First attempt at curing a ham

[Checkered Past]

I am starting with a skinless rear ham approx. 25#.

Cooking equipment will be one of the following: a 20# electric smoker- from the Sausage Maker- if it will fit, or a WSM. There is a possibility that I can use the electric smoker for the smoke generator and pipe it into a barrel with the meat in it. And a refer. that I could use to let it soak and air dry in.

Ingredients at hand: Mortons smoked salt cure, tender quick, pink powder, dextrose and many spices.

Reference materials at hand: Mortons meat curing, livingstons smoked meat, and the sausage maker book.

I have been trying to put some ideas together but my time is running out this project starts Sat. AM

I really don't want this to taste like BBQ pulled pork because that is also happening with the front shoulder Sat. the low and slow method.

Thanks in advance

[Richtee]

Allrighty then...

First and foremost... which cure will you use? You can go with EITHER the pink, or the TQ. Sure, they can be mixed, but that's not for noobs... no offence, sir.

TQ's advantage... and dis-advantage in some cases... is it contains all the salt you'll need for the ham.

The "Pink" - correctly referred to as Cure #1- has very little salt. Negligible, actually. So you'd need to account for that during the cure mixing.

Let's settle this question..then ONWARD!

[TasunkaWitko]

i haven't done a ham, but when using a cure i do like the tenderquick - i've used it for jerky many, many times and over the years have evolved a method where all the other ingredients are as salt-free as possible.

the reason as rich said is that the tenderquick will most likely have all the salt you need and you probably won't need to add more. it is very reliable stuff and there is no reason NOT to use it, but if you do decide to use it (and i think it would be a good choice to do so) be sure to use the amounts proscribed and no more than that - too much will result in too salty a product.

[Checkered Past]

Allrighty then...

First and foremost... which cure will you use? You can go with EITHER the pink, or the TQ. Sure, they can be mixed, but that's not for noobs... no offence, sir.

TQ's advantage... and dis-advantage in some cases... is it contains all the salt you'll need for the ham.

The "Pink" - correctly referred to as Cure #1- has very little salt. Negligible, actually. So you'd need to account for that during the cure mixing.

Let's settle this question..then ONWARD!

No offence taken This is all good stuff. I am not used to posting on forums, but this site is way to cool to pass up.

So my thought was to brine it and inject it with the TQ for x amount of time - will consult with reference materials when I get home - Give it a couple of good rinses then a healthy rub maybe 2 or 3 times with the smoked sugar cure. And again I will consult the book - but they don't talk about using a skinned hunk of meat.

I will get back tom. morning with book in hand and we all can iron this out

[Richtee]

Some points:
"brine" is a term for a (sodium) chloride based infusion. It is not a cure.
One would NOT brine AND cure.
After injection... IMMEDIATELY after- the meat is rubbed and left for "x" amount of time. (7 days per inch of thickness...varibles come into play here.)

I don't think the skinned thing is gonna be an issue since this won't be an aged cure.

[DangerDan]

Reference materials at hand: Mortons meat curing, livingstons smoked meat, and the sausage maker book.

I have been trying to put some ideas together but my time is running out this project starts Sat. AM

Being as your reference material seems a little light on food safety I'd consider reading some of literature from the link below.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...moke_cure.html

Good luck with your project and don't hesitate to ask questions. This site appears to be full of some pretty good information.

[Checkered Past]

Thanks for the input guys.
Dan I marked that site for future reference.

I read the Morton book a few nights ago along with a few so yesterday I was a bit foggy about the total plan of attack. So last night I reread the book and this is what I will try and I will keep you posted of the trials and tribulations of this journey.

The Combination Cure: Pump the ham with a curing pickle solution - Tender Quick - along the bones, then rub the ham with Morton Smoked sugar cure all over the outside then place in the refer.

Curing time will depend on the weight and thickness - will be calculated tom.

As far as not having skin thats ok because this is a non-aged short cut ham.

Let the journey begin

[Uncle-Honky]

Super cool I am going to watch this closely, for I am going to cure one next. I would like to propose a question, if I may. Without sabotaging Checkered's thread. Can the TQ be introduced to a brine? And then pumped and brine cured for the proper amount of time? The brine to help the meat flavor. I don't mean to get off task. If I am, perhaps, tell me to hit the bricks....booooya!

Rock it Checkered! I hope it turns out well and better than you expect. \_/!

[Richtee]

Can the TQ be introduced to a brine? And then pumped and brine cured for the proper amount of time? The brine to help the meat flavor.

Sure...but why? You can add dry spices right into the dry cure, and in the pickle-pump liquid. That's how I do it.

[Checkered Past]

Hey welcome to the journey Uncle-Honky

More input the better this is all good stuff.

That was my line of thinking yesterday prior to consulting the book again.

"By using the combination method, the curing reaction works from within the ham and from the outside simultaneously. Meat near the bones will be cured rapidly, reducing the chance of bone-sour spoilage. Other portions of the ham will cure uniformally with no over-cured or under-cured spots. The combination cure is the preferred method recommended by Morton Salt and when used properly, sucess is almost gauranteed."
This is straight out of the Morton book.

[Checkered Past]

So Richtee what spices are you adding to the pickle?

[new smoke]

Some points:
After injection... IMMEDIATELY after- the meat is rubbed and left for "x" amount of time. (7 days per inch of thickness...varibles come into play here.)

Sorry to butt in here, but 7 days per inch of thickness? Would that apply to a butt ham, also?

[Richtee]

I keep it pretty simple. I like some onion and garlic in both the pickle and the dry, and add CBP to the dry.

[Richtee]

Sorry to butt in here, but 7 days per inch of thickness? Would that apply to a butt ham, also?

Yes, it would. Remember however- if cure is applied to all sides... it's per inch FROM CENTER.

Now, there's some mitigating factors... fat caps don't cure, nor do they pass the cure thru the meat below. With butt/shoulder hams, I inject cure below the cap. And remove most of the cap as well. No need for that fat on a ham.

The biggest thing to remember... if you use the correct amount of cure- you cannot over-cure. Best to err on more time in the cure than less....

[Checkered Past]

So the actual weight of the ham was 20lbs.

I mixed the curing pickle consisting of tender quick,water, garlic pwdr, onion pwdr, and white pepper and injected 20ozs of the pickle into the area next to the bones.

Then I rubbed the smoked sugar cure all over the ham and placed into the refer. at 38 deg. I will add a second rubbing of the cure this Thurs.