Curing Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Cure the meat
Rub salt between every muscle and under every flap of the meat.
Lay hams rind side down.
Make the brine
Heat salt in a frying pan and place it at the bottom of the pan.
Boil and skim the brine, repeating as long as scum rises.
Adjust sugar and salt according to desired saltiness.
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
- Common salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and preserves it by slowing spoilage.
- Sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cured flavour.
The step that matters
Skimming the brine. Scum that rises while boiling is made of impurities and proteins from the meat. Skimming it off as long as it forms keeps the brine clean, so it does not spoil the cure or leave off-flavours in the meat.
“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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