redhotchick Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I feel inspired to prepare an air dried ham. I think that if I start thinking about it now it should be ready for Christmas! I've never done anything like this before and I would be researching from scratch! I'm thinking of doing one with the bone removed, for ease of slicing. Has anyone prepared their own air dried ham? Would anyone like to have a go at this with me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Sounds exciting We've smoked our own mackeral up the chimney which didn't take very long but the cost of a whole ham/plus the length of time and the need to get it right has always put me off in case it goes horribly wrong (I'm thinking maggots, sorry). We've also made our own bacon in the fridge. But back to hams - the ones you see in Spain always have the bone in, and I've always assumed its there for a reason....but now I come to think of it, I can't think of one Where are you planning to hang it? I will follow your experiment with interest if you decide to go ahead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 I was thinking of hanging it in my garage. It's fairly cool in there - I'm not sure how cool it would be if we had a heat wave though... I've read up a little bit today. The ham is wrapped in layers of muslin, presumably to keep it from insect attack and dust. A 6Kg leg of pork would cost £27 to £40 or more. It's a risk, but nothing ventured nothing gained. I read something today which quietened my worries somewhat. "I wonder if we all worry un-necessarily sometimes. I was half prepared for smelly slimey messes given the less than ideal conditions. (ie. Not dry and breezy) and was really surprised and pleased. After all, this is cottage industry stuff rather than a complicated preparation and probably more bullet proof than we might believe." It was a very sensible statement I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 We've brought a ham back from Spain a couple of times and have just hung it in an airy place. It's been fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 I've ordered a tunnel boned leg of Pork from my butcher today. Eek! No going back now! Costs to date 2 plastic boxes £8 7.5 Kilo of salt £2 1m of muslin £1.50 Pork £30 I hope it works!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinsk Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Good luck, I've always been to scared to attempt it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 My OH is in Spain right now - anything you need to know if he rings in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 Tunnel boned pork leg picked up from the butcher today I've weighed it, and it seems to be about 16lbs. It measures 4-6 inches thick. Packed it in salt, with some cracked black pepper and coriander seeds. Having read a bit more, I'm worried that I've picked the wrong time of year to embark on this project! I've read a few accounts on the internet by various people, I've taken on board different tips and techniques. The method I'm following is the River Cottage one, which uses a salt cure, no additives, no sugar. My butcher offered to give me a sweet cure mix he uses (very kind of him) and I was tempted to either do that or add some sugar, but I'm sticking with the one method for now. Maybe I'll experiment with sugar another time! Daphne if your OH can get any inside information on what goes into the dry salt cure mixture for the Spanish hams I'd be very interested! If he picks up any hints let me know once he's back. If the link works, it's a picture of the leg of pork with some salt, black pepper and coriander seed rubbed in, before the whole leg was covered in salt, more than 10kg of salt! I've used stackable plastic storage boxes and used one for the meat and salt and one full of tins on top of this, to try and get a weight which is twice the weight of the pork leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Wow! How exciting! Definately something that would be great to do! Good luck Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 (edited) Thanks Martin. It is exciting, long wait though! Kinsk, I am scared that it won't work, especially as they seem to be able to go wrong for no fathomable reason! I'm hoping that if it works for me other people will feel more confident about doing it too. I packed it in salt last Monday, I'll unpack it all, turn it over and repack it one evening later this week. No liquid coming out at this point. I've just checked, the salt is a little damp, so I've added another 1.5Kg of salt to the top. Also It may work but be far too salty...I've been wondering if I was wrong not to add sugar, and whether I should add some when I turn it this week, but for one, I think half way may be too late, and for two, I think I should stick to the plan and see what happens! I'm also wondering if I have enough weight on it. I'll double check the weight when I turn it this week. There are a lot of variables. I've put my fridge thermometer on top of the salt and it says 15 degrees centigrade this evening. I wouldn't want it to be any warmer... edited for spelling mistake. Edited April 18, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Hi - I asked OH to see what he could find out, but for some reason he thought this was hysterically funny 'you expect me to find out about salt curing ham with MMMMYYYY Spanish!' So, I don't think he was able to. Sorry! I can't think of any top tips except to say maybe keep a diary of what you're doing and when (quantities, temps etc) which sounds a bit anoraky but then IF it all goes horribly wrong or ends up a bit salty then if you wanted to try again at least you'd do it differently. The other thing I might try, in a very cheeky manner, is to find an artisan ham-maker in this country (online) and ring them up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 This evening I unpacked the leg of pork from the salt, had a good look at it, took photos, made a note of the weight that I was using (not having noted this before), added some fresh salt and packed it up again. The weight I'm using is twice the weight of the original leg of pork (after it had been tunnel boned) I was just sitting here congratulating myself on the first stage of this Air Dried Ham seeming to have passed successfully when I realised that the whole purpose of unpacking it was to turn it over and I hadn't! So I've just unpacked it again, turned it over and added more fresh salt. It looks great anyway, it is shaping up nicely, the weight is obviously working. It smells fine, no worrying odour at all. Phew! So far so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Daphne - Thanks for trying anyway! I haven't gone so far as to ring up an Artisan Ham maker, but I have read every single entry for Air dried ham on the first 2 pages of Google! ha ha ha I'm keeping notes. I know my memory isn't that good, I need to write things down! The salt was the texture of damp sand when I unpacked the ham this evening. Nice and cool too. The temp seems to be holding around 15 Centigrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 Today I took the ham out of the salt that it has been curing in. There was a slightly "meaty" odour, but nothing unpleasant. After washing all the salt off in the sink I wiped it down with white wine vinegar, wrapped it in two layers of butter muslin and popped it into a cotton bag. It weighs 13lb at this point. So it has lost 3 lbs of moisture. (only an approximation because it was difficult to weigh so I used my bathroom scales). It's now hanging in my garage. I tasted a little and it tastes like you might expect cured pork to taste. I liked it which is a relief! I've taken photos at each stage, I'll have to try and remember how to post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 It's sounding good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Ooh well done so far Looking forward to the photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 When are you expecting it to be ready? Is it a case of you could eat it now, but it'll be better in x amount of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 Hi Daphne, I'm sure we could eat it now, but it's supposed to dry out over time. I'm expecting it to be ready in 4 to 6 months. I'm not sure what improvement the drying period gives. Perhaps the flavour matures and the texture improves? I'm thinking of dry curing a smaller cut in a sweet cure to make bacon whilst I'm waiting for the leg to air dry. I'll have a look through some of my Home Farmer magazines, I'm sure it tells you how to do it in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 It's 6 months since I hung the cured leg of pork up to dry. I took it down last night, it weighs 10lbs now, so it has lost another 3lbs of moisture whilst hanging. There was no mould, as can often be expected, but it does need a few bits cutting off to tidy it up. I sliced a tiny bit off to taste, it's picked up the aromatics from the coriander seeds and pepper corns, and it doesn't seem too salty, bit on the hard side, will have to see how it is once I get into the proper slices. It reminds me of cured meat I've had in the Italian Alps. I'm not sure what to do with the skin, I'd like to cut it all off now and get a proper look at the meat, but I'm not sure if it's helping to protect the meat? Anyone else done this and could advise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
