Two Dry Cured Ham Projects

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Hey Witt - Is that meat you are sellin' or is it all for personal use? (curious) Thats alot of good lookin (m)eats either way. ;)
 
Just a quick update…the hams are still hanging and if I think about it this weekend I might pull them down and pull of the cover to see what they look like.
 
Ok the Hams have been hanging since Nov 22, About 16 weeks….I decided to pull them down and take a look….The first pics are of the Molasses Country Ham
Non Skin Side


Skin Side


There was a little something….I don’t know if it was mold or crystalline sugar…I hit it with a little vinegar…


Procuttio
Non Skin side coated with Lard and Black Pepper


Skin Side


How Firm is it?


I don’t remember exactly what the hams weight at the start…they were around 18-20lbs…the prociuttio one was a little bigger if memory servers….Currently the prociutto one weights 16 ½ lbs and the molasses is down to 14 ½ lbs…Both hams are firming up nicely and smell great…they both are pretty firm with only the fat layer feeling like it has some give….I might use the molasses one at Easter….
 
That molasses one has definitely gone bad, Dave. Send it down here and I'll have the Virginia ham experts analyze what went wrong, and then I'll dispose of it for you.

--John
 
We took a look at our hams today…the one without the lard covering the meat had a fair amount of mold…the other didn’t really have much mold


Virginia Ham



Procuittio


We cleaned up the Virginia ham with a vinegar bath….I’m thinking we might cut into it in two weeks…
 
Captain Morgan said:
do I need to repeat my story about my fake uncle whacking the mold
off the best country ham I ever ate?
Its funny cuz I was just looking at the post...please report the story about your "uncle"...... :LOL:
 
This post is incredible. It is like watching birds hatch but over months. What a process. When I was a kid we injected hams with cure and packed them in salt and possible more cure and hung them in a shed. That was along time ago. I think we should have looked into making them like you have made them. That looks so good.

As far as mold I remember slicing of the mold and eating the rest.

Thanks for the Ham documentary.
 
Took a peek at one of the hams today...and I took some pics...I will post them tomarrow....I just worked at 12hr day and need to get some sleep becuase the kids have practice today...and the hams have been hanging since Nov....you guys can wait another day :twisted: :P :LOL:

Like Cappys fake uncle...I also did a little taste test....info tomarrow
 
We went down and check on the hams today…the ham bags looked rougher then Cap Morgan after Poker night…I did not take pics of the bags…
The first pic is the skin side of the ham…it looked good…some salt deposits but no mold growth

The second pic is the meat side of the ham…we wiped the lard away and it looked real good…no mold..an area of concern is around the bone which looked real good. The ham has a nice color and is real firm…it still needs some more time but is coming along nicely….

We cut off a little piece to taste and it was very good it just needs some more time…It had a real nice ham taste and was slightly salty as expected…the only thing I didn’t like that I detected was a slight taste left over from the smokehouse (from the concrete backer board)….When I smoked the hams it was the first thing in the smokehouse and I should have seasoned the smokehouse first (live and learn)… Now that the smokehouse is now seasoned that taste has gone a way from subsequent projects….I may hit them with a little more cold smoke sometime soon ( I know it wouldn’t hurt them)


This was the procuttio I’m sure the Country Ham is coming along just as nicely..
 
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