Home Made Cured Boiled Ham.......Now That's A Yummy!!

Fig.1 Meat Syringe to pump brine/cure
 into meat

Fig.3 Pot with brine cure and pickle

Fig.2  Equipment used
 to hold herbs attached to meat.

Fig.6 Meat after curing fat side down




Fig.4 Curing meat in pot refrigerated for a few days
at a temperature between 0 - 4 degrees C.

Fig.7 Rosemary - Thyme - Sage from
my terrace. 



 

Fig.5 Meat after curing fat side up

Fig.8 Herbs attached to meat by
special net.



Fig.11 Cooking the ham.

Fig.9 Waiting for water to reach 75 degrees C.






 


Fig.10 Cooking the ham keeping temperature
at around 75 degrees C

My friends today I would like to share with you an experiment I did. I am trying make a cured and boiled ham at home.  Of course it is far from being the boiled ham you buy at the store but it is home made and I know what I used.  The outcome though was delicious and we enjoyed it. 

There are several steps to obtain a boiled or a smoked ham.  Today we shall speak of boiled.

General:

Step 1 :  Using a meat siringe Fig.1 , pump a piece of pork with the required liquid to cure it.  Add any spices and herbs you like, cover it and refrigerate it for a few days Fig. 3 & 4. The refrigerator temperature should be between 0 and 4 degrees C. The result will be a pinkish color of the meat Fig. 5 & 6 similar to the hams you buy.

Step 2:  Remove the pork from the herbs and spices, wash well, under running cold water. Retain the spices and herbs, discard the liquid. 

Step 3:  Since the meat is still raw, at this point,  you have to cook it. So you can either boil it or smoke it. In this case I boiled it. I used a special net to hold the herbs Fig. 7 & 8 in place.

Step 4:  Fill a suitable pot  Fig.9 with enough water to cover the meat but do not put the meat in yet. Add the spices and herbs, and heat the water to about 75 degrees C and kept at that temperature +/- 5 degrees.

Step 5:  Put in the pork and let it cook by using a meat thermometer Fig. 10 

Step 6:  When the inside temperature of the meat (using a meat thermometer)  reaches about 67 degrees C it is ready Fig.11.

Step 7:  Take out the ham, let cool in cold water for an hour, and  refrigerate. Next day it is ready to slice.

For the above steps you will need:

Serves 12 

-   3.4 kg of fresh pork leg. No bone, no skin.

-  3 liters of water.

-  235 gms of salt.

-  1/2  cup of honey.

-  3.3 gms of curing powder.

• Herbs and spices: 1 Tbsp. each of ground coriander, dry garlic powder, dry onion powder, rosemary, basil, thyme, dry parsley, paprika, mango powder, black pepper corns.

• 5 Bay leaves crushed.

• 1/2 tsp. dry clove powder. 

-   Meat syringe as per Fig. 1

Method:  

-  Dissolve salt and curing powder in ice water in a suitable pot with cover.

-  Using the syringe, pump liquid mixture in various places of the pork which has been well refrigerated. Repeat 5 times. Pump 10% of its weight and add the rest to curing pot.

-  Mix spices and herbs and add to the water. Cover the meat with a capsized plate.  The meat should be well immersed in the spice/herb/curing mixture liquid.

-  Refrigerate for about 5 - 7 days at a temperatue of 0 - 4 degrees C.

-  Follow from step 2 above.

Note:   You can attach the branches of herbs to the meat with a string if you wish.

Suggested wine: a soft red burgandy, or a light Cabernet Sauvignon*.

Good Luck and Bon Appétit,

Stelio

*As suggested in Hugh Johnson's pocket wine book 2011.