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Hams Smoked

This recipe describes a method for preparing smoked hams using a salt mixture and brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Hams Smoked

Ingredients

Directions

Cure the hams

  1. Beat the salt-prunella fine and rub it into the hams.

  2. Let the hams sit for 24 hours.

  3. Mix the common salt, coarse sea salt, saltpetre, brown salt, and coarse sugar together.

  4. Rub this mixture into the hams.

  5. Let the hams sit for 3 days.

Brine

  1. Make a brine similar to that for salt beef, adding ½ pound of brown sugar.

  2. Boil and skim the brine.

  3. Let the brine cool.

  4. Submerge the hams in the brine.

  5. Turn the hams every 2 days for 3 weeks.

Smoke and dry

  1. Hang the hams in a chimney with wood and straw smoke for 7 to 10 days.

  2. Hang the hams in a dry place after smoking.

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

What each ingredient does

Saltpetre
Helps preserve the meat and gives cured ham its pink colour.
Common salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping it keep.
Coarse sugar
Balances the saltiness and adds sweetness and depth of flavour.

The step that matters

Turning the hams during the brine. Salt cure moves into meat slowly by diffusion, so the hams must be turned regularly to keep the brine in contact with every surface and cure evenly.

“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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