Misfitmorgan's Journal - That Summer Dust

[misfitmorgan]

I get an uncured applewood smoked ham at the deli and it tastes like ham. Not like boiled ham but that is a plus!

I should have clarified...For wet brine if you don't use pink salt it won't taste like ham. For dry cure ham aka country ham, virginia ham, salt an pepper ham, etc can be made without pink salt, aged in a dry cure of salt/sugar or just salt or salt and pepper then smoked or not after aging.

 

[Baymule]

How is a dry cure ham processed? What temperature, humidity etc.

 

[Bruce]

Wilbur's bacon is just raw sliced bacon. Just. Not. Bacon. BIG MISTAKE.

Yep, it is just "side pork".

 

[misfitmorgan]

How is a dry cure ham processed? What temperature, humidity etc.

Thats a complicated answer

It wholly depends on what country, state, area you are in on how a dry cured ham is made.

Commercial county ham is typically only dry cured for 1 month then then dry cure is washed off, it is coated in seasoning then wrapped in waxless butcher paper, netted and hung in a set temperature and humidity for several months. Then depending on producer it may be smoked(hot or cold).

Non-commercial is made different ways depending on location.

If you are down by the mountains in the south(carolinas,arkansas,etc) typically it's put in a salt box for 1-3 months, then the salt is washed off and it is coated with red pepper on the face of the bone ends and black paper heavy on the meat and a bit on the skin, then covered in waxless butcher paper or brown bags. Netted or put into cotton pillows cases and hung for 6 months to years (like as old as 30yrs+). Usually not smoked in that area. This process is usually started in winter.

If you are in missouri or parts of kentucky it is similar process except the first step is a salt/brown sugar cure then wrapped in waxless butcher paper and hung for (if i recall right) 1-3 months again, then the process continued as above. Usually these hams are smoked in this region with a hot or cold smoke after curing is completed.

Other parts of kentucky and other areas again do the same above steps in whatever preferred method but the cure may be straight salt, salt/brown sugar, salt/white sugar, salt/sugar/herbs/spices, etc really varies. Then cold smoked at the end.

Country ham(and it's various names) is the american version of prosciutto. Both are a raw product traditionally that was cured with salt, mold, and time. Yes mold and every area has its own mold which gives the ham it's own taste. The mold will not hurt you and is washed off before smoking is done or before the ham is cut into. Country ham steaks you buy in the store is not "real" country ham, this a sped up version that uses hot smoking to cook the hams after a faster salt cure and age like a month or two, the time is why country ham steaks are not cheap.

The last thing i want to mention is that some producers and homemakers do add pink salt to country style ham though it is not needed it is some people personal/companies choice for "safety". The amount of time to cure keep the ham in salt, and how long to cure, smoke, etc depends on your area and preferences. Generally the salt curing portion is done in cooler temps around 60F(early/late winter in south) then the longer cure portion is done around 75F. Humidity is kind of just whatever it is though dryer for the first few months is better. People who make a lot of country hams will normally have a system set up or a room with temperature and humidity control.

Note on pink salt and "non-cured, organically cured, no added nitrates, nitrate free" meats. I know i've said this before but "non-cured" meat is often made using celery juice which contains a ton of nitrates...which turn into nitrites and "non-cured" meat sometimes has twice as much nitrite as their standard cured brethren. This is very similar to the "No added MSG" labels on things...no but the natural MSG is in there. "Gluten-free rice"...rice doesn't contain gluten period Some of the marketing us consumers fall for is ridiculous. Also pink salt does not cause Cancer, there was one study linking pink salt to cancer some 40yrs ago which was poorly done. All studies since have found zero supporting evidence. This is similar to the vaccines gave my kid downs, or two polled goats will make herms poorly done studies that no one else can replicate.

There are many videos and books on curing and preserving meat.

Salt box type cure done in North Carolina.....this one is good but it is in sections spanning about a year.

Kentucky Style

Tennessee Style

Just search country ham or how to make country ham or how to make dry cured ham....tons of videos.

For books

This is pretty much the bible for charcuterie and a textbook with all the how to's, the why's, the science, etc tons of recipes for every kind of meat product, an entire section on dry curing and another on dry cure times. If your only going to buy one book, this would be the one I would recommend.
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Product.../ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Appalachian Type(i don't remember which of these has the country ham in it but the second one has recipes for all pig parts)
https://www.amazon.com/Smokehouse-S...t=&hvlocphy=9017171&hvtargid=pla-568248188576

https://www.amazon.com/Foxfire-Book...=0807843954&psc=1&refRID=3NT6Q260PNEMKDJ2CVB0

Charcuterie by rhulman - this is not a beginners book and it has many errors and contradicting information so many people say...you will hear it referenced all over.
The partner book to the above one is called Salumi which gives you actual how to information, like how to set up a dry cure "area", which casing material to use, etc.....again people claim many errors and contradicting information.
https://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-...t=&hvlocphy=9017171&hvtargid=pla-627217032712

This is a good beginner's book with some more home friendly basic recipes and a section on breaking down whole animals.
https://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-...07743434/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_sims?ie=UTF8

So yeah......long answer lol.

 

[Baymule]

Thanks for all the information. Today the humidity here is 94% it ought to be raining with that much water in the air, but it is sunny, bright and hot. Sounds like a good recipe for rotted meat. LOL While it would be awesome to have a thick walled brick building for curing and smoking meat, there are so many other projects in front of that, it would have to be one of those things I'd build when I have nothing else to do. LOL LOL LOL

I don't know that I have even ever had dry cured meat. Just the quickie process grocery store stuff. Raising our own meat gets me to thinking about things like that.

I love books, not Kindle, not Ebooks, but real, turn the page books. Thanks for the list.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Thanks for all the information. Today the humidity here is 94% it ought to be raining with that much water in the air, but it is sunny, bright and hot. Sounds like a good recipe for rotted meat. LOL While it would be awesome to have a thick walled brick building for curing and smoking meat, there are so many other projects in front of that, it would have to be one of those things I'd build when I have nothing else to do. LOL LOL LOL

I don't know that I have even ever had dry cured meat. Just the quickie process grocery store stuff. Raising our own meat gets me to thinking about things like that.

I love books, not Kindle, not Ebooks, but real, turn the page books. Thanks for the list.

If you get temps under 55F for about 6 weeks you can do the first part of the cure and if you get temps under 75F for 2-3 months after...keep it out of direct sunlight and in a cool dry place you can dry cure. Dry curing comes from Italy where it is moderate temps and high humidity (45-97% humidity on average Texas averages 44-82%). Michigan is 54-88% average

 

[misfitmorgan]

Sarah's piglets

The herefords new piglets, she had 5 total minus the 1 that got laid on..so 4 left and she is being a good mom so far. We need to get in and clean her stall but we don't want to stress her atm. It's a small litter but better then no piglets. And all 4 are register-able.

 

[Baymule]

What cute babies! A new born piglet is one of the cutest animals on the farm. Somehow, most people just don't understand "cuter than a newborn speckled pig" is a compliment, LOL LOL. Your Hereford babies are adorable and just look so darn cute, only the ear splitting screams and a mad momma bent on murder, would keep me from hugging them all.

The pen will get cleaned in due time. Can you toss more straw on top? There isn't straw available here, we are in the land of pine trees, so big compressed bags of pine shavings are the stall product of choice.

 

[misfitmorgan]

What cute babies! A new born piglet is one of the cutest animals on the farm. Somehow, most people just don't understand "cuter than a newborn speckled pig" is a compliment, LOL LOL. Your Hereford babies are adorable and just look so darn cute, only the ear splitting screams and a mad momma bent on murder, would keep me from hugging them all.

The pen will get cleaned in due time. Can you toss more straw on top? There isn't straw available here, we are in the land of pine trees, so big compressed bags of pine shavings are the stall product of choice.

They are definitely adorable!

She has a hay nest on the other side of the pen you just cant see it in the pictures. It was very hot/humid yesterday so she wasnt using it. DH said she will be moved to a new pen tonight or tomorrow. That pen she is in is actually really really big like 12ft x 13ft or something close. She is being moved to a 12ft x 8ft pen. We do have another of the 12 x 13ft pens open right next to her but a smaller pen is better when the piglets are so young and it has a piglet escape in the gate of the smaller pen. When it is time to wean t hem Sara's piglets will go into one of the 12 x 13ft pens and the herefords piglets will go into the pen where sara's piglets are now with their mom in the stall next to them. The stall with sara's piglets is our smallest and perfect for fresh weaned piglets.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Hereford pig and her piglets (2boys/2girls) all got moved a few days ago to the new pen and are doing well.

The bacon got smoked on sunday and got sliced all up yesterday. A mistake on our part, we asked a friend who owns a little store by us to use the deli slicer to slice the bacon and he could have some....apparently he had no real clue how to slice bacon so we got what looks more like "ends and pieces" then slices back

I'm sure it will still taste good but what a way for someone to ruin all the work put into it. I told DH next pig we do I am buying a slicer. I do appreciate him slicing it for us but I just wish he would have asked how if he didnt know how..looks like he sliced MOST of it against the grain so there is that at least.

We are gonna have several pounds to put into soups and flavor things though.

The hams are still being smoked....I'm having to do it separately over a few days to get the smoke time. We don't have a smoke house yet so I have to be there to constantly watch the grill and add more chip or sticks or charcoal. This is what we are smoking on
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018IVO9MM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's awesome for grilling but not really built for smoking.

Hopefully pictures coming soon of the finished products.