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Dry-curing Pork Hams

This recipe describes a method for dry-curing pork hams using salt and pickle solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,638 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Dry-curing Pork Hams

Ingredients

Directions

Inject and salt

  1. Inject each ham with 4 ounces of pickle solution into the shank and flank.

  2. Rub each ham thoroughly with 4 pounds of coarse sea salt per hundredweight.

Cure

  1. Cure the hams at 36°F (2°C) for 3 days per pound of the heaviest ham.

  2. Overhaul the hams during curing and add more salt if needed.

Soak, dry and store

  1. Soak the hams in water at 70°F (21°C) for up to 4 hours after curing.

  2. Pale-dry or smoke the hams for at least 48 hours at 80°F (27°C).

  3. Store the hams in a drying room for at least 20 days at 45°F (7°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pork + hamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,638 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork hams
The main meat, whose lean muscle and fat are transformed by curing and drying.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, helping to preserve it during curing.
Pickle solution
Carries salt into the deeper meat near the shank and flank, speeding even curing.

The step that matters

Overhaul the hams during curing. Salt is absorbed unevenly and drawn moisture can leave thick areas under-salted. Checking and adding salt where needed helps the cure penetrate evenly and keeps the ham safe.

“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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