Ham – A Few Facts

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Regarding hams not chemically cured:  Pardon me for being very
old-fashioned; I don't know of any way to cure a ham that is not
chemical. On one extreme, the whole world, including the ham is made
of chemicals. More moderately, the word "cure: insinuates the use of
"chemicals" even if only salt.  But the use of saltpeter ( nitrate)
has been in use for centuries.  It was discovered that bacteria in  the
meat and surrounding solution converted the nitrate to nitrite. A  more
modern cure by-passed the bacteria to use nitrite directly in  the cure
solution. It is nitrite that makes cured meat pink; without  it, dull
gray to brown and not very appetizing.  My personal preference is for a
so-called long cure ham, made with  salt, some sugar and a tiny bit of
nitrate and nitrite, some of each.  Stitch pump this into the flesh of
the ham [inject it with a syringe  and perforated needle in numerous
places but especially around the  bone and shank joint where spoilage
usually startes] or artery pump  using the femoral artery as an
injection point. This is the best and  safest.  Immerse the pumped ham
in "pickle" which is nothing more than more  brine of essentially the
same formula as the pumping "pickle" but  without the sugar which might
support bacterial growth. If you have a  barrel or vat of these hams,
unpack and re-pack them every two weeks  or so [called overhaul]. In no
less than 30 days and preferrably 60  days, remove and rinse the hams,
put the in a stockingette and into  the smoke house kept at about 120
degrees for the first day or so.  The hams can be kept in the smoke
house indefinitely without added  heat but re-smoke every two weeks or
so. Keep the hams hung so  varmints cannot get to them. ... they like
ham too. To store for a  long time, remove from the smoke house [in the
spring] and wrap in  muslin which is painted with white wash. ... the
real lime white  wash. Build up a firm layer of lime. These hams can be
hung in a barn  or attic indefinitely. Some country ham buffs say at
least two years.  To prepare such a ham for eating it must, of course,
be washed clean  and should be soaked overnight in water. A short
par-boil before  final roasting is also recommended.  Modern water
added hams were not an invention to cheat people but a  response to
people who didn't really like hams.  By adding extra  water to the
cure, the meat is more tender and less flavorful.  The  modern process
can also be completed within two days but the ham has  no "cured"
flavor. The canned or casing wrapped ham is usually not  smoked at all
but may have smoke flavoring added.  Recipe By     : JohnT6020  File
ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/mmdja006.zip

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