The other day I was walking through the deli counter at my local grocery store and sampled brown sugar cured ham. This stuff was awesome, I mean ham is pretty good in general, but this stuff was great. After buying a pound thinly sliced (and eating a quarter of it like I was shopping), I began to wonder how they got to taste this way. home and I did some research about ham and how its both traditional and commercial. I have taken care of the food in the chef, but I have never tried to make ham. My experiment went pretty well, I made several variations. It is certain that what has always called me a ham is only limited by his imagination. This time I’m stuck with smoked hams, so raw hams like prosciutto take longer to cure, and I’m not known for my patience (of course, why don’t you cook!).
The main ones are like this; station, smoking The instruction is the curing process, liquid and salt for 12-36 hrs, then slow, cold smoking (165-190 degrees), with a choice of wood. I used that whole pork, cut it into three parts, so I made three different legs. I usually see pork chops being made. For a crooked leg is often called fresh ham. I chose it for its ease of purchase and handling, and its fairly lean cut.
Of course, I had to try to emulate the brown sugar hook gag so I went, I also made a seasoned and seasoned cajun ham. Remember, however, that this article will show you that you can make any kind of ham that you like.
Here’s how the whole thing works. You start by making a wall. Take your spices and liquid and mix with a large amount of salt. For example, with brown sugar ham I took about half a pound of brown sugar, a cup of salt, two tablespoons of molasses, a quart of apple juice. I mixed all this together with the whiskey, and placed my pork loin (about 4 pounds, a foot with half of it) on a deep grill. The plate should be several inches taller than the pig and there should be enough space to encircle the back of the mouse. I then poured the mixture into the bowl and added enough water to cover the back of the spoon. I put the plate on top of the loin and put the cast iron skillet so that it stays. drown Once the loin is in the mold, put it in the refrigerator for 12-36 hrs. The longer the care, the more intense the flavor, depending on what you use and what you’re going to do, experiment with times and ingredients to get it how you want it.
For the seasoned ham, I used water, salt, crushed cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and paprika. For the Cajun spice, I used water, a little wine red wine, salt, lots of paprika, a little cayenne; celery seed, thyme and oregano.
I spent a lot of time preparing for a smoker. I took the seasoned ham from the pork loin, for both the brown sugar and the Cajun ham, I strained the pork and rubbed the dregs from it all over the pork loin.
Good luck to the excellent smoker. If you don’t have a smoker, you can use a BBQ or gas grill, but it’s a little trickier. As a smoker, I simply smoked the loin at 180 degrees until the internal temperature was 170. It took several hours. I cooled the ham, and shaved off the Cajun rind of ham and brown sugar. Hey ham, sliced lean, where delicious. I’m not sure about the quality of the preservative process I used, so I recommend using them for a few days.
If you don’t have a smoker, I would recommend using a typical ‘weber’ type outdoor grill. I will start by burning a small amount of coals, preferring to use the stove instead of lighter fluid. When these coals are good and hot, sprinkle them loosely around the bottom of the grill and sprinkle with soaked wood chips. . With the grill on its highest setting, place the pork loin on the grill and close the lid, allowing any vents to adjust to about half the maximum air flow. Periodically, you need to open the grill and add charcoal, you also need to add a little charcoal to keep it. heat on the grill, to finish the ham for several hours. The method can cause problems, such as heating and burning the loins, or simply running out of coals and cooling. It is important that you use a thermostat to check the vents and fire. If you’re going to do it this way, I suggest having a few beers on ice so you don’t wander too far.
Other interesting combinations I will try in the future could be curry powder with apple juice, or cayenne pepper with pineapple juice and cloves , or lemon juice with black pepper. Those are just a few, I encourage you to try your thoughts, let me know how they work. Remember, don’t be afraid of your kitchen!
