[Dan]

It was smoked in a Heath Robinson smoker my dad built, but other than that it was all me, honestly! 

It did taste good, just hope I can reproduce it this time around. It's hard for those of us who only get to try once a year, and aren't seasoned processors like yourselves. 

[robert waddell]

you having a giraffe  trying to crack jokes twice in one day
it is not you that has to eat the experiments :

[Mel]

Ok,Thanks for that,do I need to black out the window?-does it need to be in the dark?

My first lot were due to come out of their wet cure today-I used Butchers choice quick cure.However,the hams are brown and pink,should it not all be the same even colour?I shall add a pic later...I hope it is all ok? They have been in 10 days now.

[robert waddell]

did you turn it every day
is it in an airtight container    plastic
have they been weighted down
to late to ammend now     it is all trial and error
did you prick with a darning needle    to let the cure penetrate
it should be pink

[Mel]

did you turn it every day- yes
is it in an airtight container    plastic  yes
have they been weighted down    yes
to late to ammend now     it is all trial and error
did you prick with a darning needle    to let the cure penetrate
it should be pink

Hi Robert,
as per above.originally I had it all done by a butcher,he sealed it in vacuum packs with sweet cure.told me to check it in 3 weeks and it should be ready.

However,I cut some off of a loin,washed it etc,ended up boiling it and once cooked,the meat fell apart like boiled pork,tasted somewhat like gammon ham but the fat was as soft as lard!

I was advised it was not ready,not the hams or bacon.going through Dan's procedures it advises when you dry cure,it leaches.So,I bought some cure,done exactly as Dan's and placed in a cool box.24hrs later-it was a third full of liquid,I have been emptying and rotating since,this is due to come out on Tuesday.

The other hams are due out on Wednesday.

I did think,because my gilts were very fat,the butcher cut off all the skin and trimmed it right down to 1/4 of an inch,this was prior to any cure being put on.
Mel

[Mel]

and

[Dan]

Ok,Thanks for that,do I need to black out the window?-does it need to be in the dark?

My first lot were due to come out of their wet cure today-I used Butchers choice quick cure.However,the hams are brown and pink,should it not all be the same even colour?I shall add a pic later...I hope it is all ok? They have been in 10 days now.

No, it doesn't have to be in the dark, but it shouldn't be in direct sunlight because it will heat up. We hung ours in old pillowcases one year, cheese cloth another - so long as it's cool and ventilated it will be fine.

Colour variation is also normal on the surface from what I've seen and read. If you used saltpetre or another nitrate (or maybe a nitrite in your butcher's cure) then it should be pink when cut.

If it smells bad then there's something wrong, so trust your nose.

Hope this helps, the science of curing is quite straightforward, but getting good, consistent results when home curing is also something of an art, and takes experimentation and experience, and the occasional disaster!

HTH! 

[Mel]

Ok,Thanks for that,do I need to black out the window?-does it need to be in the dark?

My first lot were due to come out of their wet cure today-I used Butchers choice quick cure.However,the hams are brown and pink,should it not all be the same even colour?I shall add a pic later...I hope it is all ok? They have been in 10 days now.

No, it doesn't have to be in the dark, but it shouldn't be in direct sunlight because it will heat up. We hung ours in old pillowcases one year, cheese cloth another - so long as it's cool and ventilated it will be fine.

Colour variation is also normal on the surface from what I've seen and read. If you used saltpetre or another nitrate (or maybe a nitrite in your butcher's cure) then it should be pink when cut.

If it smells bad then there's something wrong, so trust your nose.

Hope this helps, the science of curing is quite straightforward, but getting good, consistent results when home curing is also something of an art, and takes experimentation and experience, and the occasional disaster!

HTH! 

Hi Dan,
Oh Thank you so much,perhaps because it is my first time I may be worried.I have already hung the streaky up to dry on butchers hooks on a rail,,the hams I am taking out tomorrow so fingers crossed.

I have to say,if it all went wrong,what an expensive failure!

[lill]

please always remember that curing meat is a science not an art, for all the times i have done curing (that has been a few times) i should have perfected it by now, but next time more salt will be added then hey presto finally at last i can have bacon that Robert will eat 

[Dan]

please always remember that curing meat is a science not an art

Definitely! Curing meat safely is all science, curing it to taste good is the art.

next time more salt will be added then hey presto finally at last i can have bacon that Robert will eat

I hope he knows how good you are to him. 

[Mel]

You are all so very helpful,I cannot thank you enough.

I am starting to smoke the streaky today,my first lot of hams are coming out later.would it be best to dry it off prior to hanging it,in Dan's processing about bacon and about soaking it,I guess this is the same for hams?

some of my joints are a whole leg and whole hand,would it be best to cut them into smaller joints prior to hanging and smoking? I was going to do it this way so was in more manageable pieces.