The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Food processing => Topic started by: pharnorth on April 12, 2016, 10:05:55 am
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The hardest part was the 18months of patience watching it hanging there......
......it is pride rather than generosity which has caused me to allow about 20 people to sample a bit.....beautiful!
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Well done you! :thumbsup:
I was wondering about the opposite but will start a new thread.
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I think its brilliant what you have done. How easy was it to do? and are you going to be making any more? :excited:
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Good on you - home air dried ham is just out of this world :thumbsup:
WBF - there are a couple of threads on the forum about doing air dried hams, I know cos I wrote a couple of them!
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=41528.msg398186#msg398186 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=41528.msg398186#msg398186)
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=29080.msg289414#msg289414 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=29080.msg289414#msg289414)
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=24150.msg233843#msg233843 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=24150.msg233843#msg233843)
Basically it is dead easy - you just need a lot of patience :innocent:
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Yes it is in the category of easy enough for me to do so can't be too hard. The threads Sudanpan has forwarded are useful on how to deal with the product. I was told to use the poly vac dried salt which I sourced from Weschenfelder. It is flaked rather than the crystalline type you get as table salt so has a better direct contact with the surface I guess. Pat the surface of the meat with a cloth soaked in vinegar, dry with a clean cloth, pack with at least 2cm deep salt all round place a heavtpy weight on top and leave for 3 days per Kg. Then rinse off, pat again with vinegar, wrap in muslin and hang. At least that is the version that I have followed. ......
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Can I ask where you hung it.?
I guess temperature humidity and airflow are important. We did saucisson once ( hung them in a large cheese safe in a cool utility room) but elect to cook our hams.
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No such delux accomodation for my ham. I was bothered by the delapidated condition of the garden shed until I went to the Chelsea Flower Show a few years back and realised they were a much sought after feature for the Kensington set. So I some vermiculite, soil and sedum seeds on top and now it is an admired asset rather than a job to be done....
The next ham is going in our bigger workshop though as it is a massive 8kg so I need a concrete beam to hang it off. The key has got to be good fly proof cloth and away from rodents. Also ideally I would hang late October when the temperature is beginning to drop so it is already quite dry by spring.
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I hang ours in the eaves outside the goat shed - nice through breeze to dry it. We made a simple 'meat locker' for hanging by taking an old kitchen cupboard, knocking out the back and the middle of the door on the front and replacing with fly proof mesh. I use the leg of the last pig of the year - usually around October/November time and hang over winter until the temperature gets up to about 20 degrees - -usually May time - when it comes down and gets eaten. For salting and vinegaring, my method sounds more or less the same as pharnorths.
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Good tips - many thanks. I may buy a leg next time it is on sale for 1.94 € a kg so as to try the method rather than use a better quality ham.