I have read the archives and googled everywhere and I am truly
confused and a little frightened to pursue my plan to cure a country
ham. Here is my plan, and a couple questions I hope some of you
experts can provide closure for.

1. I am picking up a pork leg from a butcher that slaughtered on
Monday. I plan on applying cure on Saturday. The "ham" will be the
full leg with skin on an "aitch" bone still there (?not sure I know
what I mean by that); should be about 24-30 pounds

2. I purchased both Morton Tender Quick (8 lbs) and Morton Sugar Cure
(Smoke Flavor (8 lbs). The instructions for both are clear, but
different. I am looking for a taste that is traditional KY, TN
country ham or prosciutto, not something that tastes like bacon. What
should I use?

3. I have conflicting temperature ranges for the cure. Some say no
less than 34F and no more than 40F...some go as high as 38F-44F. My
garage is attached to my house and I plan on working/curing/hanging
aging in there. I am rigging up a heat lamp that will come on at 34F,
however I am concerned about curing the ham in the polyethylene
(closed tub) I have rigged up...(By the way, I am in Wisconsin and it
is currently below 20F) Because we can hit 40-45F during some days, I
am concerned about this fluctuation between night temps and day.

4. Given my rambling in number 3 above, I do have a refrigerator I
can use in the house, but I am concerned about it getting too cold,
being enclosed without drafting..how important is air current/drafting
to the curing period? Would the refrigerator be too low humidity? At
least the refrigerator would give me consistency.

5. Going with the refrigerator, I would be going to the aging/hanging
stage approximately mid March, with higher but still fluctuating
temperatures in our part of the country. We could hit 70 during a
rare March day or as cold as 10-15F on some evenings. After two
months of curing, are the fluctuations in temperature as important, or
should I stay in the refrigerator until April/May?

6. I plan on hanging in the garage behind 32 mesh screen in a cotton
ham bag, for at least the summer and probably to November. Temps
could get as high as 90-95F during summer. Garage has window, but not
real good circulation. Can an electric fan provide the air drafting.

7. When I finally take down the beast, how will I know if it is a
botulism bomb? Is there a consumer-based test that can be done?

Hope ya'll don't thing I'm a dumb Yankee...I actually spend a lot of
time smoking and grilling meats, but this is my first crack at curing.

Tim from Sheboygan (Go Packers by the way)

Tim O'Neill - BudJit Graphics wrote:

I have read the archives and googled everywhere and I am truly
confused and a little frightened to pursue my plan to cure a country
ham. Here is my plan, and a couple questions I hope some of you
experts can provide closure for.

1. I am picking up a pork leg from a butcher that slaughtered on
Monday. I plan on applying cure on Saturday. The "ham" will be the
full leg with skin on an "aitch" bone still there (?not sure I know
what I mean by that); should be about 24-30 pounds

2. I purchased both Morton Tender Quick (8 lbs) and Morton Sugar Cure
(Smoke Flavor (8 lbs). The instructions for both are clear, but
different. I am looking for a taste that is traditional KY, TN
country ham or prosciutto, not something that tastes like bacon. What
should I use?

3. I have conflicting temperature ranges for the cure. Some say no
less than 34F and no more than 40F...some go as high as 38F-44F. My
garage is attached to my house and I plan on working/curing/hanging
aging in there. I am rigging up a heat lamp that will come on at 34F,
however I am concerned about curing the ham in the polyethylene
(closed tub) I have rigged up...(By the way, I am in Wisconsin and it
is currently below 20F) Because we can hit 40-45F during some days, I
am concerned about this fluctuation between night temps and day.

4. Given my rambling in number 3 above, I do have a refrigerator I
can use in the house, but I am concerned about it getting too cold,
being enclosed without drafting..how important is air current/drafting
to the curing period? Would the refrigerator be too low humidity? At
least the refrigerator would give me consistency.

5. Going with the refrigerator, I would be going to the aging/hanging
stage approximately mid March, with higher but still fluctuating
temperatures in our part of the country. We could hit 70 during a
rare March day or as cold as 10-15F on some evenings. After two
months of curing, are the fluctuations in temperature as important, or
should I stay in the refrigerator until April/May?

6. I plan on hanging in the garage behind 32 mesh screen in a cotton
ham bag, for at least the summer and probably to November. Temps
could get as high as 90-95F during summer. Garage has window, but not
real good circulation. Can an electric fan provide the air drafting.

7. When I finally take down the beast, how will I know if it is a
botulism bomb? Is there a consumer-based test that can be done?

Hope ya'll don't thing I'm a dumb Yankee...I actually spend a lot of
time smoking and grilling meats, but this is my first crack at curing.

Tim from Sheboygan (Go Packers by the way)


It has been over 30 years since I "helped" my dad butcher and cure hogs,
but we used to cure bacon, jowls, and sometimes the hams in the
refrigerator in the house. We always did a dry-cure, but I think we
boned out the ham because it can spoil easily around the bone. Not
botulism so much as just a nasty sour smell. If you are curing it with
the bone in, you might wanna inject a Tender Quick solution around the
bone, then rub the ham with Sugar Cure for the balance of the cure. It
doesn't need any air circulation during the curing phase while the salt
is penetrating the meat. Air circulation comes later when you hang the
ham and/or smoke it.

Morton's publishes a little paperback book on curing meats. You might
want to order it.

That's about all I can remember.

Bob

Tim O'Neill - BudJit Graphics wrote:

2. I purchased both Morton Tender Quick (8 lbs) and Morton Sugar Cure
(Smoke Flavor (8 lbs). The instructions for both are clear, but
different. I am looking for a taste that is traditional KY, TN
country ham or prosciutto, not something that tastes like bacon. What
should I use?

3. I have conflicting temperature ranges for the cure. Some say no
less than 34F and no more than 40F...some go as high as 38F-44F. My
garage is attached to my house and I plan on working/curing/hanging
aging in there. I am rigging up a heat lamp that will come on at 34F,
however I am concerned about curing the ham in the polyethylene
(closed tub) I have rigged up...(By the way, I am in Wisconsin and it
is currently below 20F) Because we can hit 40-45F during some days, I
am concerned about this fluctuation between night temps and day.

The sugar cure is for bacon. Use the regular TQ.

The 34 - 40 F temp range is correct for curing. Below 34 and the curing
is inhibited, above 40 and you have safety problems. Airflow is not
required during curing, only aging.

I don't recommend you do the curing in the garage. Getting it cured
properly is what makes the subsequent process safe. Why not buy an
old fridge and use that?

In any case you should get the Morton Curing Book, it's cheap.

http://www.c-els.com/sfCatalog.asp?s...34&pchid=10196

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

This is my family's recipe for Jamon, my grandparents were originally
from Andalusia, Spain.

Prosciutto/Jamon

In January when my garages temperature is 40 - 60 degrees.

1. I buy a pork leg from the butcher and have him remove the bone and
sew the leg together. I cut the hock off as it may start to smell if
not thoroughly pack with salt. You don't need the worry.
2. I made a wooden box big enough for the pork leg to fit into.
3. I drill holes in the bottom for any juices to escape. I place a
drip pan underneath the box. I do not use any nitrites or
preservatives, I feel this is to risky.
4. I constantly monitor the pork by smelling it.
5. I fill the box with salt (kosher, rock or sea salt)
6. I estimate the curing at 2 days for every pound (15 pounds 30 days)
7. I rub salt into the pork and then place it in the wooden box.
8. I cover the pork with salt.
9. I turn the pork 180 degrees every day or every other day.
10. At the end of the required curing time I place the pork in a
cooler full of fresh water.
11. I change the water every day until the water no longer tastes of
salt. (two to three days).
12. I made a press of planks with 4 - 2 foot long bolts placed in
each corner.
13. I place the pork leg in the press and tighten until juice drips
from the pork leg and then stop.
14. I place the pork and the press in a refrigerator on the drip pan
with the temperature set at 58 degrees. I live in a warm climate so
temperature can vary too much.
15. I tighten the bolts evenly every day 1/2 a turn and monitor the
drip of juices daily.
16. I keep tightening until the dripping of juice stops; the pork leg
is usually about 3 to 4 inches thick. I have at times punctured the
rind to allow trapped juice to escape from the sides.
17. I constantly monitor the pork by smelling it.
18. I then cut some of the skin and fat off and render it down in a
frying pan, while it is warm, I ad flour, wine and lots of coarsely
ground pepper.
19. With a brush, I paint the mixture onto the pork leg and cover it
with a heavy coating.
20. I make a hole in the hock area push a rope through it and hang it
in the refrigerator for a year. With a drip pan under it. The color is
a beautiful rose color.
22. I trim the skin off and slice it very thin
21. Its not Parma or Serrano ham buts its pretty good for San
Leandro, Califonia.
22. Michael Munoz -