The Saga of the Ham Part 2

For those who have been following along, you will know that I am in the process of trying to make my first ham. I started about 2 weeks ago (see part 1).

When I last saw the pork it looked like so:
 

I pulled it out of the refrigerator. The changes so far are subtle. The meat is firmer, darker, and a little shriveled.

The next step was to a rub the pork with the cure/salt mix. I used exactly the same amounts as last time. Last time the pork was able to easily hold the entire batch of mix. This time however, the pork was drier and firmer. As a result about 1/3 was left over.

I wrapped the pork up like last time and place back in the refrigerator.

See you back in a couple of weeks…

The Saga of the Ham, Part 1

If you read my earlier post on my love of pork, then you know I am interested in making a ham. Not any ham but something in the neighborhood of Parma perfection.

The first part of any saga like this is research. I’ve found a number of places on line with some helpful advice. If you are interested in making ham, you should check them out.
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/cure_smoke/virginia_ham.pdf
http://www.foodandwine.net/recipes/recip009.htm
http://forum.rivercottage.net/viewtopic.php?t=13379
http://www.culinary-yours.com/ham.html
http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/C/come_dine/7philham.html
http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnweakle/Hog_Killing.htm

Given this research, I have a good feel for the ingredients and the basic process. Now I need to settle on the cut of meat, the recipe and the specific technique.

I am a beginner here, so I am a little nervous that I will completely screw this up, so a smaller cut of meat is intriguing. On the recipe side, I would like to do a Parma style ham. The basic ingredient here is salt though you can add other ingredients to spice it up a bit.

OK so I had 1 pound of left over tenderloin. I decided I needed a curing agent other than salt. I went to Bass Pro Shop and picked up Lem’s brand cure. Nothing more than Prague #1 or Instacure #1 for those in the know. I think for ham you should really use Prague #2, but I couldn’t get that anywhere quickly. This is an experiment so #1 it is.

 

I mixed 1/2 tsp of the cure with 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground pepper and 1 tsp ground corriander. This was double the cure the package called for but I think it is typically used with ground meat…

I rubbed every last bit of the rub over the meat making sure to miss no part of the pork. For the last step I wrapped it up in celophane and placed in the fridge. I’ll check back in 2 weeks.
 

Chinese Beef Jerky

This recipe is based on jerky that my wife’s family gets in Chinatown in San Francisco. It is delicious.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon dry vermouth (or Bourbon)
2 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 lb brisket (or skirt steak), fully trimmed and sliced very thin

Directions:
1. Mix ingredients well, add brisket and marinate at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

 

 

2. Heat oven to lowest setting (165F – 175F), cut times below by at least half in a convection oven.

3. Arrange meat strips on a cookie cooling rack over a cookie sheet.

 

4. Place in oven and let dry for 2 hours.

5. Turn strips over, place back in oven and let dry for 2 more hours.

 

6. Turn strips over, place back in oven turn oven off and let dry for 4 more hours.

 

7. Transfer strips to a sealable container