water to the mixture.
Cure
Cure small hams (8 to 14 lbs) in this brine for 50 to 60 days.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it, helping preserve the ham during curing.
- Freeze-em-pickle
- Curing agent that helps keep the meat safe and gives cured ham its characteristic color and flavor.
- Granulated sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds sweetness to the finished ham.
The step that matters
Keeping the brine fully cold and the ham submerged. Cold brine slows bacterial growth during the long cure, and any part of the ham left out of the brine can spoil. Keeping the meat covered throughout the cure matters for safety.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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