Sean Elkins wrote:
> In article .com>,
> wrote:
>
>
>>I have a large fresh venison ham and a few bags of Mortons Tender Quick
>>curing brine mix. The package says to let the meat cure for 24 hours. I
>>thought it took days! I don't want some quick 'almost ham'. If it takes
>>days of the brine treatment to get a true ham I'm all for it. What do I
>>need to do?
>>
>>Mike
>
>
>
> Are you wanting to make a 'country ham'? If so then you need the Sugar
> Cure. Essentially the process takes a few weeks to make a hard cured ham
> that can be stored at room temperature.
TenderQuick should work for this too -- actually better than Sugar Cure
because Sugar Cure does not contain nitrite. If I had the TenderQuick
already, I would mix some brown sugar with it and use it. The ham and
bacon we used to cure with Sugar Cure as red-gray instead of pink, and
was way too salty. (but it tasted good)
I don't have the times and stuff anymore. Morton Salt publishes a good
home meat curing guide. (note: all my recollection of this is about 30
years old)
> Your mention of brine makes me think that you are really making a ham that
> needs to be refrigerated. If so then the time should be similar to making
> a pork ham. Have you Googled brining ham to find directions on the web?
Best regards,
Bob