Formed hams?

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 02:39

I have some pork butt meat that is cured but not to be smoked. I have planned to cook it in a make shift press. I have read the proceedure but I and what I have read seem to be a little vague about how much pressure is enough and how much is too much. Can anyoone shed some more light on this simple subject? I know that my mother would say,"use enough but not too much."

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 18:48

In the absence of an answer to my inquirey decided to wing it. The meat was/is a pound and a quarter of lean trimming in several pieces that I packed into a stainless steel bowl and weighted with a jar of water. I cooked it in 180° water until I got 150° in the center of the mass.( about 45 minutes)
I removed it to the fridge and this morning I sliced it in half for a look see.

The taste and texture are good but next time I won't use corriander.

DLFL · Post by **DLFL** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 21:28

Itheld together quite well. Looks good!

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 22:25

It made good deviled ham per the Trosky recipe.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun May 06, 2012 18:35

Of the chickens that I cut-up Friday I placed three boneless, skinless breast halves into an 18° brine today. On Tuesday I plan to put them into a oven bag and press them into a loaf pan and cook them for cured sandwich meat.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Mon May 07, 2012 11:28

That pretty innovative pal. I'd sure like to know how it comes out.
By the way, how was Trosky's recipe for Deviled Ham?

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon May 07, 2012 20:47

I doubled the ham quantity after I had it mixed and it was better. I will use it as modified for that purpose. It is very good.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Tue May 08, 2012 02:42

Hi Ross,

I love the way your ham finished up looking. How was the texture?

More or less how much weight did you add with the jug of water?

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue May 08, 2012 03:53

Bubba, The taste and texture were as you should expect from a good canned ham. The process and result was a comedy of errors and a demonstration of how forgiving the process can be. I packed the cured meat into a bowl and filled a widemouth mason jar with water for the weight. I inverted the jar on the meat and set the bowl into a tall pan with water up to about a half inch of the rim of the bowl. As everything heated the vapor pressure pushed most of the water out of the jar and flooded the meat. I allowed the process to finish and drained the water and chilled the bowl with the meat. It wasn't ruined. It could possibly have been better and I can find out this week with the chicken breasts. I intend to do those in a small loaf pan with a second loaf pan as a follower weighted with scrap iron.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu May 10, 2012 02:08

I set three chicken breast portions into brine on Sunday. 18° with sugar and garlic. On Tuesday I retrieved them, dried them with paper towels and packed them into a Pyrex loaf pan. Weighted them with another loaf pan filled with table knives and water. Placed the works into a water filled roasting pan and baked them at 300°F for about two hours and an internal temperature of 175°. Retrieved them and allowed some cooling and an over night in the fridge. They failed to stick together!!!
Analysis:
Things I did wrong.
1. I didn't get them dry enough.
2. I didn't knead them to make the sticky.
3. I got into a hurry!

Things I did right:
1. The brine was a good combination.
2. Could probably be applied as a dry rub to make 1.5 % salt content.
3. The taste is good.
4. The cooking method was good.
5. The result is still very eatable but looks more like leftovers than sandwich loaf.
Things that might help:
1.Sprinkle a packet of Knox gelatin over the pieces as they are packed into the loaf pan. The gelatin in the finished product was semi-liquid.
2. Allowing the meat to dry in the fridge and kneading until it gets sticky.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Fri May 11, 2012 00:59

Hi Ross,

I have never tried this before;

in your opinion would there have been a difference with them sticking together (versus not) if the breasts had been cut up into cubes?

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Fri May 11, 2012 02:04

Bubba, I had several small pieces in the mix and they separated easily also. I believe that the water in the brine washed away the sticky protein that we are supposed to develop when we knead the meat. The pieces were as slippery as a kettle of fish. When next I get a deal on chicken I will try again with a dry cure and add a package of knox gelatin besides. The taste has been good and it still makes good sandwiches but the slices aren't pretty.
It also makes a good spread for crackers when minced with celery and onions and mayo.

Post by **redzed** » Fri May 11, 2012 05:14

Methinks you need to get some transglutaminase.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Fri May 11, 2012 11:06

Yeah, and no "pink slime" either!

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Fri May 11, 2012 13:19

redzed wrote:Methinks you need to get some transglutaminase.

I think that I shall work on technique before I resort to using adhesives. With proper techniques I can build a chair without using adhesives so with proper craftsmanship I should be able to make pressed meat loaves without having to glue them together.

Formed hams?

Formed hams?

Chapter two

Partial crop failure