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, coarse sea salt, sal-prunel, and sugar.
Rub the mixture into each ham daily for 4 days, turning it each day.
For small hams, turn daily for 3 weeks; for large hams, an additional week.
Dry and smoke
Before drying, drain and cover with bran.
Smoke the hams 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 pink colour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping to preserve it.
- Sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cure.
The step that matters
Rubbing the cure in daily. Salt and cure must reach every part of the ham evenly. Turning and re-rubbing daily keeps the cure in contact with all surfaces so that the centre is cured as thoroughly as the outside.
“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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