My Ham project

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 01:15

I started this project on November 27, and thanks to the help of Chuckwagon's advice I understood that the pork meat could still be brined safely when the meat was 1 day away from the "sell by" date.

Below is a step by step of this project, along with hurdles I had to overcome, if anyone can add to my learning process I would appreciate that very much. Any critique is welcome.

The Pork weight was 3.4 lbs, and I injected 10% per weight.
The brine was to a recipe that I used previously in a Kassler recipe because I liked the flavor.

Here is the recipe again:-
1 gallon water
1-1/2 cups kosher salt
1-1/4 cups sugar
2-3/4 Tbsp Instacure #1
1 tsp dried sage leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp Gin (heated to remove alcohol)
1 tsp. coriander ground
1/2 Tbsp Garlic cloves

The pork was soaked in brine for 5 days at about 34 F, maybe a bit too cold. I have only one refrigerator and in time will invest in a separate one for my projects.

Last Friday I rinsed the Pork with clean water then hung it in the Refrigerator to dry for 1 day (24 hours)

Saturday afternoon I preheated the smoker to 170 F (my issues with Smoker temperature rises are solved, I can now maintain 170 F consistent), and hung the pork, and with Beech wood chip smoke applied for about 1-1/2 hours. I smoked it for 4 hours, IMT was 100 F, then removed and refrigerated it again overnight.
Sunday morning I continued applying smoke for another 2 hours, and continued with 170 F for 6 hours (i.e total time Sunday was 2 + 6 hours).
At that point the IMT was 140 F after about 7 hours, and it would not rise above 140 F for the next hour that is why I removed it.
The pork was hung out in the kitchen for about 2 hours to rest, then hung in the refrigerator for 1 day.

here is what I ended up with:-

The flavor is amazing; I would say something similar maybe to Black forest ham (only similar)
1) Even after 2 days napping in the refrigerator, it is still a little too salty, not much though.
2) I made the mistake of not checking the brine with my salinometer because I was too comfortable with my old recipe. My mistake, I think the brine was a bit too strong.
3) Next time I will make the brine mixture 1 or 2 days before I start brining, then strain the spices such as Sage and Thyme out. The few leaves of spices that remained on the pork after rinsing have a taste that does not "belong there". It's not a bad taste, but the applied smoke gives the Thyme clinging on the outside a very different taste that one would not associate with ham. (Maybe I should even grind them in my spice grinder to pulverize before mixing the brine?)
4) I should have also used my coriander to slow down the smoke application; the outside of the ham is a bit too tough. (Still edible though)

Photos below of the various steps, very interesting project for me and for 1st time I am happy with texture.

After 5 day brine and rinsing with water

In the smoker

After hanging in the kitchen

the first cut after 1 day of napping in the refrigerator

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 04:41

It looks nice Bubba. Did you tie it before you cured it? It should be great as a breakfast ham sliced and fried in the skillet and then the eggs right after.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 09:54

Nice going Bubba. It looks like good stuff. May I make a suggestion or two and a comment? When you "cook" a ham as you smoke it, place the fat side on top so that the juices drain down through the meat. At the 140°F. mark, trichinella spiralis has been destroyed, so I wouldn`t worry too much about the temp not rising as you described. Any longer and your beautiful ham would lose too much moisture. If you look at the photo closely, you may see how the fat has prevented the meat beneath it from losing moisture. It`s color is pink. On the opposite side, it is drier and the color is more reddened. When the meat is sliced and fried up with your eggs in a pan, the cooking temp can finish the process. Your brine seems a little stout. If you check out chapter 22 in Stan`s book, "Home Production Of Quality Meats And Sausages", a lot of questions may be answered.
Just offering a few thoughts on the matter. Shucks pard, it looks good enough to eat!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:10

ssorllih wrote:It should be great as a breakfast ham sliced and fried in the skillet and then the eggs right after.

That is my plan for this weekend's breakfast

The Pork was actually bought for making breakfast links but I ran out of time, I did not tie it additionally before brining but will do so on my next one.

Chuckwagon wrote:On the opposite side, it is drier and the color is more reddened. When the meat is sliced and fried up with your eggs in a pan, the cooking temp can finish the process. Your brine seems a little stout. If you check out chapter 22 in Stan`s book, "Home Production Of Quality Meats And Sausages", a lot of questions may be answered.
Just offering a few thoughts on the matter. Shucks pard, it looks good enough to eat!

Thank you Chuckwagon, I plan on starting another brine on Sunday and will refer to Chapter 22 before that. On the next one I will also hang it in the smoker with fat up.
And the brine will be adjusted and measured this time

Dave Zac · Post by **Dave Zac** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 14:00

Bubba says the ham was salty. Chuckwagon says the brine was stout. I know the final outcome certainly depends on one's own taste however...according to Stan's charts:

Now please correct me...my calculations says 1 1/2 cups salt (0.75 lbs) in 1 gallon of water is a 30 degree brine. It is recommended that one use a 60 degree brine for hams. I just finished a ham with a 60 degree brine (1.5 lb salt per gallon of water) and it was a tad salty for the missus but good for my taste.

Did Bubba use a 30 degree brine? I'm trying to learn these basic points so I am able to look at a recipe and evaluate it correctly for my taste.

Link to Stan's brining table

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 15:55

I was studying on this last night and if I comprehended the process of brining it is a strength/time function. That is a 60° brine will effect a cure in half the time that a 30° brine will effect the same level of cure? Does the cure migrate through the meat at the same rate with each brine strength but the concentration of salt and nitrite in the meat reflects the brine strength for each unit of time? Another way to phrase the question, would there be half as much cure in the meat in a 30° brine after a week as there would be in the meat in a 60° brine after one week? Would the cure be distributed the same ?

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 01:57

Ross,

Looking back at when I did the Kassler, I brined it for only 2-1/2 days and this time I brined for 5 days. In both instances I used the same recipe.

The Kassler was not as salty as the Ham I did this time.

So I agree that time is a factor as well.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 03:27

I will be pleased when some more experienced voices weigh in on this.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 08:29

Hi Dave,
You wrote:

Bubba says the ham was salty. Chuckwagon says the brine was stout. I know the final outcome certainly depends on one's own taste however...according to Stan's charts:
Now please correct me...my calculations says 1 1/2 cups salt (0.75 lbs) in 1 gallon of water is a 30 degree brine. It is recommended that one use a 60 degree brine for hams. I just finished a ham with a 60 degree brine (1.5 lb salt per gallon of water) and it was a tad salty for the missus but good for my taste.
Did Bubba use a 30 degree brine? I'm trying to learn these basic points so I am able to look at a recipe and evaluate it correctly for my taste.

Naw... all I meant was that 1-1/2 cups in a gallon of water is a little stout for 120 hours of brining.
As you know, brining is a balance of time and strength. We can use weaker brine for a longer period of time to effect the same results produced by a stronger brine used for a shorter period of time.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Dave Zac · Post by **Dave Zac** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 13:19

But doesn't the meat being cured reach an equilibrium at some point? I would think it is better to base the recipe on salometer degrees and cure time than to cure longer because of a weaker brine.

To try to answer Ross' question above, I believe a ham cured for one week with a 60* brine will be twice as salty as a ham cured for one week in a 30* brine. I also believe a ham cured for 2 weeks in a 30* brine will not reach the same level of saltiness as a ham cured in a 60* brine for one week. There is only so much salt that can distributed, regardless of the cure time.

I may be wrong though.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 02:36

Chuckwagon wrote:As you know, brining is a balance of time and strength. We can use weaker brine for a longer period of time to effect the same results produced by a stronger brine used for a shorter period of time.

I am going to start another brine tomorrow, with the adjusted brine level.
In doing so I will find most likely out that my first project was a big lesson for me.

Then I will also find out that when I state a strength of brine it has to clearly state the time frame, weight of meat and temperature at the same time.
So my discoveries on my learning curve continue.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 17:08

Update on this project, I smoked the Pork Loins yesterday and last night to IMT 150.
At the moment (and for the next day) they are taking a nap in the refrigerator.

I could not resist cutting a little test piece off this morning to check the "saltiness", and it is not salty at all after adjusting the quantities for brine.

After tomorrow I will post another update with photos.

I'm also very happy, this morning I took a drive to a small town nearby, New Ellenton (SC), and they had Pork Butt for $ 1.28/ lb. I bought a Butt and it is earmarked for a small experimental (spice quantity addition experiment) batch of sausage today.
The quality of the Butt from New Ellenton looks the same as I would have normally bought around here for $ 2.99 or even $ 3.25 / lb.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 18:37

Bubba , Go back and buy three more.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 02:44

ssorllih wrote:Go back and buy three more.

I will go back tomorrow, just wanted to see how the Butt is, definitely the quality is good after cutting some for sausage this afternoon and grilling some samples.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 02:50

The final update on this project with some Loins that I bought and started brining a week ago, interesting learning curve but I am very happy with the results.

To recap:- adjusted the brine to 1 cup / gallon water for a 5 day brine soak (10% brine of meat weight injected)

I added smoke for about 1 hour, starting with about 120 F smoker temp then gradually let temperature increase over 12 hours to 170 F and then holding it there.
Total time to reach IMT of 150 F was 20.5 hours.
During that time I rotated the Loins top to bottom every 3-4 hours for the last 10 hours only.
The Smoker temperature probe shown in the first photo was moved back further in to the Smoker after the photo was taken.

I also used Chuckwagon's method of a cold water bath after time in the smoker to IMT 150 F, keeping them in the cold water bath until ambient temperature was reached again.

This Pork Loin is extremely soft, in the last photo (taken after 2 days in the Refrigerator) I am showing how easily it pulls apart with 2 fingers. (and yes I did have to apply a little pressure to pull it apart) Flavor is phenomenal, no strong salt taste and is also very moist.