Help with curing ham

[Kenny202]

Just put my first cured ham in the fridge. About 1.6kg part leg.

Simple cure...

4 tsp Prague #1

Cup brown sugar

3/4 cup salt

2 litres water

Bay leaves, peppercorns and Mustard seeds

Recipe says 1 day curing per 2 pound but I'm guessing 2 or 3 days not enough?

I'll probably smoke / semi bake mine but got me thinking. Ham you'd buy at the mall etc is that boiled or cooked in any way or straight out of the brine?

[slapout]

I am guessing ham (so called) in thailand comes straight out of soaking in brine. They probably pour some liquid smoke in brine.

The real good smoked ham is brined and then low temp., slow wood smoked for a week or more. Thus it is cooked and safe to eat right off

the bone. I would bet that Thai do not do the same as they do not seem to have as much patience as is required.

[Kenny202]

Hmmm. I have a few ham recipes and none of them say anything about cooking the ham after curing but the more I think about it must require some boiling at least otherwise it's raw? Can understand bacon as it is always cooked later but ham? Dunno

[NickJ]

If you are wet curing you need to cook it....so the internal temp hits 145f......You also need to make sure the ham is submerged under water....The problem I have with smaller cutts is that they can get to salty during the immersion.....I hot smoke at about 300f for about four and a half or five hours......

With corned beef I will boil it in ale then smoke it.....Also dont use aluminium to cure in and when you submerge the meat weight it down....

[billd766]

The last few I have made was with the hind leg of pork and weighed about 5 or 6 kg,

It spent about 5/6/7 days in the fridge, turned every day.

I then boiled it and let it cool so it was cooked before cutting it into manageable pieces and freezing what I don't use immediately.

This is the recipe that I use.

Bills cooked ham v03a no photos.doc

[Kenny202]

The last few I have made was with the hind leg of pork and weighed about 5 or 6 kg,

It spent about 5/6/7 days in the fridge, turned every day.

I then boiled it and let it cool so it was cooked before cutting it into manageable pieces and freezing what I don't use immediately.

This is the recipe that I use.

Bills cooked ham v03a no photos.doc

was going to ask if it freezes ok. You slice before freezing or just chunks?

[Kenny202]

If you are wet curing you need to cook it....so the internal temp hits 145f......You also need to make sure the ham is submerged under water....The problem I have with smaller cutts is that they can get to salty during the immersion.....I hot smoke at about 300f for about four and a half or five hours......

With corned beef I will boil it in ale then smoke it.....Also dont use aluminium to cure in and when you submerge the meat weight it down....

yeah I'll be smoking mine. You think 3/4 cup of salt in 2l water will make it too salty? I don't like salt too much but ham should have some salt. Just did some bacon, similar amount of salt and I would have liked a touch more salt. Was a dry cure though but mind u after a day and all the liquid comes out of the belly essentially becomes a wet cure.

How many days u reckon for 1.6kg?

[NickJ]

I just shake my head....are there really people that think you can put a hunk of pork in water with some chemicals in rhe fridge for a week and then eat it?????.....for the tenth time.....smokingmeatforum......Pop's brine/cure.....Hundreds of thousands of people use this free site for info...cooking temps, marinades , brines and cures....its free.....all the info you will ever need....eve. if you want to brine and smoke your thai wife......

[billd766]

The last few I have made was with the hind leg of pork and weighed about 5 or 6 kg,

It spent about 5/6/7 days in the fridge, turned every day.

I then boiled it and let it cool so it was cooked before cutting it into manageable pieces and freezing what I don't use immediately.

This is the recipe that I use.

Bills cooked ham v03a no photos.doc

was going to ask if it freezes ok. You slice before freezing or just chunks?

Just chunks. They still taste OK to me even after 3 or 4 months in the freezer.

[billd766]

I just shake my head....are there really people that think you can put a hunk of pork in water with some chemicals in rhe fridge for a week and then eat it?????.....for the tenth time.....smokingmeatforum......Pop's brine/cure.....Hundreds of thousands of people use this free site for info...cooking temps, marinades , brines and cures....its free.....all the info you will ever need....eve. if you want to brine and smoke your thai wife......

I suppose it is OK if you like your meat smoked but I generally don't bother as out here in rural Khampaeng Phet it is hard to get decent wood chips.

[Kenny202]

I just shake my head....are there really people that think you can put a hunk of pork in water with some chemicals in rhe fridge for a week and then eat it?????.....for the tenth time.....smokingmeatforum......Pop's brine/cure.....Hundreds of thousands of people use this free site for info...cooking temps, marinades , brines and cures....its free.....all the info you will ever need....eve. if you want to brine and smoke your thai wife......

I suppose it is OK if you like your meat smoked but I generally don't bother as out here in rural Khampaeng Phet it is hard to get decent wood chips.

I smoked some bacon last week just using semi green Tamarind tree. Just put 2 or 3 charcoals on one side of your kettle bbq or smoker. Once well alight add a couple of 1" x 3" branch peices or chips on top and ur meat on the other side (I only wanted to smoke not cook) Result was amazing. I read mango wood is fantastic too

[Scotwight]

I am guessing ham (so called) in thailand comes straight out of soaking in brine. They probably pour some liquid smoke in brine.

The real good smoked ham is brined and then low temp., slow wood smoked for a week or more. Thus it is cooked and safe to eat right off

the bone. I would bet that Thai do not do the same as they do not seem to have as much patience as is required.

A cold smoked ham is done in 5 to 8 hours.

https://theroaminggastrognome.com/2014/11/27/chronicles-of-charcuterie-continued-cold-smoking-pork-into-speck-and-country-ham/

or

Step 5: Set up your smoker for cold-smoking (the temperature should be below 100 degrees). Hang the ham in the smoker or place it on one of the racks. Cold-smoke the ham for 12 hours. The purpose of cold-smoking is to infuse the meat with smoke flavor without actually cooking the meat. Note: I normally cold smoke in a smokehouse, water smoker, or electric smoker.

http://barbecuebible.com/recipe/smokehouse-ham/

Hot smoking about 6 hours.

http://thehealthyfoodie.com/homemade-smoked-ham/

Thais don't do it because they don't like salty meat.