Curing Hams for the East
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pickle
Chill hams to 38°F (3°C).
Prepare a purging pickle with 55 lbs salt, 6 lbs dry antiseptic, 5 lbs saltpetre, and 20 gallons water.
Boil and skim until clear.
Submerge hams in the purging pickle overnight.
Cure the hams
Remove hams, squeeze out blood from the blood vein, and pump once using a needle.
Place hams in a curing bed at 42°F (6°C) with shanks down.
Dust an equal mixture of dry antiseptic and granulated saltpetre over the cut surface, then add a heavy layer of fine salt.
Do not touch hams for 21 days, adding more salt if needed.
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 firms its texture while helping preserve it.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives cured ham its pink colour.
The step that matters
Adding salt during the 21-day rest. Salt draws water out of the meat and slows bacterial growth. If the surface runs short of salt during the long rest, the cure can fail and the ham can spoil, so the salt must be kept topped up.
“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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