Prosciutto

LOUSANTELLO
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Mon Jan 02, 2017 17:56

I do have them cut side up. For the last 2 weeks, I did remove the paper and netting. The only reason I used the paper and netting was the Kentucky video that was posted for me to watch. Let's assume I cut the meat off the pig and the thickest part was 6". You're saying the last 1/3 salt should remain from from day 14-42. Then rinse, correct?
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Post by Bob K » Mon Jan 02, 2017 18:19

Yes


Butterbean wrote:
Take your salt and cure mix and divide it in three parts and apply a third to this cut area. After a week of it staying in the fridge and draining add another third to the cut area and let it stay another week. Apply last 1/3 and leave the ham refrigerated till the total time salted equals seven days for each inch of thickness measured at its thickest point.

6 x 7 = 42

Then rinse and equalise
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Mon Jan 02, 2017 19:18

OK, just confirming. LOL.
Thanks
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Post by Bob K » Mon Jan 02, 2017 20:17

Sorry Lou could not resist :lol:
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Tue Jan 03, 2017 04:20

2 Bone in and 2 Bone out

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redzed
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Post by redzed » Tue Jan 03, 2017 21:16

Ok, I totally misunderstood your original question about removing the bone. I thought you were asking about boning out the ham completely, but it looks like you were asking about removing the aitchbone only. In that case, from what I have seen, the aitchbone is usually removed in the Italian hams. In a large number of instances the European dry cured hams are boned out after curing/drying, then pressed and sent out to retailers, making it easy to slice mechanically for the customer.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Tue Jan 03, 2017 21:50

On two of them, the bone was removed to the socket. On the other two, the bone was removed completely thru the whole ham and the only slice was at the leg, which was sewn back up
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Post by redzed » Wed Jan 04, 2017 17:58

LOUSANTELLO wrote:On the other two, the bone was removed completely thru the whole ham and the only slice was at the leg, which was sewn back up
Here you will have to keep an eye on these because if they are not pressed tight enough to close any air pockets between the cuts, they will be susceptible to spoilage.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Thu Jan 05, 2017 14:41

According to a local butcher, Volpe removes the bone and soaks them in a brine and presses them before curing. I did manage to get salt into the deboned area and pressed the heck out of them for 1 week. I'm really not sure how they will work, although after pressing them, I did lay them raw side up and continued to salt them with the remaining 2/3 salt mixture. By laying them raw side up, I am noticing where the socket usually is, there's always a puddle of liquid as it's draining. I'm wondering if this puddle is saturating the deboned area creating it's own brine as it sits. It will be interesting. All 4 ( 2 with bone in and 2 deboned) are definitely firming up and getting very rubbery. I can't imagine how well this hole will close up if I deboned them after cure. Looking at any piece of prosciutto I have ever purchased from a deli, I have never seen an apparent area in the slice whereby it looks like a bone was removed and pressed exposing an unnatural slit on the slice. This is what confuses me. I have a bout 250.00 worth of hams here and i'm sure 2 of the 4 will probably work. Who knows, maybe all 4 will work. It's not even the 250.00 as much as its the wait time not knowing whether I should have butterflied the deboned hams. Either way, after this experiment, I am sure I will know which way I would make them again.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Sat Jan 14, 2017 16:02

OK, next question. Monday will be day 35 laying flat with all salt on the ham since week 3. Based on the 1" rule, I am ready to pull them, rinse them, sprinkle with wine and black pepper. Now I guess comes another 20 days of equalizing back in the refrigerator. Do you lay them down or hang them in the refrigerator?
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Post by redzed » Sat Jan 14, 2017 17:45

Lou, scroll up and re-read Toldra's paragraph on Post-Salting and Resting. You can do it either way. Be careful not to over dry during this stage. I have one in the that phase currently and it's in a covered container. You might have posted the info, but how much salt did you use, and did you also use #2?
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Sat Jan 14, 2017 23:24

I used one ounce total of kosher salt per pound across the 3 weeks. I did also use cure #2 at the same .25% as soppressata recipe
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Post by redzed » Sat Jan 14, 2017 23:34

LOUSANTELLO wrote:I used one ounce total of kosher salt per pound across the 3 weeks. I did also use cure #2 at the same .25% as soppressata recipe


So did it look like most of it was absorbed? I used a litlle less, 5% coarse sea salt, and it was all absorbed by the ham, except what was obviously in the liquid that I poured off every couple of days. I hope it won't be overly salty.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Sat Jan 14, 2017 23:45

We will see. Everything absorbed but much after the three weeks. There's a line of salt around the bone thats not ansorbed.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Fri Jan 27, 2017 04:10

OK guys, these are looking mighty fine. Next Friday will be the time on the first two that I made that went through it's salting cycle along with the rinse/ peppered and hung back in the refrigerator for the 20 day equalization period. Now that it's "cured", what is your suggestion for the rest of the hanging time? Temperature? Humidity? Can it go in a chamber at 55 degrees? Suggestions please.
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