So yeah. I’m making such a big fuss over my ham. 
In the past, I’ve dry-cured my hams. I share my dry-cure experience and technique at the Filipino Mom Blog. I’ve not really made a lot of hams, maybe just 3 or 4. My last attempt was two years ago – botched with too much curing.
When I was younger, I watched Mama make them. So my techniques come from a combination of experience (whatever little bit I may have of it), tradition and Google knowledge (yeah!). Let me tell you first off that I DO NOT claim to be an expert in ham-making.
Now that that’s aside…
This year, I am making a wet-cured ham. Wet-curing is also known as brining. I commenced the wet-cure experiment last night. A good site I used for reference is schmidling.com.
I bought a whole piece of 5.6-kilo fresh ham yesterday. I had the ham deboned and its skin removed. I like to keep the fatty layer on because it will add flavor to the ham when cooked.
My brine consisted of the following:
3 liters of water (boiled and cooled to room temperature)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rock salt
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
The proportions have been adjusted to the size of my ham, which is 5.6 kilos (about 10 pounds). You will have to adjust the quantities according to your ham, as well as your taste. I want my hams sweet so I always add a little more sugar.
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly to make the cure.
In a clean stock pan (or a lidded plastic container), dissolve the dry cure in water. This liquid is now the brine. Completely submerge the fresh ham in the brine.
Cover the pot and keep in the ref to cure for 2 weeks. Do not freeze nor keep in warm room. The middle shelf of the ref should be perfect to keep the ham chilled, but not frozen.
According to this site, ideal curing time is 1.5 days for each pound of meat. So for a 5-kilo (11-pound) ham, 16 days is ideal. I’m doing mine for 2 weeks. It’s all the time I got ’til Christmas Eve anyway.
In two weeks, we shall see and taste and know if my brining method is successful. Until then, I will keep my fingers crossed and remain optimistic. (I could always soak the ham if it turns out too salty )
Wish me luck!
Better yet, join my experiment!
~~~
For the dry-cure method, please go to the Filipino Mom Blog.
Find your way through the city or to your holiday destination with a portable GPS. Available at buy.com.
Tags: Christmas Ham, Holiday food, Home-made ham, meat brining, Project:Ham
December 13th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
A 5.6-kilo ham? That’s big! I bet it will take you weeks to consume it. Hehe.
December 13th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Hi Abaniko! Thanks for the visit. After the whole process, the ham shrinks by about half of its original size. Finishing it isn’t much a problem naman, sa sobrang laki ng aming angkan, hehe!
Happy holidays
December 16th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
im very excited for you! im sure it’s going to be yummy, kasi kahit yummy ang commercial ham, something homemade is special!
next time, .. pagawa ako sa iyo, hahaha!
bibili lang ako e
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Hi there, great post – thanks for this!! I’m also very keen to make my own ham and don’t plan to wait for xmas to come around:)
One clarification – you mention you bought a 5.6kg of fresh HAM. Does do you mean fresh PORK? Or are you re-curing a ham?
I’d like to home cure/smoke my own ham from fresh pork….
Also, how do you know how long to soak the cured ham for ie…how much time to make it less salty vs UNsalty?
Thanks!
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Hi Christine! Thanks for the visit. Yes, I bought fresh pork. The pigue part is called ham. To make it less confusing, ‘fresh’ is usually added before ham to refer to uncured ‘pigue’.
This is the first time I did wet curing (brining). The two weeks seem to have made the meat tasty enough, but no too salty.
In the past years, I did dry curing for a month. The ham usually turned out too salty. I read recently that hams are supposed to be soaked in cold water for a few hours to remove excess salt. Unfortunately, I have not been able to try that out yet.
I guess I have no direct answers for your question on how long to soak as I too am experimenting. Most sites suggest curing 1 day for every 2 pounds.
February 13th, 2010 at 3:53 am
I recently went through the whole process of buying a fresh ham, stitch injection of brine and brining for 1 day/2lbs ham. I then cooked and smooked it for 18 hrs until internal temp reached 152 degrees. It turned out great, but was just a little more salty than I had hoped for. Can this fully cooked ham be placed in cold water to purge some of the salt, or will this do more harm than good.
July 17th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Hi, I’m at the same quest. One thing I dont have clear, after curing it you have to cook it? How much time?