On Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:56:10 -0700, Ranee at Arabian Knits
> wrote:

>In article >,
> "modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote:
>
>> Me? I'm gonna make bacon and cure that ham.
>
> Sounds really good. How do you make yours?
>
I follow the recipes in "Charcuterie" by Ruhlman and Polcyn. Bacon is
not so much of an undertaking -- cure it in the fridge and then smoke
it.

Curing a ham is a much longer proposition. The only other time I did
it, I packed it in salt and weighted it down in the fridge for one day
for each pound of uncured weight. I used a big enameled pan and a
smaller Pyrex dish and a 20-lb dumbbell. After that it has to be
wrapped in cheesecloth and air cured for months.

I cured it for six months the first time, using a wine collector's
temperature controlled storage unit I got from Overstock.com. It kept
the ham at a constant 50-55 degree F temp during the cure. I also
added a pan of water to the unit every now and then to increase the
humidity because the condensation tray in the back filled up pretty
fast at first. You don't want it to dry out too fast and develop a
crust on the outside that prevents the inner parts from drying. And to
prevent it from getting yucky, I changed the water out periodically.

Six months is the lower limit for curing, according to Ruhlman. This
time, I plan on a longer time in the cooler -- maybe closer to a year.
We'll see.
--

modom