[WinslowPorker]

Just a thought most of you know by now i have quite an appetite  so quick question has anyone made a gammon from their pig? i assume you use the boned rolled leg and is it the same process as doing a bacon from the belly? is it something you do yourself or does the butcher do it for you? 

[Wizard]

The ham is made from the hind leg of a pig which is removed from the carcass and cured in salt and other spices dependant on the cure you are doing and after 3 weeks or so the salt is brushed off and the ham hung up to dry.The dried ham will keep for well over a year.Gammon again is prepared from hind leg of a pig but  it is placed in the brine with the whole side of pig and removed after the brining It has a much milder taste than air dried ham and of course wont keep very long at all.A poor comparison can be made by buying a 1/4lb of Roast Ham cut before you off the bone.Then buy a 1/4 of boiled gammon,Then tell me the difference.That is the way it is done W.P.It is posted in "Killing the pig 60yrs ago and other things to do with dead pig in what to do with the rest of the pig Have a look and be adventurous tell us what you do and what you think.

[dizzy1pig]

 
i got my 2 done in sept. got them butchered and then sent them to be cured at another butcher cost £8 for 6 bits
saved me having to do it, and was great xmas presents

[WinslowPorker]

Not thought of Chrissie Prezies but sounds a good idea

[dizzy1pig]

 
Well maybe i@m miserable but everyone I know has almost all they could want.
A nice bit meat or some homemade preserves chutneys  useful
no time for presents that you can not do something useful with

[spitfire]

I agree Wizard,
have a go winslowporker, its great fun!!

we followed HFW instructions about preserving/curing our joints. We have learned alot since butchering our own pigs last year and had our disastors along with successes-

experience has taught us
1. the music in between the sections of a 'pig in a  day' dvd  is really, really annoying!!! and we will never watch the butchery sections again becasue of it (well until next year when we've forgotton where to cut!)
2. it isn't always as straight forward as he makes it look eg tieing sausages, joints togther, boning out!
3. recipes can be fiddled with to make them to your own tastes
4. its not worth using fancy cures because we have a favourite way of cooking our hams in cider and brown sugar (delia recipe) so fancy beer cures etc are lost when we soak the ham before cooking.
5. 3 pigs arn't enough for a family of 5 for pork for a year
6. def less joints and more sausages next time!!!

our dry cured ham is still in the rafter of the workshop- been there since nov and looking mighty fine. will let you know how it tastes when we bring it down next month.

[Wizard]

Hello Spitfire You are so right.We of course grew a different pig to you no doubt.We grew to some25/30 score because we wanted fat on the meat where as now a days the bacon pig is grown to have as little fat as possible.We once grew a runt on and when he got to 200lbs we had it killed.We didn't Chine it we cut it down the middle and removed the hind legs and made them into hams.Now you know this statement isn't true but to all intents and purposes it is, we made the rest of the meat into Lincolnshire Sausages.Of course we made Haslet and Fry's etc; so it wasn't all sausage.Have you read my story about keeping and killing a pig 60yrs ago and what was done with it after you have killed it? It depicts the old method used in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire for generations past.This modern method wasn't really used until the 1950's I remember we went to the Royal Show it must have been 1955 and the new pig,so exciting No more Large Whites this new pig from Denmark would oust all the other breeds and rule supreme it was called a LANDRACE I've not seen it mentioned for years but the big commercial breeders developed it to what we have today.In the main,shop bought tasteless pink stuff to me and mine.Tell you what go in Tesco and buy a 1/4lb of their best crumbed ham also buy a 1/4 of roast ham carved off the bone while you wait,Then taste the difference.I'll tell you now the off the bone is a very poor replica of the real thing I have said Tesco because that is a big supermarket that offers varieties of ham.There is of course many.You will no doubt seen adverts for York Ham,Best Wiltshire Ham oh ever so many.I don't care what anyone says The commercial grower/producer cannot get the excellent flavour you can get at home with your two(always keep at least two) fed on everything they will eat and let out out in the pigpen and field You watch them eat acorns if you have a oak tree in the field.SSHHH  no doubt it contraveins the EU directive but if they don't see it don't tell 'em

[Hilarysmum]

Dont know if this will help but ..... my recipe for gammon

1 boned out leg tied to keep its shape.

Enough water to cover the leg when its in the container

140 g. salt
                       to each litre of water
60 g. sugar 


few juniper berries
few cloves
20 or so whole peppercorns

chill the leg.  Boil water, salt sugar and spices together until salt and sugar dissolved.  Pour into a food quality plastic container.  Chill.  When its not more than 4 deg. C add leg.  Leave in fridge for 2-3 weeks depending on size.  A really big one needs a full 3 weeks.  Turn daily.  Brine must never rise above 4 deg. C. 
Soak ham for half a day in clean water.
Leave in fridge for a couple of days.
Boil for 20 minutes per kilo of meat
Allow to cool.  Remove skin.   Cut shallow diamond shapes into fat
In a pot combine honey and dry mustard.  Coat .  Add breadcrumbs if required.  Roast in a hot oven  until honey bubbling or breadcrumbs browned (20 minutes aprox).

[JulieS]

Yummm...I'm going to try that Hilarysmum, sounds lovely.   

[WinslowPorker]

Ouor friends come up at the weekend and said about cooking your gammon in Coca-Cola!!! apparently its awesome, going to go and get a small joint from butcher this weekend and give it a go, will post back the experience.................... if my teeth havent dropped out that is!!

[jameslindsay]

There is also a dish in Thai cooking that involves coc cola.

[WinslowPorker]

Hi James, never ever thought of it before but i suppose it has merit, all i want to know is who thinks these ideas up!!! perhaps someone like Heston Blumethal maybe, he has quite exciteable taste buds!

[JulieS]

I think Nigella Lawson has a ham cooked in coca cola recipe. 

[WinslowPorker]

mmmmmmmmmmmm Nigella Lawson just her, not the recipes!!!!!!!!   

[Wizard]

Hands off WP You can make do wi Zeta