# My first dry cured ham, wasn't sure if it was spoiling (Update, it came out PERFECT!! with QView!)



## trizzuth

So I bought a half hog from a local farm last fall, the chops and bacon off that thing have been amazing so far!  Really nice marbled pork like you just don't see in a supermarket.

So I had this gigantic ham and decided to give dry curing a try as I LOVE the taste of Virginia Country Ham for breakfast!

I followed the 4 youtube videos from the gentleman instructing how to salt and dry cure hams and bacon, part 1 here: 

My only difference is that I am doing the dry curing process in a fridge in my basement that sits around 38 degrees.  I'm using the Morton Sugar Cure as he suggests as well, have applied the cure and gave it a good rub down for 4 weeks and just this past week, actually injected some of the cure mixture mixed with water into along the bone and joints to help prevent bone sour.

I'm at just about 5-6 weeks now with the ham absorbing the cure and am almost ready to wash it off and do the final dry before I cold smoke it.

My problem is (and I have not yet done the "wire into the ham test for odor"), that the skin initially looked like a normal shaved hog hind leg, I could even see a few veins here and there in the skin.  As the ham has absorbed some of the cure now, and it is working it's way in, it seems to be changing the color and elasticity of the skin a bit.  Not drastic color change, but it is not the same.  Hard to explain.  Iv'e also noticed that on pushing around on some of the skin, it almost feels like there is air built up inside, it gives a bit, so that also had me concerned about spoilage.

The actual lean meat on the outer edges still looks nice and pink and healthy, and the ham overall does not give off a foul odor, but I fear it is spoiling slowly, and I cannot really tell now.

Do you think if I showed some pics it would help, or does anyone have any advice based on the above if this is normal with their experience in dry-curing hams?

I want it to come out right so so so bad, but this is my first time and I scoured the internet for pictures of dry cured hams spoiling and cannot find any pictures anywhere.

Any advice is much appreciated, if necessary to help with diagnosis, I will most definitely do the wire stick test soon and take pics when I have a chance and post em up.  Thanks!!


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## smoking b

Pics would be very helpful!


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## trizzuth

ARRGGGGHHH I know this, but am a slacker.  I'll see if I can get some tonight..


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## diggingdogfarm

The ham should have been injected early on.
Salting well at the beginning is essential.
However, it's not necessarily spoiled, color and texture changes are a part of curing.
Are you using Morton's regular Sugar Cure or the smoke flavored?

And yeah, pics are always helpful.


~Martin


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## trizzuth

Well, from watching the vids, he stated that the injection was really only necessary due to the possible fluctuations in temperatures there may be from doing the dry cure outside, so I wasn't initially worried as it was going in the fridge the entire time at a steady 38 degrees.  I got a bit nervous due to the color/texture of skin, so finally injected it.  Might have been to late, or i could still be OK.

I am using the normal Morton's Sugar Cure, not the smoked one as I plan on smoking it myself slowly in my giant oil tank smoker..


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## diggingdogfarm

I didn't watch the video.
The sooner you can get salt and cure around the bone, the less there's a chance of spoilage.
When making the injection brine, just enough water should be added to dissolve the salt, that ensures a saturated salt solution or 100 degree brine which will help control any nasties that may have been pushed into the meat with the needle.
Injecting isn't essential, but added insurance.
There's no point in applying more than a couple or three doses of salt and cure, again, early on, as long as you do a good job. A couple is usually sufficient.


~Martin


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## trizzuth

OK, pics as promised..  Take a look and please let me know what you think.  This was salted.cured with Morton's sugar cure for about 6 weeks in my fridge in the basement.  Ham came from a local farm this past fall.  I just washed it off and you can see some of the odd blue coloring to the skin area in certain angles.

I plan on having this rest in the fridge downstairs for about 2 weeks now, is it fine to leave it uncovered as I did when it was curing with the salt mixture?

I didn't poke it and smell, but it smelled ok overall from the outside.













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## daveomak

It may be the temperature is too low to allow for bacteria to grow properly in the meat....   Bacteria is required for Nitrate to convert to Nitrite as stated below.....

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

These premixes reduce the possibility of serious error that could occur if handling pure sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite. In addition, excessive amounts of nitrates or nitrites which are not evenly distributed may cause a *green-brownish color* of the meat's pigment. This is a form of oxidation that can happen with any cured meat or sausage, but is more likely to happen in an acid environment, such as in fermented sausages. This form of greening of cured meats is referred to as "nitrite burn."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sodium Nitrate and its chemical equivalent potassium nitrate are interchangeable. For the most part potassium nitrate has been replaced with sodium nitrate – which is considered more stable and reliable; both are extremely poisonous. These ingredients are still widely used for home curing outside the United States, but it is recommended that these cures should only be used in it pure form by meat processing plants. In such plants this is done by trained personnel under strict supervision. Therefore it is highly recommended when using nitrates to obtain it in premixed cures that can be safely and accurately measured; such as in cure #2, and the Morton cures which are discussed in more detail latter on. 

Nitrates are considered a slow cure, and are referred to as a “time release capsule.” It does not cure meat directly and initially not much happens when it is added to meat. *With nitrates the curing is dependent on the amount of bacteria present, and the environment (temperature) the bacteria need to grow.* For nitrates to work as a cure it requires the presents of certain microorganisms. These microorganisms are present in all meats, and start to react with the nitrates to reduce them to nitrites. It is the nitrites that will start the curing process.

This is a slow process that steadily releases nitrites over a long period of time. This makes it well suited for curing products that require long curing times. Dry cure products can take as long as several weeks to several months to fully cure. Nitrates are used for making dry cure sausages; such as pepperoni, hard salami, geonoa salami, dried farmers sausage, capicola, etc, and dry cure meats that are not cooked or need to be cooked.


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## diggingdogfarm

It looks like nitrite burn to me.
Did you leave the ham setting in the  liquid?


~Martin


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## trizzuth

Interesting about Nitrite burn.  Each time I reapplied the cure, I made sure to follow the specific instructions on the package.  1 and 1/4 teaspoon of "spice" mix which contains the curing agent to 1 cup of sugar/salt mixture.  Fridge remained at a steady 38 degrees the entire time, which I though was fine.  I used a large metal turkey roasting pan and rack, and wrapped the rack in saran wrap entirely and cut many holes in the bottom for drainage before resting the ham on the rack.  So it wasn't exactly sitting in the drained fluid at all really.  

What are the negatives of Nitrite burn?  Too much nitrite will poison the meat?  should I add another dose of curing mixture and let it sit in my garage or basement?  My basement is too warm, around 64 degrees measured yesterday when it was about 50 outside.   I assume it will be colder as it gets colder outside, but this was the type of temp fluctuation I wanted to avoid.


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## mr t 59874

Dave may have the color problem solved.  Hopefully so.

This is my first attempt at dry curing a ham.  Like many, I have cured many “City” hams using the injection method.

The curing method used on my ham is the traditional dry cure method using Morton’s Smoked Flavor Sugar Cure mix and curing techniques combined with information from the universities of Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri.

It appears to me that you are attempting to cure a ham using the combination cure technique which involves pumping the hams with a curing pickle solution and then rubbing some of the dry cure into the surface of the ham.  Using Morton Sugar Cure (Plain) mix Morton recommends 1 cup of Morton Sugar Cure with 4 cups cool water.  Hams should be pumped with 1 ounce of pickle cure per pound of meat. This method of curing will be shorter than the traditional method.  If bone-souring is suspected, insert a long pointed instrument along the bone to the center of the ham, then withdraw it and smell it. If it has a putrid or foul odor, cut the meat open to the bone for conformation. If bone-souring has occurred, discard the meat.

How long are you going to cure? 

How thick is your ham? 

Did you use the amount of cure recommended on the cure bag?

How many applications and how often were they applied?

Are you hanging it shank up or down?  Looking at the pics, you are laying it on its side. Is the blue side down?  

What is “Final Dry”?  Equalization? 

Mr. T


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## diggingdogfarm

Don't be inserting a probe until the ham is at least fully cured and equalized, it's best to wait until it's dried down fully.


~Martin


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## mr t 59874

DiggingDogFarm said:


> Don't be inserting a probe until the ham is at least fully cured and equalized, it's best to wait until it's dried down fully.
> 
> 
> ~Martin


Makes since to me also.  I was quoting from the Morton Meat Curing Guide.  I take it if bone-souring is suspected that there would be some sort of foul odor present at which time it would be used.


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## trizzuth

Good point on the insert and sniff technique, I will wait.

As far as what I've done, I have always pre-mixed the appropriate amount of Morton's Sugar Cure with their "spice packet" as instructed on the bag and then rubbed the ham down.  I did this initially, then again on week two and week three and then i believe i skipped a week and then did it again on week five as it was still coated pretty well.  From what I have read (and this does not involve calculations based on weight, but this may have been where I went wrong), the curing stage is about 4-8 weeks, I went to 6 and just washed it yesterday. Planned to have it equalize for 2 weeks in the fridge before cold smoking it.  I'd venture to say it's about a 20lb or so ham.  

When I was rubbing the salt in, I just used enough to cover the lean area of the exposed meat and put what I could on the skin, which didn't adhere very well, and as the juices came out of the ham, usually it was the lean areas that needed to be repacked every week.  Lots of the sugar cure would fall off and go into the pan, but I don't think what I was doing would over cure it...


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## trizzuth

Mr T 59874 said:


> Makes since to me also.  I was quoting from the Morton Meat Curing Guide.  I take it if bone-souring is suspected that there would be some sort of foul odor present at which time it would be used.


OK, so maybe it's not bone sour that I am concerned with, but perhaps Nitrite burn is now an issue.

Am I still ok to proceed here? what are the impacts of nitrite burn?  Again, that blueish color only seems to be occurring underneath where the skin is, and perhaps a bit into the skin.


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## mr t 59874

Mr T 59874 said:


> How long are you going to cure?
> 
> How thick is your ham?
> 
> Did you use the amount of cure recommended on the cure bag?
> 
> How many applications and how often were they applied?
> 
> Are you hanging it shank up or down?  Looking at the pics, you are laying it on its side. Is the blue side down?
> 
> What is “Final Dry”?  Equalization?


Not being the pro here and not knowing the answers to the above questions it's hard for me to help.  It is my opinion that the ham was laying skin side down in which case the fluids may have collected causing the off color and spongy skin.  I would recommend hanging it shank end down so fluids could drain more freely. As long as there is no foul odor, I would continue.


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## trizzuth

Mr T 59874 said:


> Dave may have the color problem solved.  Hopefully so.
> 
> This is my first attempt at dry curing a ham.  Like many, I have cured many “City” hams using the injection method.
> 
> The curing method used on my ham is the traditional dry cure method using Morton’s Smoked Flavor Sugar Cure mix and curing techniques combined with information from the universities of Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri.
> 
> It appears to me that you are attempting to cure a ham using the combination cure technique which involves pumping the hams with a curing pickle solution and then rubbing some of the dry cure into the surface of the ham.  Using Morton Sugar Cure (Plain) mix Morton recommends 1 cup of Morton Sugar Cure with 4 cups cool water.  Hams should be pumped with 1 ounce of pickle cure per pound of meat. This method of curing will be shorter than the traditional method.  If bone-souring is suspected, insert a long pointed instrument along the bone to the center of the ham, then withdraw it and smell it. If it has a putrid or foul odor, cut the meat open to the bone for conformation. If bone-souring has occurred, discard the meat.
> 
> How long are you going to cure?
> 
> How thick is your ham?
> 
> Did you use the amount of cure recommended on the cure bag?
> 
> How many applications and how often were they applied?
> 
> Are you hanging it shank up or down?  Looking at the pics, you are laying it on its side. Is the blue side down?
> 
> What is “Final Dry”?  Equalization?
> 
> Mr. T


OK, so I've reassessed the situation and did some calculations.  My ham weighs about 25lbs.  At the thickest part, it is about 10 inches, but I did have some foil wrapped bricks that i was using to weigh it down and flatten it out a bit that I rested on top of the ham while it was curing on top of two small ziplock backs so the foil would not touch the meat.  I'd venture to guess it was about 8-9 inches thick before I flattened it a bit.    This equates to 10oz of cure per application which is 1.25 cups.  

First time I mixed up the Sugar Cure, I used 2 cups and 2.5 teaspoons of curing spice (double the exact directions on the bag for small applications).  I rubbed it everywhere I could and even tried to cake it on thick on the lean part of the exposed meat.  

For the next two cure applications, I only used 1 cup and 1.25 teaspoons of curing spice.  So based on the above calculations, this seems pretty in line with the correct application of the curing salts.  I am pretty sure I gave it 4 applications of cure over 6 weeks, so this may have been a bit too much that led to the nitrite burn that appears in the pic.

Based on the calculation for cure time from thickness, it comes out to about 56 days, which is just about 2 months.  So figuring that I may have applied one too many cure sessions, I think it has cured enough to start the equalization period.

I must say today that it did not look as blue as in the pics I first took, and I've now got it into a cheesecloth stocking hanging in my fridge in the basement, shank side down so it can drain more if it needs to.  

So I am planning on 20 days to equalize, then will cold smoke it for a day or so.  

I do have one more concern after feeling the ham all over.  There is an area about the size of half your hand on the top skin side that gives when I push it, almost like there is air or liquid inside under that piece of skin.  Could this be due to the several injections of curing mixture i gave it, or an air pocket?  Should I pierce this area to see what comes out?

She really looks so pretty now hanging there in the fridge.  I don't know if I could have cured it hanging like that as it would have been a major PITA to remove it from the cheese cloth, then apply cure and re-bag it each time.  

I hope hope it turns out good!  The exposed meat area is really looking like straight up salty cured ham right now.


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## daveomak

On day 2, did you inject cure #1 along the bones as the video suggested ???   That is an important step... as the rubbed cure takes weeks to penetrate to the bone to stop bacterial growth...  Curing a large hunk of meat, like a ham, is pretty much a scientific process and an art developed over years...   proper procedures are important.... 

I'm not saying you didn't follow the necessary steps, just commenting on the difficulty that lies in the process with a huge hunk of meat..

Dave


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## trizzuth

DaveOmak said:


> On day 2, did you inject cure #1 along the bones as the video suggested ???   That is an important step... as the rubbed cure takes weeks to penetrate to the bone to stop bacterial growth...  Curing a large hunk of meat, like a ham, is pretty much a scientific process and an art developed over years...   proper procedures are important....
> 
> I'm not saying you didn't follow the necessary steps, just commenting on the difficulty that lies in the process with a huge hunk of meat..
> 
> Dave


Yeah, as for the actual injection, I did not do this anywhere near when I started, I think it was around week 3.  Based on the video, the reason to inject the cure along the bone is to prevent spoilage due to the inconsistent temperatures that occur when you're curing the ham in the smokehouse outside.  The gentleman in the video said it's not really necessary if you have a consistent temperature, so that is why I didn't do it up front.  Ham seems pretty dry all over now, just that one weird mushy spot that feels like fluid/gas inside under the skin.  The skin on the outside in that area is just like the rest of it, pretty firm.

I know it is a very scientific process, and there are many factors at play that may make it easier/more difficult to do based on where you live.  But I figured I would be eliminating a lot of those areas of concern by doing the cure in a temp controlled fridge.  He makes it look so easy and straight forward in the video!


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## diggingdogfarm

It really is easy, if you follow the rules.


~Martin


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## mr t 59874

trizzuth.

I would go with what Dave suggest as he does injected hams, mine is not.  Continue keeping good notes as you are and let us know how it turns out.  As DDF says "Follow the Rules".

Good luck, Mr. T


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## trizzuth

Thanks to all the encouragement here.  Ham was so big, I didn't know what else to do with it, and had never seen a ham that big in my life.  So I figured it would be the guinea pig for my first attempt at Virginia Country Ham.

I will keep you all informed as this progresses!


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## trizzuth

BUMP  for a pic of my drying ham in it's cheesecloth stocking hangin in the fridge.  The blueness seemed to dissipate a little after a day, crossing fingers!













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## spartan1967

Hi Trizzuth

Just joined the site, actually by accident, I in the process of dry curing my two pork legs, my first attempt to making proscuitto, the curing process is the same

the only difference is the ingridients procuitto requires salt and curing salt ( pink) with a country ham they use salt and brown sugar

as for your ham going bad i dont have much experience regarding that, all I know from countless reading on the subject and several videos

that your ham will diffinetly get mold on it white mold is a good mold , the bad mold is Green , blue and black I definetly would use the needle poke

test and check it that way

Good luck buddy , let us know how it goes

Geo


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## trizzuth

Thanks Geo.. she's looking pretty hanging in my fridge still!

Cold smoke day is this Sunday, so I will have more pics when I am finished!  Going to try out the AMNS I just got in the oil tank, but after using it in a test to smoke some cheese in my normal gas grille, it may not be enough smoke to fill that tank up.  I will experiment, if I need more smoke, I can start a very low charcoal fire in the fire box on the side (old wood stove) and add some apple chips as needed to give more smoke output.  Hanging up 3 bacon's too, can't wait!


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## trizzuth

Baby got 24 hours of pitmasters blend in my AMNS sure looking good now... Must post some pics soon!


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## mr t 59874

Are you keeping tract of the weight?  How is Bertha surviving the storm?


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## mr t 59874

How is your smoke coming along?


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## trizzuth

Still at about 72 hours, had to take ham back into my basement due to the rain the past few days.. was not sure if I should put it back out today due to the possibility of rain, so I will go hard this weekend and try to get it smoking all day sat and possibly through the night tonight and then again sat night into sunday if I can based on the temp/rain. It is warming up here a wee bit in new england, which makes it more possible to keep smoking through the night..   After removing the cheesecloth and hanging it on the hook i fashioned, it certainly does look better and is taking the color more evenly and is definitely a good brown now.. I think maybe around 100 hours it might be ready..

Have some apple and cherry dust I got from Todd Johnson and that will go into my AMNS next!


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## trizzuth

Oh yeah. P.S. Where I stuck the hook and tried to go through those ankle bones (I think the area where they connect was cut off and I didn't actually get it through the bone, but more into the skin/meat), there was some juice that came out, just a very small trickle that is drying up now.  But I gave that a really good smell and all I can smell is delicious pitmaster smokeyness!  So no rankness as of yet.  Bonus.


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## mr t 59874

trizzuth said:


> I didn't actually get it through the bone, but more into the skin/meat), there was some juice that came out, just a very small trickle that is drying up now.  But I gave that a really good smell and all I can smell is delicious pitmaster smokeyness!  So no rankness as of yet.  Bonus.


Maybe you should consider packing that hole with as much salt as it will hold. No need to take chances now.


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## trizzuth

Mr T 59874 said:


> Maybe you should consider packing that hole with as much salt as it will hold. No need to take chances now.


You think so?  But shouldn't the ham be saturated with salt by this point already? 

I will do whatever it takes to be cautious at this point! I do not want to ruin this baby...  so yes, I will shove some salt in there before it goes in for the next round of smokin.


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## trizzuth

Hangin in the kitchen after 130 hours of cold smoke:













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## spartan1967

Hogzilla got a tan 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






she  is looking pretty SEXY


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## trizzuth

DAT SMELL......


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## trizzuth

Well, I waited as long as I could, and my in-laws were heading back to Florida for the winter this past weekend, and I've been amping this ham up to them forever so I thought it would be a nice going away present for them to be there while I cut into the ham to see what was inside!  It was worse than the anticipation of being a kid on christmas eve wanting to know what was inside those presents..

I have to say that in all honesty, I wasn't sure what to expect, or if it would even come out good based on the process I followed and some inconsistencies along the way.  But once all was said and done, I could not believe the results, they were AMAZING.

This Country Ham has been hanging in my kitchen from a hook since March.  From the beginning of spring when the cold air turned warm and the leaves all popped, all throughout the heat and humidity of the summer, and into the cool crisp fall this ham has been hanging right there in my kitchen, staring at me in the face, begging to be eaten!  Around July was when this ham was technically finished as a country ham.  But I despise summer heat and humidity, so I figured I would wait until the weather was better, and fall sure seemed like the right time to me.

No special prep here for the cutting, other than buying a $4 long knife from walmart for shaving the ham as I did not have one that was thin enough to do the job nicely.  Got all my knives ready and cutting board out.

Here is the ham brought down from it's hanging place and resting on the cutting board prior to investigation:













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My son loved the entire aspect of curing, smoking and getting the ham ready for business:













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Here is the notch I cut to get started, I was amazed at how beautiful the color was already!













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Wife's side of the family anticipating deliciousness:













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At this point, after cutting the notch, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.. try it raw as is, or fry some up.. before I could think twice about it, my father in law grabbed the hunk I cut out and shoved it into his mouth and said it tasted like Proscuitto!  And I was worried about who was going to be the guinea pig.. ha!  So I decided to start shaving off thin proscuitto-like slices and put them onto a plate:













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It was just gorgeous..













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The flavor was just insane, it was so smooth and light and just the right amount of salt, it just melted in your mouth!  I was really worried that it was going to come out too salty, but it was just about perfect throughout.  We did fry up a few pieces and for some reason, that made the salt precipitate out and those pieces were way way way more salty than they were raw..

I cut this hunk off to give to my mother and father in law to bring to florida because they always help so much with the kids:













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Ain't she PURTY!?













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All shaved up:













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And here is how she sits now.  In total, 14 people have eaten this and it's been a day or two and everyone is fine, so I am not worried about it being raw.  It smelled out of this world, and tasted like one of the finest aged salty hams you could ever eat..













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I put the slices of fat/skin back on top of the area that is cut, covered it with a cloth towel and put it into my downstairs fridge for safe keeping.  Cannot stop thinking about, or eating this ham, just had a ham sandwich for lunch!


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## mr t 59874

Your ham looks wonderful, so happy everyone enjoyed.

Tom


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## trizzuth

Mr T 59874 said:


> Your ham looks wonderful, so happy everyone enjoyed.
> 
> Tom


Thanks Tom!  Can't wait to see what happens when you cut into yours, I am sure it will be divine.  Have you thought about how you want to prepare it yet?  or when you are going to cut into it?


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## daveomak

Triz, morning......  well, here I am doing my impression of Pavlov's Dog.....  Beautiful ham.....   excellent job...   Aren't we related somehow ????

Dave


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## trizzuth

DaveOmak said:


> Triz, morning......  well, here I am doing my impression of Pavlov's Dog.....  Beautiful ham.....   excellent job...   Aren't we related somehow ????
> 
> Dave


HAHAH kinda like this?













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## mr t 59874

trizzuth said:


> Thanks Tom!  Can't wait to see what happens when you cut into yours, I am sure it will be divine.  Have you thought about how you want to prepare it yet?  or when you are going to cut into it?


Will be sharing the tester (picnic) ham with a few friends this Saturday.  Will shave a piece as you did for a test, then do the soak, simmer and bake method.  This should give me a good idea as how to fix the holiday whole ham.

Tom


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## daveomak

You got it....... Exactly......   Dave


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## trizzuth

Mr T 59874 said:


> Will be sharing the tester (picnic) ham with a few friends this Saturday.  Will shave a piece as you did for a test, then do the soak, simmer and bake method.  This should give me a good idea as how to fix the holiday whole ham.
> 
> Tom


I wonder if baking the ham will bring out the salt like it did when I fried a few shavings?  It is odd how it does not taste overly salty eaten raw, but is so much more intense when cooked.  Be careful with the shaving test Tom, it might be so good, you end up shaving the entire thing!


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## dirtsailor2003

Wow that looks fantastic! Great job! Certainly on my to do list!


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## mr t 59874

trizzuth said:


> I wonder if baking the ham will bring out the salt like it did when I fried a few shavings?  It is odd how it does not taste overly salty eaten raw, but is so much more intense when cooked.  Be careful with the shaving test Tom, it might be so good, you end up shaving the entire thing!


The ham will be desalinized in water for 24 or more hours or more, then cooked in simmering water.  It will then go in the oven only after it has reached room temperature and only long enough to set the glaze.

 Frying your ham without soaking would evaporate some of the moisture making the salt more concentrated and pronounced.

Hopefully I will have to restrain myself.

Sure am happy for you, I know there were some mighty stressful times for you.

Tom


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## trizzuth

Stressful for sure, but what an end product, just amazing.  I brought some into work today for my buddies to try.  I will report back on their opinions of the deliciousness.

Tom, makes sense about the frying part.  I think what was most amazing was how incredibly hard and dry the skin was on the exterior and that it obviously was the reason for trapping the proper amount of moisture inside as it was just perfect for me.  I would have cried if it was spoiled, of course, I might have smelled it as it was in my kitchen pretty much right in my face every day.


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## trizzuth

Back in effect after a 7 year hiatus of cold smoking and curing this ham.  Round 2 coming up!  This time a whole leg with hoof intact I got from my sister.  Will post some progress pics when I have a chance.


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## daveomak

I'll be around to watch....


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## Wardogg

trizzuth said:


> Back in effect after a 7 year hiatus of cold smoking and curing this ham.  Round 2 coming up!  This time a whole leg with hoof intact I got from my sister.  Will post some progress pics when I have a chance.


I butchered 3 hogs this winter and have all the hams just sitting in my freezer waiting to figure out what to do with them.  Ill take any instructions you have.  Your ham from 2013 looks wonderful.


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## daveomak

Many members use my recipe as their GO-TO for ham now....  any questions I'm here






						HAM from fresh picnics..  update 10/21 ... MONEY ..
					

My neighborhood small grocery had fresh picnics, non enhanced, for $1.49...   sooooo, 2 came home with me...  Bride wanted these done with the hide on so that's what I did....  Many, many injections of a curing brine to make them hammy...    around the bones and joints and along the hide from...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com


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## trizzuth

Ham update, I will get some pics to follow, promise.  Ham has taken 28 days of salt using Morton's Tender quick following the application instructions on the bag. My ham was just about 13 lbs, so I used 1tbsp of tender quick per lb, or 13 tbsp per application. Added some spices here and there to the cure.  This leg had a nice cut near the elbow/tendon I assume to let the blood out so it could drain good. I shoved my finger top knuckle deep down in there with salt on each application as well as really up under the outer fat layer and all over the leg.  Now it's been rinsed, bagged in a nice cheesecloth sac, and since this fridge is in use for other things, I cannot remove the shelf to get a nice hang, so I am laying it on its side in the cheesecloth bag, on top of a metal rack that's on a pan.  

Let me know if you guys think this is ok for the equalization period or if it's really better to hang it.  Pics to come!  I am thinking 2 weeks equalization, but need to check my calcs again, then cold smoke then hang in my kitchen just like last time. 

Only difference so far is that last time I used Morton's Sugar Cure, and this time I used Tender Quick, last time I injected around the bone, this time I did not.  Last time the ham was at least twice as lage too.-

-Trizz


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## trizzuth

Pics as promised..


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## Wardogg

That cut in the "elbow/tendon" is for the gambrel.   When they hang the hog.

I understand leaving the hock on for easier hanging...I guess...but why leave the trotter on?


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## trizzuth

Good question, I don't know.. I guess, why not leave it on?  It is kinda skank.  I suppose I'm too far in the salting process to consider removing it.  I don't think there is any harm leaving it is there?


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## mneeley490

Wardogg said:


> I understand leaving the hock on for easier hanging...I guess...but why leave the trotter on?


'Cuz it looks cool? LOL, that would freak out my wife if she saw that in her fridge!


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## trizzuth

HA HA it will eventually be hanging up in my kitchen for all to see and comment on.. dirty skank trotter.  Now you guys make me regret not cutting it off...

However feast your eyes on this Jamon Iberico Ham.  This is what has stuck in my mind forever and why I likely maybe even subconsciously left it on..


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## trizzuth

This is what I'm shooting for when done, I can only hope and pray it comes out even close to this!


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## trizzuth

Updated pic.  Two weeks of equalization in my downstairs basement fridge and a 4 PM start time on the smoke today January 27 using pitmaster blend pellets in my stainless steel snake and I lit both ends ...


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## trizzuth

Damnit!!!! That was my ANMS sawdust kit, and the pellets must have all caught fire and burned at once! I went out to check on that nice thin blue smoke and when I put my hand on top of the grill, which I had partially covered with the grill cover it was pretty warm... even a bit stuck to the grill cover...

I opened it up and damn all pellets were fine and Ham was warm to the touch on the outside... Jesus I hope I didn’t ruin it... 

I have the correct stainless steel snake now for the pellets and it’s moving along now. 

:(

My warmed ham






New setup


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## mneeley490

Hams are pretty hardy. I'm sure it'll be okay.


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## trizzuth

She's taken about 36 hours of smoke so far, I brought her into the garage for a few days over the weekend as the temps were steadily below freezing, most nights in the 10's. Now the temp is back around low 30's and we are about to get dumped on with snow. Ham sitting in the smoker as I type this, gonna get a lil "snow smoke" HA!


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## trizzuth

The ham just took cold smoke all night long during the nor’easter we got, she’s back out there today getting some more cold smoke.  color coming along nicely and the smell is just amazing !


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## trizzuth

She’s done from the smoker, now a long hang in my kitchen and the smell will be so amazing.


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