HELP I need to cure and smoke 58 lbs of ham

[heatherlynnky]

So apparently I cannot let my parents out of the house alone anymore. They went on a little drive to the butcher to pick up a picnic ham for a Sunday dinner. They bought 70+ lbs of green ham. That is a lot of pork people and I have no clue what to do with it. They had one cut up into roasts after the shock wore off. Then they brought 2 hams home weighing 58lbs and they want to cure them. No room in the freezer. I need some serious and quick help.

 

[deacon]

I have done it before, but not for along time. Google it and there is lots of info. out there. You will need a shringe to get a good cure to the bone.

 

[Wannabefree]

Rub curing compound all over them and let them sit for two weeks first. we used straight salt to cure ours. It drew out a lot of the water from the meat, but they were soooooo gooooooood You can use a salt/sugar mixture as well.

 

[heatherlynnky]

I was so very very lucky. We went to an older lady we know. Ollie. Anywho she gave us her recipe and her mothers and explained it in detail. She was born in 1918 and her mother was born in 1878. She said she would have helped us but her shoulders are plumb wore out and not up to it anymore. Only issue was converting from her mothers coffee cup to our measure cups so I could get a good recipe going.

 

[Wannabefree]

Awesome! Care to share the recipe?

 

[baymule]

Yes, please share not only the recipe, but the process and take pics too please!!!

 

[heatherlynnky]

So this is what she had down.

11/2 cups salt ( the course curing or canning kind from the mill)
1 tbsp red pepper flakes ( keeps the bugs away)
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp white and brown sugar.


Ok so she uses brown paper. She puts a little of this mixture down and lays the ham skin side down. Then she rubs this mixture in all over, making sure to shove it in real good around the bone. She then tight wraps it in the brown paper and ties it tight. She said to make sure we loop it around the bone several times. Then put it in a pillow case and let it lay flat for a couple days in a cool place. She always used meat bags that she had sewn but she said a cotton pillow case will work. So after its sat for a couple days and the pillow case is feeling a bit damp then you hang it up somewhere high and cool for about 3 months. Her friends can never wait and always cut into it early but she says they don't get a good cure because they do that.

Also she said not to wait till February because those hams don't keep and many times will "walk away from you". Something her mother told her that she always followed.


Her moms recipe is similar except there is no red pepper flakes. She said her moms were always really good also but she really felt the red pepper was better.



Ok so side story to go with this:

When she first married her uncle had some sows that were to have piglets but he wanted to slaughter them after. So he told the 2 girls who had recently been married they could each have piglets. So the other gal got the first batch and it was 7 piglets but they didn't care for them right and they all died. She got the next batch but it was a small litter of 4 but she brought them inside and kept them in their 2 room house in the corner. She said she took care of them the whole winter and when they got big enough they went and stayed out in the meat house till it was time to let them outside. She raised up all 4 and sold them all for $80. She said that was her first venture. She told herself if she managed to sell them she would set aside enough to buy matching paper for both rooms ( the paper that is still on the walls).

 

[Wannabefree]

That is an very cool story. I love hearing stories like that from the older generation. It's so sweet

Thanks for the recipe!!! I will be using this one on the next one we slaughter

 

[heatherlynnky]

I should have mentioned thats only for one of the hams. so like 25 lbs or so.

She is a very dear sweet lady. We bought eggs from her since I was 5 or so. Eventually when she could no longer produce to sell i got my own and she gave me my first one.

 

[~gd]

So this is what she had down.

11/2 cups salt ( the course curing or canning kind from the mill)
1 tbsp red pepper flakes ( keeps the bugs away)
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp white and brown sugar.


Ok so she uses brown paper. She puts a little of this mixture down and lays the ham skin side down. Then she rubs this mixture in all over, making sure to shove it in real good around the bone. She then tight wraps it in the brown paper and ties it tight. She said to make sure we loop it around the bone several times. Then put it in a pillow case and let it lay flat for a couple days in a cool place. She always used meat bags that she had sewn but she said a cotton pillow case will work. So after its sat for a couple days and the pillow case is feeling a bit damp then you hang it up somewhere high and cool for about 3 months. Her friends can never wait and always cut into it early but she says they don't get a good cure because they do that.

Also she said not to wait till February because those hams don't keep and many times will "walk away from you". Something her mother told her that she always followed.


Her moms recipe is similar except there is no red pepper flakes. She said her moms were always really good also but she really felt the red pepper was better.



Ok so side story to go with this:

When she first married her uncle had some sows that were to have piglets but he wanted to slaughter them after. So he told the 2 girls who had recently been married they could each have piglets. So the other gal got the first batch and it was 7 piglets but they didn't care for them right and they all died. She got the next batch but it was a small litter of 4 but she brought them inside and kept them in their 2 room house in the corner. She said she took care of them the whole winter and when they got big enough they went and stayed out in the meat house till it was time to let them outside. She raised up all 4 and sold them all for $80. She said that was her first venture. She told herself if she managed to sell them she would set aside enough to buy matching paper for both rooms ( the paper that is still on the walls).

I feel I must comment on the salt used "( the course curing or canning kind from the mill)" curing salt is usually a mixture of course salt and is dyed pink "Prague powder", Prague powder #1 or pink salt contains 93.75% table salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite Prague powder #2 contains sodium nitrate in addition to sodium nitrite. sodium nitrate found in Prague powder #2 gradually breaks down over time into sodium nitrite. sodium nitrite or nitrate serves to inhibit the growth of bacteria, specifically Clostridium botulinum in an effort to prevent botulism, and helps preserve the color of cured meat. Since nitrate breaks down to nitrite over time it is usually only used on large cuts of meat like hams or whole slabs of bacon that take longer to cure. I am not saying that you can not cure a ham with regular salt but it is more of a risk than I am willing to take. ~gd