New England Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Dry cure
Beat the salprunelia fine and rub it well into the hams.
Let the hams sit for 24 hours.
Mix the bay salt, common salt, saltpetre, and coarse sugar. Rub this mixture into the hams.
Let the hams sit for 2 to 3 days.
Brine
Boil 2 gallons of water with the brown sugar to make a strong brine.
Allow the brine to cool and skim off any foam.
Submerge the hams in the brine.
Turn the hams every 2 to 3 days for 3 weeks.
Smoke and dry
Hang the hams in a chimney.
Smoke the hams for 1 to 2 days using horse litter.
After smoking, hang the hams for a week by the kitchen chimney.
Take the hams down and keep them 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
- Salprunelia
- Adds a fixed, tender-textured curing agent that helps the ham keep its flavour and colour.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the cure keep its pink colour and slows spoilage during the long curing period.
- Bay salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and seasons it deeply during the dry cure.
- Common salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat, firms the texture and seasons the ham.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the saltiness and softens the harshness of the cure.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and depth to the brine and helps browning during smoking.
The step that matters
Turning the hams in the brine. Brine must be cooled and skimmed before the hams go in, since warm brine or floating foam can spoil the meat. Turning every few days keeps every surface evenly in contact with the cure over the three weeks, so the salt penetrates evenly and no spot is left uncured.
“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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