To Salt Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Dry cure
Pound and mix together the coarse sea salt, salt prunella, and saltpetre.
Rub the hams well with the mixture.
Lay any remaining salt over the hams.
Let the hams sit for 3 days.
Hang the hams up.
Make the brine
Take the brine from the hams.
Add enough water to cover them.
Add more coarse sea salt until it can float an egg.
Boil the brine.
Skim the brine well.
Pour the brine into a salting tub.
Brine and dry
The next morning, submerge the hams in the brine.
Keep the hams submerged like pickled pork.
After 2 weeks, remove the hams from the brine.
Rub the hams well with more brine.
Hang the hams up to dry.
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
- Hams
- The main meat that is cured, firmed and preserved by the salt and brine.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, slowing spoilage during curing.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives cured hams their characteristic pink color.
The step that matters
Skimming the boiled brine. Boiling the brine draws impurities and proteins to the surface as scum. Skimming it well keeps the brine clear, so it does not spoil the hams during the long soak.
“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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