To Cure Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the ham
Hang the ham for 1–2 days.
Sprinkle the ham with a little salt.
Drain the ham for another day.
Cure the ham
Mix saltpetre, coarse sea salt, sal-prunel, and coarse sugar well.
Rub the mixture into the ham daily for 4 days, turning it each time.
For small hams, turn the ham daily for 3 weeks.
For large hams, turn the ham for an additional week without rubbing.
Dry, cover and smoke
Drain the ham before drying.
Cover the ham 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
- Helps cure the meat and gives it a pink colour during curing.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and preserves it during curing.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cure.
- Sal-prunel
- Adds to the curing action of the mixture, as recorded in this recipe.
The step that matters
Drain the ham before drying. Excess liquid left on the surface can slow drying and encourage spoilage, so the ham should be fully drained before it is covered and dried.
“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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