To Cure Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the hams
Hang the hams for 1-2 days.
Sprinkle with a little salt and drain for another day.
Cure
Mix saltpetre, sea salt, sal-prunel, and sugar well.
Rub the mixture into each ham daily for 4 days, turning it each day.
Turn small hams daily for 3 weeks.
Turn large hams daily for an additional week.
Dry and smoke
Before drying, drain and cover with bran.
Smoke the ham for 10 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
- Saltpetre
- Preserves the meat and gives the cured ham its characteristic colour and flavour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping preserve it.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the salt and adds sweetness while helping the cure develop flavour.
The step that matters
Rub the cure in daily and turn the hams. The cure must be worked evenly into every part of the ham and turned each day so salt and curing agents penetrate uniformly. Missed turns can leave uncured or spoiled areas.
“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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