Homemade Sausage Making

Hey all
CW you asked what was next on my agenda? Well last night I sliced into one of two Prosciuttos that I made back in early February. Although I cannot claim this to be a "Parma Italian prosciutto ham" which can take up to 12 - 16 months to complete, this is a quicker American type prosciutto, with good flavor.

Wally

Nice looking work! taste good?

Hey Ross
Yeah I was surprised at the flavor, came out really well! I used a maple dark sugar with fresh ground juniper barriers and black pepper and of course salt & cure #2.

Wally

Hi Wally,

I love the tie work you did on your ham, your experience shows. Superb looking ham!

My last few hams I cured also with Juniper as part of the other ingredients, the hint of flavor it renders is good!

You know of course that the low growing junipers will yield berries every summer.

Hey Bubba
Thanks for the complement, I truly appreciate it! When I mixed all ingredients together it had an amazing scent. Next time I will rub in a bit more pepper to the mix. I sliced a piece that had a few flakes of pepper on it and it stood out with flavor.

I also tried to slice the Prosciutto with a small bread slicer I have in my kitchen to get that paper thin prosciutto, well... I have new slicer coming this week. Could'nt help myself

Wally

That's my boy! MR. SMARTY PANTS!
(Nice job, Sharkey!)

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

CW
Can you hear me Laughing all the way out here on the east side

Good night all


Wally

That is great looking ham!!!!!

Yes, that ham sure does look tasty!

Hi Wally,
I am jealous of this wonderful ham of yours. You mentioned that you started it in February.
Any particular hints for us apprentices about temperatures, humidity etc etc.
Here in Brisbane it always seem to be to humid.
Regards,
Jan.

Hey Jan

I would work with a pork shoulder on 1st attempt, this way you won`t invest a large amount of money in a large ham leg. A prosciutto is truly made from the hog`s rear leg, as mentioned I would recommend the smaller picnic shoulder for practice. The ham I posted was in fact a picnic and I boned the shoulder also, this will make it easier to mix the salt and seasoning, throughout the whole shoulder. When you cut the bone from the pork, take your time and remove the bone with minimal cutting so not tare everything apart, use a sharp knife. Once you have a clean cut shoulder, with bone removed, rub 2/3 of the mixed salt and seasoning, and fold the ham together and put in a plastic bag, then use a ham press. I used two bakers cooling racks to press the ham with plastic tie wraps to squeeze everything together. This also helps to remove all moisture and any blood that may be in the meat. Then Put the ham skin side down into the fridge at 36 - 38 degrees for 15 days. At the end of the first 15 days remove the ham and rub the remainder 1/3 of the salt and seasoning mixture and repeat the whole process for another 15 days for a total of 30 days for the curing process to complete. At the end of 30 days remove the plastic bag and press (cooling rack) soak the ham in cold water for no more than 30 minutes, changing the water once, and then let the ham air dry for about an hour. Rub black pepper on the meat only, not the skin/fat portion of the ham. Now is the time to put the ham into a ham bag and reapply the ham press and then into the smoker at 130 degrees for 60 hrs, making sure not to run over 130 degrees during the 60 hour process. After the 60 hour process is complete, hang the ham for a minimum of 30 days at 60 degrees with 70% humidity.

Note: I did not reapply the wire rack to the ham when I put the ham in the smoker, next time I will, so that the ham will have that flat prosciutto appearance. Makes it easier to slice also!
Also you can make this ham with the bone in but will have to make sure to get as much salt into the bone area as possible. I would also recommend if you do leave the bone in, make a slit length ways across the shoulder to press as much of the salt/seasoning into the bone area.

(USA style) Prosciutto ham (8lbs)
Ingredients:
½ cup Salt
½ cup Maple or Brown sugar
½ oz Cure #2
3 TBS Whole black pepper crushed
2 tsp Juniper barriers crushed

Mix everything together and put into a container.

CW
I hope I didn't goof this up putting this recipe in the wrong place. If so, you can move it to the correct location, right?

Wally

Hey Pal, with those beautiful instructions, terrific photo, and recipe, I just had to move this gorgeous ham into a forum of its own. This is one heck of a nice work. Your clear and precise instructions should help many people make their own prosciutto. Thanks for sharing your secrets and your expertise. What a guy! What a guy!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

CW,
I fully agree with you. The instructions are great. I will have a go at one of these next week.
Thanks a heap Wally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best Regards,
Jan.


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