Walder's dry-cured English ham - a step by step log!

[WalderX]

Hello all!

So, due to the fact that I LOVE all types of dry cured meat (Parma, Serrano, Iberico, saucisson etc etc), I have decided to try make my own. I have spent a week researching it online and have now got all the ingredients to get going! England doesn't have it's own specific type of aged, dried ham as far as I am aware, and we should - our climate is actually very good for air drying outside. I buy Iberico from Waitrose but it is bloody silly money really, another reason to try make my own.

I will be using this recipe as a guide, but with a few variations on the process:
http://www.rivercottage.net/forum/the-river-cottage-directory/how-to/how-to-make-parma-ham-at-home-step-by-step-photo-guide/

Based on general advice I have gone for a boned ham, because with the bone in you run a much higher risk of the meat spoiling, and the curing process can take up to twice as long. If all goes well with this ham then I might try a full leg, bone in with the trotter still on for the authentic look!

Visited my local butchers this morning to pick up some local outdoor reared pork bred at Willow Lodge Farm, near Uckfield:

It's a big chunk of the leg, over half I would say and weighs in at 2.85kg - it only cost £19! The price really surprised me actually, I was ready to pay at least £30 or more.

The cure ingredients:

As per the recipe, but with added coriander seed which I will grind down. Most other recipes have coriander seed in the cure, and I like the sound of it.

So that's it so far, will mix the cure and start the process off later this afternoon - recovering from a hangover at the mo so gonna make some lunch first!

Next update later on today

 

[WalderX]

I love the look of that joint, and for £19 its a bargain! I'm already drooling over the upcoming updates

Yeah I really thought it was going to be double that price to be honest! Following on from this I have decided to buy all my meat from the butchers - we usually just use Tesco as it's convenient, but some supermarket meat is very dubious quality, especially the standard chicken which is just rank really. The butchers are so knowledgeable, and meat so good, it just feels silly to buy from the supermarket now... I am a full-on foodie, so am used to spending more for the quality stuff!

 

[WalderX]

*UPDATE*

So I made the cure as per the recipe, reducing the quantities to match the weight of my bit of pork. I simply used a percentage calculator to tell me how much smaller my bit was, then multiplied all the measurements by that percentage (37%). Coriander seed wasn't in the recipe so I just used the same amount as garlic, about 10g. I ended up using sea salt rather than the table salt in the previous picture, it has a better taste than standard salt so thought it just made sense. The cure smells amazing!

I then rubbed in half the cure mix to all sides of the meat, ensuring i got it into all the crevices inside and under bits of fat on the edges etc. I forgot to take any photos of this bit! Was engrossed in a film whilst curing the ham on the lounge table! The girlfriend found it rather funny.

Next, as per the recipe I tightly wrapped the ham in cling film. I did about 10 wraps one way, then 10 vertically to get it all nice and tight both ways.

The recipe calls to leave it for 15 days, then rub in the rest of the cure, wrap back up and leave for another 15 days. However that is for 8kg of meat, my cut is only 3kg so i'm thinking perhaps curing it for a total of 15 days instead of 30? Any thoughts on this?

 

[WalderX]

FrenchTart - thanks for the info re curing time, makes sense when timing it for thickness. What I will probably do then is 10 days with the first half of cure then another days with the second half of cure added.

I now need to think about where to hang it. I have a shed outside which is quite new and very clean inside (no cobwebs or obvious infestation of insects). I just need to find out what temp it is in there, I will buy a thermometer and check it daily over the next couple of weeks. The general advice seems to be no higher than 15 degrees and with good airflow.
I store my bike in there so I open and close the door 4 times per day - perhaps that will provide enough airflow?

It is also advised to wrap it in muslin as extra protection against insects etc - what do we think of that? Will it take longer to dry when wrapped in muslin?

 

[WalderX]

that looks pretty kool mate. my mouth is watering lol.

Cheers dude, I'm itching to try it already but got at minimum a 2 month wait yet!

 

[WalderX]

Assuming it is anything like the other stuff I've done I'd probably aim for ~11C in your shed...and if it's hanging for curing/etc then you'll want ~75% humidity I think. You can buy an extremely cheap humidity sensor on ebay which will give you a rough idea of what it's like in there.

The muslin won't have any significant impact on the time it takes to dry/cure/etc. I'd definitely put some around it if you're planning to hang the stuff somewhere outside like that

Yep I actually just bought a combined digital thermometer/hygrometer off eBay on Tuesday for just £3 delivered! Should do the job. Also got a pack of 8 meat hooks for £2 I will screw in a loop/rail to the roof of shed to hang the meat from.
Muslin was really expensive on ebay, found a local shop doing it half the price so will grab 2 metres of that at some point.

As for the curing meat, I noticed brine collecting in the bottom of the cling film so flipped the meat over (read some recipes saying this was done every 3 days, made sense to me to get it evenly cured). Some brine leaked onto fridge shelf so have placed it into a tray now too.

Cheers for the help so far!

 

[WalderX]

**UPDATE**

So 10 days are up and it's time to unwrap the meat and add the 2nd half of the cure:

It's looking and smelling really good, as you can see the colour of the meat is richer and the whole thing has firmed up quite a bit. I then rubbed in the rest of the cure mix, again making sure I got it into all the crevices:

There was still quite a lot of the original cure visible on the meat. I then wrapped back up ready to go back in the fridge for 10 more days. I have been flipping the meat over every 3 days to ensure the meat is evenly cured.

In preparation for the air curing stage I have purchased the following kit:

Digital thermometer + hygrometer (humidity) sensor from Ebay (£3)
Pack of 8 meat hooks from Ebay (£2)
2M of Butter Muslin from C&H Fabrics (£4.50)
Butchers string (free with the meat!)

This is my shed which I intend to hang the meat in:

As you can see it is pretty clean in there, I left the thermometer in there for a few days to see if it would be suitable (the thermometer records min and max temps and humidity so I could just leave it and come back in a few days which was ideal). The humidity is good, hovering around 65-75%. during the evening and overnight the temperature is good - 8 degrees min and 14 degrees max but unfortunately during the day, the temp has hit 30 degrees. This temperature was recorded today and it wasn't particularly warm outside (about 14 tops).

So I'm thinking the shed isn't really going to be possible, unless I leave the door open during the day perhaps, but then who knows what animals might get hold of the meat!

I have moved the thermometer into a wardrobe upstairs, as it is not really used and I think the temperature could be spot on in there - I shall try a few places around the house to see where is best! I'd still like to use the shed though, just need to control the temperature - any advice would be great!

10 more days in the fridge then the meat will be soaked to wash off the remaining cure, then hung in the airing cupboard for 3 days before moving to it's final curing location!

 

[WalderX]

I guess the shed is in full sun? Somewhere shady would be a more even temp, trouble is this time of year could easily hit 20 outside so it will get to at least that.

Use an old fridge, it will be well insulated. It will keep the heat out.

Yeah it's pretty much in the sun so I guess inside will be the only way...
I've just checked the thermometer which has been in a wardrobe and it's registered 18 max and 16 min. I've now shut the wardrobe door and reset the thermometer to see if that makes a difference.

I love the idea of you hanging you meat in a random cupboard in your house. Looking forward to the time an unsuspecting guest is looking for the bathroom only to open a cupboard containing kilos and kilos of hung meat!

Hehe yeah I was thinking this people are used to this sort of thing going on in my house! I've always got some bread proving in the airing cupboard

 

[WalderX]

I see someone suggested the fridge idea already - it's definitely the way to go. Cheaper to run than an air con unit too.

You'll run into issues with humidity levels climbing a lot once you add the meat to hang. There are various ways of trying to deal with it but I found most of the cheaper suggestions didn't really work. The best bet is having a heat source (one that just cycles on and off now and again) and very very very good ventilation.

I can see how the fridge idea would work. Shame I haven't got anything.
I've got 10 more days to work something out!
Will check the cupboard later to see what the temps have been like with doors shut.

Dude you need to save me a bit of this

If it goes well there will be plenty dude!

 

[WalderX]

**UPDATE**

So last Thursday the 20 days curing stage was up so I unwrapped and washed off the remaining cure in tepid water:

I then tied it up with the butchers string just so it could be hung overnight to dry and then the next day it went into the airing cupboard for 2 days (recipe called for this, guess it kickstarts the process as it dries all the surface well).

I hung it in front of this open window upstairs overnight - I think this will be it's final drying place too because the room is not used and the window never gets direct sunlight. I can leave the window it ajar so it gets maximum airflow. I guess it is hung overnight to dry before going in the airing cupboard as putting wet meat into hot cupboard probably isn't a good idea!

I then transferred it to the airing cupboard the next day:

It is now back out of the airing cupboard and hanging in front of the window again - I will wrap it in the muslin tonight and re-string it. Will be leaving it for at least 2 months I think, but might aim for 6 or more...

 

[WalderX]

**UPDATE**

So yesterday I took the ham down, unstrung it and used a pastry brush to wash white wine vinegar over it all. A few recipes had this step, and I think it is to stop/reduce mold forming.
I then double wrapped it in muslin and re-strung it fairly simply. It's now hanging in the window again, I have also covered the window with a layer of foil as the temps were still hitting 22 degrees during the day - my thoughts are the foil should deflect the majority of the sunlight! We shall see!

 

[WalderX]

Looks good And yeah, the vinegar should help reduce mould growth. If you get any spots of it forming (check it regularly) you can give it a quick wipe with 50/50 vinegar and water to get rid.

Cheers, yeah I should have took a pic of it before wrapping in the muslin - the 2 days in the airing cupboard really gave it a good start and the whole ham has darkened nicely and its already beginning to smell like serrano ham

Interesting stuff. I'll keep an eye on this thread as I've always fancied doing some of my own curing.

Yeah hopefully it turns out nice! Probably wont have any more updates for a month or two whilst it dries.

Just got a beer brewing kit so that's on the agenda for this weekend might do a log for that if anyone is interested (probably lots of beer making threads on here I suspect?)

 

[WalderX]

Doesn't the temperature needs to be below about 15C to avoid bacteria growth?

Certainly that's what I try to keep to when hanging game birds (easy enough with the season being in the winter)

Yeah I have been advised 11 or lower but I just can't think of anywhere that I can achieve this constant now that it is summer? I should have started this at the beginning of winter! the room it is in sees max temp of 16 degrees in the day and drops to 8 or so overnight. So I might be ok?

Of course that daytime temp will go up a bit over the next few months... I will just have to keep monitoring it. If it starts to go bad on the outside then I will have to rethink and keep it cool somewhere...

 

[WalderX]

Hehe nice one I will stick some in the post!

RE the ham it is smelling really good - got it hanging under the stairs as it's just too warm anywhere else. There is a fine white mould over the meat side but I'm pretty sure this is standard and am keeping it in check with vinegar water solution every couple of weeks.

 

[WalderX]

Ah! I forgot about this thread!

Yeah all looks good - it's been hanging for about 6 weeks now, looks and smells like it should

I am planning to leave it for perhaps another month or two not sure really - it feels pretty firm but would rather wait until it's dried out more inside too.

Shall post some pics later today if I get time.

 

[WalderX]

fast turn around as usual lol

HA! Sorry chaps.

I think it is ready to eat... Will feed a bit to the cat and report back results soon

Soz about no reply to email dude will get on it!

 

[WalderX]

Please don't feed to your cat, some of the ingredients in your cure are toxic to them

I was actually joking anyway guys (I know it didn't come across as a joke), I'm sure the ham will be fine but I would never use my cats to test out something.g potentially harmful!
I'm in no rush to eat it so might give it another month or two until I try it anyway.

I didn't realise garlic was bad for cats - with noting so thanks for letting me know!

 

[WalderX]

Interesting - I wasn't aware that it was anywhere near as bad as it seems to be based on my quick googling just now

Me neither, I treat my cats a bit like dogs in that they get leftover scraps of dinner which they love (only bits of meat really as you know, cats don't show interest in many vegetables etc!) - they have certainly eaten things with garlic in before, neither of them have ever been ill and actually they are both extremely healthy. That said I shall look into it and be more careful in future if necessary!

 

[WalderX]

**IMPORTANT HAM RELATED UPDATE!!**

So I bet all of you never thought you would hear from me again!

Well I decided to try the ham last night and all is well, VERY well actually!
I have had it in a box in the fridge for the past 6 months or so to try quell the mould that grows on the outside. I took it out the box and washed it down with a fresh pan scourer/sponge and cold water. Once all the mould was gently scrubbed off I left it to dry for a few hours. I then sliced into it...

Certainly looks the part! The texture is perfect, sort of jammy and not too dry, nice and chewy but not tough. The flavour is actually amazing - better than I can ever have hoped, real depth of flavour with garlic and juniper definitely noticeable. It's very much like a Serrano ham but without blowing my own trumpet too loud it's much nicer than many Spanish hams I have tried! It's now 8 months old so I think waiting has really paid off...

So I say go ahead and give it a go if you have the patience!