Ham Recipe
You guys might have your own recipes but here is what I made last week. It turned out really well. It had the pink color of store-bought ham and it tasted even better. Michelle really like it and she is usually suspicious of the wild game that I cook.
1 cup Kosher salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Tender Quick
bay leaves
pickling spice
cloves
1 ½ gallons water
fresh ham (bone-in)
Dissolve salt, sugar, and Tender Quick in ½ gallon warm water. Add remaining water and ice if you want to use the brine right away. Add the seasonings.
Use a sharpening steel to create some holes around the bone and through the center of the meat. Place the ham in brine solution for 4 ½ days (Monday night to Saturday morning). Soak ham in fresh water for 2 hours before cooking. Cook to an internal temperature of 155. Use Hickory wood for flavor.
1 cup Kosher salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Tender Quick
bay leaves
pickling spice
cloves
1 ½ gallons water
fresh ham (bone-in)
Dissolve salt, sugar, and Tender Quick in ½ gallon warm water. Add remaining water and ice if you want to use the brine right away. Add the seasonings.
Use a sharpening steel to create some holes around the bone and through the center of the meat. Place the ham in brine solution for 4 ½ days (Monday night to Saturday morning). Soak ham in fresh water for 2 hours before cooking. Cook to an internal temperature of 155. Use Hickory wood for flavor.
posted by brian | 1:26 PM
14 Comments:
Is there a reason for using the steel to poke holes? Are we trying to make channels without "cutting" the flesh? I'm just a little hesitant to go jamming my good Hinkle into anything, I'm sure it will survive it just fine, but I believe my heatr may flutter a bit durring the process.
Sounds interesting. When I made my most successful hams I made a similar brining/spicing solution I used cloves, allspice, cinnamon, brown sugar and some sodium nitrate. Instead of soaking in a big vat of the liquid though I wrapped it in plastic wrap and used the injector needle right through it. This flavored the inside and out real good. Then I wrapped another layer and put it in the bottom drawer of the fridge for a couple days.
Yeah, the pink color is usually a result of using nitrates(tender quick)in the ham/sausage process.
I got really good "ham" color by using some sodium nitrate I bought at readfields's
Notice all 4 adds are now for smoked &/or honey baked hams. I got a mule deer hind 1/4 hammed, I have yet to try it myself. But I ran it through the meat slicer (boned it out first) and have not bought lunch meat for a month now. Come to think of it, we have not bought meat in a long time. Every so often the wiffey gets a hankering for chicken, so maybe 1 or 2X a month we get chicken. I bought the bargain basement "tube-o-ground beef" about 3 months ago and still have 1/2 of it. Blend it with ground deer to add some fat for burgers. Once we discover an alt. energy, we'll be "off the grid". Call me Rusty Shackleford.
apparently a 7lb ham can cost sixty some-odd dollars.
Anyone want to try and fetch up some more ham the weekend of Feb. 17th ?
I poked holes in the meat because I wanted to create channels for the brine. I didn't have a brine pump or big syringe. Steve, your method sounds effective.
Next time I'm in town I need to pick up some sodium nitrate from Readfields. I miss that place.
I am interested in going hunting but I need to check my calender. That date sounds familiar.
Hey now, yall take it easy on them pigs. I'm gonna need a new source of freezer filler. I'm out on that one, too much gonna be goin down up here. I'm thinkin about getting coastal somewhere around March 4, 11, 18, or 25th. Basically any weekend in March. I know it gets better later, but the angst is getting mighty strong. I have not had a sand rimmed beer or butt crack in mighty long time. I had em both covered in wind blown dirt round here, but it just aint the same. By the way Steve, Ive switched from Chapstick to Blistex, hope that will work for you.
I guess I didnt ask, are yall using pig hams or deer hams? I just kinda figured it was deer cause thats what mine is. Upon further brain work, it seems yall are on piggys. Save me a big bite, I'll trade for some deer samach meat.
Get some chickens in the yard and you'll have it made.
I was speaking of Pork Hams. Where did you take it to have a mule deer leg "hammed".
I read somewhere that recommended cinnamon and clove for pork, I agree but prefer allspice to cloves.
I also know that people from germany often season venison with juniper berrys. This particular one isn't for me however, since I don't care for Gin. A subtler flaver that I like on smoked venison is rosemary and sage.
The feller I went hunting with in Bronte had 4 made last year one of his buddies is a taxidermist/processor, good racket to get into. Anyway, his buddy hammed em and I traded for a fresh non-mule hind. He said the guy hamms em for $1/# (dry weight)very reasonable.
The wife likes gin, so she may like em that way, for me, find me some berries off a whiskey tree. Come to think of it, find me a whiskey tree and I'll use every bit of that thing.
juniper berries - I think that would be good but I've never seen them in the store.
Pickling spice contains a fair amount of all-spice and cloves. I don't really know what else is in there.
Brian, if you want juniper berries, just say the word, I got access to PLENTY of juniper berries. Any chance you could help me out with a whiskey tree?
By the way, I'll be in your neighborhood starting 1 March. So you better start scouting the coast for some honey holes.
Chris, I don't know if you can be trusted with one of my honey holes. Just look what happened to your top secret spot by the surfside jetty.
If you don't mind wearing a blind-fold we can probably go fishing.
Now I'm a little nervous. This isnt going to be one of those "if you went camping with someone and woke up in the morning with KY smeared all across your ass and back would you tell anyone?" type things is it? I'll go, but I expect dinner too.
you can often buy whole juniper berries at natural food type stores, the hippies think eatin them is good for something or another.
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