# U.S.S. Prosciutto, Maiden Voyage



## mneeley490 (Mar 12, 2017)

My first try at a full prosciutto. Been thinking about it for several months, reading and watching videos, and now everything seemed to fall into place. With the help of some friends, I now have an extra fridge in the garage for the initial salt cure. I also now have two wine coolers in the basement that I've tinkered with. One is now a cool curing chamber, and the other is heated with a flat, reptile heating pad, for blooming sausage. Both have analog Johnson Control units attached that keep the temperatures pretty steady.

Then yesterday I was in my local business Costco (geared more like a restaurant and business supply store) looking to see the prices on corned brisket packers, when I stumbled upon 2 whole, skin-on pork legs. I bought the biggest one, 22.5 pounds at $1.09 lb, and now I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't grab the smaller one as well. Oh well.













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I don't know what whole legs go for in other parts of the country, but the best I found earlier was $2 lb, and that had to be special-ordered.













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Trimmed, it came to a little less than 19.5 lbs. Had fun removing that Aitch bone. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			


















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Back side.













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Packed securely with 3 lbs. of Kosher salt. I debated about using Cure #2. I read the arguments here for and against. In the end, I decided to use it, feeling better to be safe, than sorry.













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Now it's in the fridge with a load of bricks on top. I'll keep an eye on it, and drain any liquid in the next few days.

Hopefully, sometime in 2018, we'll have something good.


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## akdutchguy (Mar 12, 2017)

On the bucket list for sure. I haven't seen any whole legs up here but I bet it would be over 2 bucks. 
Jason


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## crankybuzzard (Mar 12, 2017)

I should still be around in 2018, I'll watch!

Gonna give us an update now and then?


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## myownidaho (Mar 12, 2017)

I'm in....for the long haul! Lol!


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## redheelerdog (Mar 12, 2017)

That's awesome, take lots of pics - 2018 will be here before you know it!


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## mneeley490 (Mar 13, 2017)

I should have more pics in a week or so, when I drain and repack it.


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## daveomak (Mar 13, 2017)

I'm in too neeley....  should be a good one....


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## dirtsailor2003 (Mar 13, 2017)

I'm in too!


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## mneeley490 (Mar 19, 2017)

Well, I repacked the leg yesterday; there wasn't much to see, so I didn't bother taking pics.

There was some slushy salt in the bottom of the tray, which I removed, but not much liquid to speak of even though I'm guessing that I have about 30 lbs of weight on top. The most obvious thing I noticed was that all the salt on top, which was about 1/8"-1/4" thick and directly under the weight, had completely disappeared. So I don't know if it dissolved straight into the meat or what. I reused the rest, and some new salt, to repack and replaced it in the fridge. 

I'm figuring 1-1/2 days per pound, so that comes out to just over 29 days. I'll go 30 to be on the safe side, which will mean that it will be pulled on April 12th.

There are many variations on Youtube about what to do after that. I like the idea of rinsing in wine, then coating the exposed area with lard, black pepper, and pureed garlic or powdered garlic before it goes into the dry curing chamber. I have a low-speed fan installed in there to give air movement. Humidity is a little trickier; I have a paper towel partially draped in a bowl of water. I have to check on it every couple of days and refill to make sure the humidity is right.


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## daveomak (Mar 19, 2017)

Black pepper is supposed to keep the flies off...    Lard, slows down the drying process so you don't get case hardening..  and end up with a soft center...


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## mneeley490 (Mar 27, 2017)

Week two, and yesterday I drained about 2 cups of liquid from the tray, and flipped the leg before repacking with the weights. No off odors, so I think things are progressing alright.













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## hdhong (Mar 27, 2017)

mneeley490 said:


> Week two, and yesterday I drained about 2 cups of liquid from the tray, and flipped the leg before repacking with the weights. No off odors, so I think things are progressing alright.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


looks good mneeley, do you put the cure #2 on the skin as well or just the meat only?


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## mneeley490 (Mar 27, 2017)

It was mixed in with the salt, so it covered everything.


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## hdhong (Mar 27, 2017)

mneeley490 said:


> It was mixed in with the salt, so it covered everything.


Awesome, cant' wait to see the result.


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## mneeley490 (Apr 9, 2017)

Coming up now on the time to remove from the salt cure and hang. But I have a question for those who have made prosciutto before.

Looking around the internet for the best temperature to hang them, and I get numbers from 55° up to 70°, and everywhere in between. Is there a consensus?


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## daveomak (Apr 9, 2017)

50-55 deg. F to keep bacteria growth to a minimum..   and 75-80% relative humidity so as to not case harden the meat..  A periodic gentle breeze to keep mold from forming too badly...   Anyway, that's from sources I read..


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## mneeley490 (Apr 9, 2017)

DaveOmak said:


> 50-55 deg. F to keep bacteria growth to a minimum..   and 75-80% relative humidity so as to not case harden the meat..  A periodic gentle breeze to keep mold from forming too badly...   Anyway, that's from sources I read..


Thanks, Dave. That's about what I figured. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  

I have a low-speed fan inside my curing chamber, but I'm also thinking that I might have to look around to find some sort of timer that would allow it to run intermittently, instead of constantly.


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## daveomak (Apr 9, 2017)

You can slow it down by blocking the "push" side of the air stream also..  Stuff I have read notes an air flow of about walking speed...   about 4-5' per second...  no idea how to measure that...   just a reference...


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## gnatboy911 (Apr 9, 2017)

Just saw this....following. I want to see the end result!


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## mneeley490 (Apr 9, 2017)

mneeley490 said:


> Thanks, Dave. That's about what I figured.





DaveOmak said:


> You can slow it down by blocking the "push" side of the air stream also..  Stuff I have read notes an air flow of about walking speed...   about 4-5' per second...  no idea how to measure that...   just a reference...


I'm a little more concerned with the little motor burning up after a year of constant use than I am with constricting the airflow.


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## daveomak (Apr 10, 2017)

I would try a timer...  5 minutes every hour or something...


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## mneeley490 (Apr 10, 2017)

DaveOmak said:


> I would try a timer...  5 minutes every hour or something...


Right, that's the idea. I just have to find one that will do that.


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## gnatboy911 (Apr 10, 2017)

Check out this website...this guy has a pretty extensive explanation of how he set up a curing chamber.  However, with a project like yours you probably already found it during your research.

Thought I'd share just in case...

http://mattikaarts.com/blog/meat-curing-at-home-the-setup/


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## actech (Apr 11, 2017)

Gonna watch this one !!


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## hoity toit (Apr 11, 2017)

you can put a small piece of cardboard in front of the fan to disperse the air flow. Watch for case hardening. It's my opinion not to use a fan opting to open the door every few days for air exchange, but that again is just my own opinion.  I'm in and will be watching this thread.

HT


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## litterbug (Apr 11, 2017)

I'm in


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## humdinger (Apr 13, 2017)

I love Prosciutto! Keep the pics and details coming. I'll be watching.


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## travisty (Apr 13, 2017)

Following!


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## mneeley490 (Apr 13, 2017)

Ok, the hog leg came out of the salt last night. It was very stiff and solid, which I believe is how it is supposed to be.

Got a rinse in the sink, and then another rinse with red wine.













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In my haste, I forgot to weigh it again to see how much it had lost. But I think the total 40% weight loss is based on the green weight anyway, so not a huge deal.

After it was thoroughly dry, I applied the mixture of lard, black pepper, and garlic powder to the exposed areas. Something I discovered about lard, is it gets everywhere! Especially with a heavy, unwieldy pork leg.













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Hanging in the converted wine fridge. It took nearly all the room available.













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Below it is a dish filled with super salinated water, and my low-flow fan on the left. It is situated so that the air flows down, rather than straight on the meat. I did manage to find a timer outlet for it on Amazon, and easily set it up to run for 5 minutes every hour.


Temp and humidity is just about perfect. So, other than filling the bowl every so often, I think it's good to go for a while.













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## mike johnson (Apr 14, 2017)

This looks Great!! Ill be following this 1 for sure.


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## daveomak (Apr 14, 2017)




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## myownidaho (Apr 14, 2017)

See you in 2018! Lol!


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## hoity toit (Apr 15, 2017)

mneeley490 said:


> Ok, the hog leg came out of the salt last night. It was very stiff and solid, which I believe is how it is supposed to be.
> 
> Got a rinse in the sink, and then another rinse with red wine.
> 
> ...


I have the same exact humidity temp guage


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## mneeley490 (Apr 15, 2017)

Hoity Toit said:


> I have the same exact humidity temp guage


Yeah, it works pretty well. I think I got it from Amazon.

I've been monitoring the fan timer, and it seems to be doing exactly what it's supposed to, 5 minutes on, 55 minutes off. So 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.


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## hoity toit (Apr 15, 2017)

mneeley490 said:


> Yeah, it works pretty well. I think I got it from Amazon.
> 
> I've been monitoring the fan timer, and it seems to be doing exactly what it's supposed to, 5 minutes on, 55 minutes off. So
> 
> ...


Super thats good... send me a link on the timer if ya don't mind.

HT


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## daveomak (Apr 15, 2017)

mneeley490 said:


> Hoity Toit said:
> 
> 
> > I have the same exact humidity temp guage
> ...


Neely, evening...   does that on-off time, for the fan, seem to be doing a good job and not case hardening the meat ??    I just bought a timer on Amazon "special lightening deals"....

it was $16....  I could NOT pass it up...


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## mneeley490 (Apr 15, 2017)

DaveOmak said:


> Neely, evening...   does that on-off time, for the fan, seem to be doing a good job and not case hardening the meat ??    I just bought a timer on Amazon "special lightening deals"....
> 
> it was $16....  I could NOT pass it up...


Dave, I think it's a little too early to see if there is any case hardening, but remember it is a low-volume fan. Five minutes every hour should be just enough to keep the air circulating for a year or more.

I had it running constantly for a couple months when I did some capicola, and they turned out fine.


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## daveomak (Apr 15, 2017)

...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





....    Thanks....


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## noble captain (Apr 20, 2017)

Wow, this looks awesome,  
I bought  2 pork legs a few weeks  ago and smoked one. I wanted to try this as well. It looks so good. My husband won't let me get another fridge to do it though, maybe a little later in the year. 
I will be following,  thank you


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## humdinger (Apr 28, 2017)

Looking good Neely. Loving this thread. Keep the pics coming.


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## mneeley490 (Apr 28, 2017)

Been gone for a couple weeks. Checked the chamber today, and everything seemed to be going okay. No off odors, water tray was still full, fan still blowing for 5 minutes at a time. The skin is dry, and starting to feel a little rough, but not over-dry, so I don't think there is any case hardening going on. Otherwise, it looks the same.


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## daveomak (Apr 29, 2017)




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## noble captain (Apr 30, 2017)

Cool , still keeping up. Sounds good


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## mneeley490 (May 14, 2017)

Had a bit of a scare yesterday. The humidity inside the chamber goes up and down, but over the past 2 weeks it has been over 80% for some reason. I thought it might settle down, but yesterday I noticed some green mold spots growing on the outside skin. Nothing seemed to be growing on the lard. 

When I inspected it, the skin was soft and clammy. So I scrubbed off the mold and wiped the skin down with white vinegar. Also took out the water tray, and reprogrammed the fan for 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off.

Today, the humidity is at 65%, and the skin is dry and not so soft as yesterday. I'm hoping this is just a minor setback.


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## daveomak (May 14, 2017)

Is your "chamber" allowing for fresh air in at some point ??  Just to get rid of the "used" air....


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## mneeley490 (May 14, 2017)

DaveOmak said:


> Is your "chamber" allowing for fresh air in at some point ??  Just to get rid of the "used" air....


I open the door to check on things every few days. Might have missed a few lately. Even thought the front is glass, it was a wine cooler and so kind of dark inside, so I check on it with a flashlight.


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## daveomak (May 14, 2017)

I've been trying to find "something" that notes air changes in a chamber but can't find anything definitive...  Just seems logical to me..    If you can hang meat in a cellar for a few months, air changes would be the norm...  nothing you could do about it...  Sooooo, that's where I'm thinking air changes would be at least OK....  if not mandatory...   I'll keep looking....


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## daveomak (May 14, 2017)

Here we go......

http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/...to-crudo-cured-ham-in-parma-drying-and-sugna/
[h1]Making Italian Prosciutto Crudo, Cured Ham in Parma: Drying and Sugna[/h1]
September 21, 2009 by Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy 6 Comments

Part 2 in a series about how Prosciutto di Parma is made when I visited a prosciuttificio (prosciutto factory) during the Festival del Prosciutto in the province of Parma.

Part 1: Making Prosciutto di Parma: the Salting
*Part 2: Making Prosciutto di Parma: the Drying and Sugna*
Part 3: Making Prosciutto di Parma: the Maturing
After the salting process, the prosciutto have been washed and now they are hung to dry – usually in climate-controlled rooms so that the temperature is an average and most importantly, dry temperature. If there is too much moisture in the air, the meat will spoil instead of curing. The air is also changed frequently. The legs are hung with rope and though many of the racks are now metal, more traditional racks would be made of wood.


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## mneeley490 (May 14, 2017)

I'd love to be able to hang it somewhere in my house like in the photographs, but I just don't have anywhere appropriate to do it. My wine cellar would be perfect, but over the years I've trapped a half dozen rats that somehow get in there on their own. Add hanging, aromatic meat to the equation? Yikes. And drilling holes in the wine cooler/curing chamber would probably be counter productive to its use, also. So, I don't know. I guess I'll just have to open the door more often.


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## daveomak (May 14, 2017)

RATS !!!!!   When I lived on the coast, when the boat harbor froze over, the rats would come up the creek into my yard...   BIG Norway rats...   I trapped then all the time in the really cold winters...


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## mneeley490 (May 14, 2017)

Yep. These are some big ones, and I really don't want to attract more.


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## noble captain (May 17, 2017)

Wow that blog awesome,  I'm looking  for an appropriate thing to hang my prosciutto when I do it. I'm desperate to try it. Lol you all are so awesome with sharing info. Thanks


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## mneeley490 (May 19, 2017)

After removing the water tray, the humidity was still around 80%, so I slid in a tray with dry rice, hoping that would bring it down some. Tonight, it was 75%, so it looks like we're heading in the right direction. I can only surmise that the moisture is coming from the leg itself, and will still be opening the door every day or two for a few minutes.


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## daveomak (May 19, 2017)

Add a tray of distilled water saturated salt...   Use the salt that will give you the desired humidity....  It's a physics thing...   The salt solution wants to be in equilibrium..  If the air, in the chamber, gets too high, the solution sucks moisture out of the air...   too low, it will give up water...  The chamber temp is an important part of the equation... 

Sodium chloride, regular salt, in a coarse grade like for sidewalks works very well...   will give you around 65%    75% RH....













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TYPO......    65% should be 75%.....


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## mneeley490 (May 19, 2017)

DaveOmak said:


> Add a tray of distilled water saturated salt...   Use the salt that will give you the desired humidity....  It's a physics thing...   The salt solution wants to be in equilibrium..  If the air, in the chamber, gets too high, the solution sucks moisture out of the air...   too low, it will give up water...  The chamber temp is an important part of the equation...
> 
> Sodium chloride, regular salt, in a coarse grade like for sidewalks works very well...   will give you around 65% RH....
> 
> ...


Dave, that is what I had in there.


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## daveomak (May 19, 2017)

Well, I don't know now....  Somehow, you have deceived the laws of physics...  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   ....


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## actech (May 20, 2017)

How accurate is your hygrometer? shouldnt be a +- 5% i wouldnt think but you never know


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## mneeley490 (May 22, 2017)

I suppose it's possible that it could be off, but I'd have to buy another hygrometer to test it. With the rice inside instead of the thick saline, it shows the humidity between 60-65%.


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## mneeley490 (Nov 6, 2017)

Well seven months into it, and I don't have much to report, but I guess that's a good thing. Still going good; no bad molds, but I think the skin picked up a little of the good, white mold from previous projects; still firm flesh; no off odors. Still have the saltwater in the chamber; in fact, the salt has encrusted the dish. But now the humidity seems to have leveled off, so again, that seems good. I wonder at what point do the Italian prosciutto inspectors start sticking in that horse bone to smell for bad odors? I could probably use a wood skewer for that.


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## b-one (Nov 9, 2017)

What an adventure,sure hope it turns out!


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## mneeley490 (Feb 4, 2018)

Month 10, time for an update:
As I checked on the progress this week I noticed a couple small patches of greenish-gray mold on the outside of the leg.
















So I decided to clean off the old lard and wipe the entire thing down thoroughly with white vinegar, including the inside of the curing chamber.





There were a couple of small, mushy spots in the meat on the bottom. Didn't know what to make of it, so I cut those out as well. No off odors, however, so I take that as a good sign.










Then a new, thinner coat of peppered lard, and back into the curing chamber. Didn't think to weigh it, but based on feel, I'm sure I have several more months to go.


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## Maple (Feb 6, 2018)

Thank you for starting this thread mneeley490. Built a curing chamber last fall to do exactly what you are doing. Still making modifications to the chamber and have experimented curing a couple of small cuts of meat. Later this year I want to start Prosciutto. Thanks for blazing the Prosciutto trail, looking forward to more of your posts.


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## JohnsMyName (Feb 8, 2018)

Same here, way cool, and thanks for posting.


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## mneeley490 (Jul 16, 2018)

Well it's been a long 16 months, but it's finally over.
When I started, the green weight was 8,790 grams. At 30% reduction, that would put the ending point at 6,153 grams. However, I did have to cut a bit away midway through and that threw my calculations off. Also, I was just too lazy to keep going downstairs to the den/meat room to keep weighing it until now. I have a good friend up from Phoenix this week. He just participated in the STP (Seattle, WA to Portland, OR) bike ride this weekend, and he's been bugging me for updates on this since it began.
So today it weighed in at 5,730 grams; roughly 35% weight loss from the original green weight, but of course I carved a little out, so somewhere in between 30% and 35%. Time to watch umpteen videos on YouTube about what to do next. All the pros in Italy have a knife shaped like a long scoop to cut along the bone (along with decades of experience), and completely debone the thing in a matter of a few minutes. Looks easy, uh-huh, except I have neither the scoopy knife nor the experience, but here goes.







Most of the lard gone, and now to start trimming down to the good stuff.






What a hack job, but there were no off odors anywhere to be found






The pros cut all the way around the bone, a few inches down from the shank end and sort of use that as a handle. I thought I'd try the same and just cut down along both ends of the bone and I'd have two perfect chunks, right? Wrong. There is a knee in there, and I guessed wrong about which way it would be bent. A hack job, but still not bad for a first time, I hope.






After a little more trimming, the two pieces were smaller than my goal, but still not bad. Prosciutto is sliced so thin that there should still be quite a bit for my friends and I to enjoy. Wrapped tightly in plastic and I will break out the big slicer some time this week when we get back together.






About this time I was busy tonight with wrapping up the deboning project and getting dinner on the table (Marinated chicken breasts on the Weber.) But I managed to thin slice some of the scrappy meat off the bone with my knife. I had maybe 3-4 oz. on a plate and brought it to my wife for us to try while I got the chicken off the grill. When I came back in, this is all that was left. Evidently, it was good enough.





Actually, the few pieces I tried were good. Some were a little saltier than others (perhaps closer to the outer edge?) But all in all, it was a rousing success; especially since this was not a special breed of pig or anything. Just your run of the mill Costco pork. Next time, I might try to source something better and see how that turns out, but that won't be anytime soon. I missed the room in my curing chamber for anything else while that was in there.


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## richorn (Jul 16, 2018)

mneeley490 said:


> Well it's been a long 16 months, but it's finally over.
> View attachment 370982



Holy cow what a project!  Kudos on keeping the gang apprised.


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## mneeley490 (Jul 16, 2018)

A couple of other notes:
While salt was present, it wasn't overly salty. (I've had worse commercial products.) And I was happy to find that it had penetrated all the way through, down to the bone, and that I never had any issues with bone sour.
I will endeavor to get some good pics of it sliced, once we get that far. Probably next weekend when my friends and I get together. (But I may pull out that bone again in the mean time and shave off some more for me. ;) )


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## myownidaho (Jul 16, 2018)

Congratulations! Looks perfect!


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## ab canuck (Jul 16, 2018)

Wow That is a project and exercise in patience for sure, Looks good!! Like for sure. Congrats as well.


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## mneeley490 (Jul 19, 2018)

Sliced up some last night. Consensus was very good. Color is a bit off in these pics. It was actually much pinker than it looks here; more like the last pic above.


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## ab canuck (Jul 19, 2018)

That does look really good...


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## mneeley490 (Sep 3, 2018)

Just wanted to include a couple more pics, this time in natural sunlight so the pinkness shows better.


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## chopsaw (Sep 3, 2018)

That looks fantastic .


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## bmudd14474 (Sep 3, 2018)

That looks awesome. Great Job.


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