Curing Hams and Irish Bacon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cure
Prepare a dry salt cure using salt, saltpeter, and sugar.
For heavier cuts like hams, back, and shoulders, use a pumping pickle made with 10 gallons of full strength pickle, adding 2 pounds of saltpeter and 2 pounds of dissolved granulated sugar.
Prepare the meat
Remove bones from the ham, leaving it entirely boneless.
Roll the bacon tightly to exclude air and wipe it clean and dry before rolling.
Smoke
Smoke the bacon slowly at a low temperature using only hard wood and sawdust, preferably hickory.
Monitor the smoking process to ensure even circulation and avoid overheating.
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
- Salt
- Preserves the meat and draws out moisture while seasoning it through the cure.
- Saltpeter
- Helps the cure keep its pink color and adds to the preserving action.
- Granulated sugar
- Balances the saltiness and helps the cured meat develop flavor and browning.
The step that matters
Monitor the smoking process. Smoke kept at a low, steady temperature with even airflow flavors and dries the meat evenly. Overheating can cook or soften the surface unevenly and spoil the texture.
“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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