Amish Smoked Ham Brine Recipes

HAM BRINING RECIPE

Steps:

• The sugar cuts the severity of the salt and adds a nice flavor. You can use any natural sweetener that is water soluble for your ham.
• Most sweeteners have the same level of sweetness when they are measured, but can vary a lot by weight.
• One-third of a cup of sugar would cut the severity and you would most likely not taste the sweetness.
• From one cup to about a cup and a half, you will taste the sweetness and using a cup and three quarters, you would definitely taste the sweetness.
• Brine-cured meat should have 120-200 parts per million of nitrate going into the meat.
• For a home-cured ham, it is recommended to do 120PPM.
• For brining, the 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of meat cannot be used.
• How much you are going to inject per pound of meat will depend on how much nitrite you are going to need per gallon.
• You will need less nitrite with the more brine you inject. This is because you are pumping more into the ham itself.
• When pumping 10%, it means you are pumping 10% of the ham's weight.
• Pumping 20% means you need 50% less nitrite in the brine.
• This is because you are now pumping in twice as much.
• Injecting more brine into the meat will not affect the sugar and salt levels.
• The nitrite will be locked into the meat and after a few days the sugar and salt levels will push through and equalize along with the brine.
• Use distilled or filtered water.
• If you must use tap water, first boil the water to get rid of the chlorine and kill any pathogens.
• Let it cool to room temperature before you begin to mix the brine.
• Make sure you do not add the nitrite cure until after your water has cooled.
• Simmer the spices that you want to use and let cool.
• Mix the brine and spices together and make sure you count the water used in the spices when measuring your water count.
• Remove your ham from the brine. Put it on a wire rack and throw out the brine. It cannot be used again.
• Dry off your ham and let air dry by a fan until the ham feels sticky.
• There is no time limit on this process.
• You will just have to check it often to see if it is tacky.
• That tacky film is called pellicle.
• It is a layer of protein that will allow the smoke to stick to your brined ham.
• Once it is tacky, score your ham in both directions.
• Add your spices and smoke your ham in whatever manner your family likes their ham.
• It can be hung in netting in your smoker or you can do it on the grill.
• If using a grill, you will want to put a good-sized chunk of wood on top of 6 or 8 charcoal briquettes to create the smoke.
• Do not soak the wood first.
• This will give you at least 2 to 3 hours of cooking time and great smoke.

HONEY-CURED, HICKORY-SMOKED SHOULDER HAM

Steps:

• Make the brine: In a large pot, place 2 1/2 quarts water, the salt, honey, brown sugar and Prague powder. Bring to a boil over high, stirring until the salt, honey and sugar are dissolved.
• Make the spice bundle: Tie the cloves, allspice berries, bay leaves, lemon zest and peppercorns in a piece of cheesecloth.
• Stir the spice bundle and another 2 1/2 quarts ice water into the brine, remove from heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
• While the brine cools, prepare the ham: Using paper towels, blot the pork shoulder dry on all sides. Using a sharp knife, score the ham in a crosshatch pattern, cutting through the skin but not through the meat and spacing the cuts 1 1/2 inches apart. (This is optional, as you'll remove the skin, but it facilitates injecting and gives the ham a striking appearance.)
• Measure out 2 cups brine and place in a deep measuring cup. Place the ham in a roasting pan. Draw the brine into a marinade injector and inject it deep into the ham all over, inserting the needle at 1 1/2-inch intervals and drawing it out slowly as you depress the plunger, until the brine starts to squirt out of the surface of the ham.
• Place the ham in a large pot or food-safe bucket with a lid, or 3-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the brine and flavorings (plus any brine in the roasting pan). If using a plastic bag, tightly seal, squeezing out any air, and place the bag in the roasting pan to corral any leaks. Brine the ham in the refrigerator for 3 days, turning the ham twice a day so it cures evenly.
• Pour the brine into a large pot and set aside. Remove the ham from its pot or bag and transfer it to a roasting pan. Using the marinade injector, re-inject the ham with brine (using 2 cups again, or more, if you can get more in), inserting the needle at 1 1/2-inch intervals. Return the ham and all the brine to the bag. (You can use a fresh bag, if you wish.) Continue brining the ham in the refrigerator for another 3 days, turning twice a day so it brines evenly. When ready for smoking, the meat will take on a pinkish hue.
• Drain the ham in a large colander, discarding the brine. Rinse the ham well with cold water, drain again and blot dry with paper towels. Place it on a wire rack over a roasting pan and let it dry for 2 to 3 hours in the refrigerator.
• If using a charcoal grill, set it up for indirect grilling and heat it to 250 degrees. If using wood chips, soak them in water to cover for 30 minutes, then drain. If using wood chunks, there is no need to soak them. (With a kettle grill, use less charcoal than normal to obtain this low temperature.) If using a smoker, heat it to 250 degrees following the manufacturer's instructions.
• Place the ham on the grate, fat-side up, using indirect heat, and add 1 1/2 cups wood chips or 2 wood chunks to the coals. Smoke the ham until handsomely browned and cooked through. (The internal temperature will be about 160 degrees.) This typically takes about 7 hours, but you may need more or less time, depending on your ham, smoker and the weather. Add wood chips (about 1 1/2 cups) or chunks (1 large or 2 medium) per hour to the embers to maintain a constant flow of smoke. Rotate your ham a few times during cooking so that it browns evenly, and drape it loosely with foil if it seems to be darkening too much.
• Transfer the ham to a cutting board and let it cool for 20 minutes. Pull off the skin. (If you're feeling ambitious, you can fry the skin in 350-degree oil to make smoke-flavored cracklings.)
• Thinly slice the ham across the grain and serve. You can serve the ham hot, at room temperature, or chilled. Refrigerated, it will keep for at least a week.

HOME-CURED HOLIDAY HAM

Steps:

• Place kosher salt, brown sugar, pickling spice, and pink salt in a container large enough to hold the brine and the ham.
• Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and pour over the brine ingredients; whisk to dissolve. Pour in 1 gallon fresh cold water to cool down the mixture.
• Score the skin side of the pork roast with a sharp knife. Cut into the fat beneath the skin but not into the meat. Score about 1 inch apart, then score in the opposite direction to get the classic diamond-shaped pattern.
• Lower scored roast into the cooled brine, skin side up. Use a plate to weigh down the roast so that it cures fully submerged in the liquid. Refrigerate for 1 day for every 2 pounds of pork (for a 7 pound roast, cure for at least 2 1/2 days). Turn the roast over halfway through the brining process.
• Remove roast from brining liquid. Discard the brining liquid and transfer the roast back to the brining container. Cover the roast with fresh cold water to rinse off some of the salt. Depending on how salty you want your ham, you can soak it for just a few minutes or overnight. Remove roast from the water and blot dry with paper towels.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Add a cup of water to a roasting pan with 2 whole star anise. Place roast on a rack in the roasting pan.
• Roast until ham reaches an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees F, about 2 hours. Ham will not be fully cooked at this point. If water has nearly evaporated, add a splash more. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Continue to roast until skin is browned and crispy and ham reaches an internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees F.
• To make the optional glaze, mix the mustard, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and salt together in a bowl. Brush glaze on the ham at this point, not before. Return roast to oven for about 5 minutes to crisp it even further.

AMISH SMOKED HAM BRINE

Steps:

• Put bring in crocks or large plastic pail and put in ham. put a plate and weight on top to hold ham under the brine.
• Let ham chunks cure 10 days or bacon only 4 days.
• Stir every day. Rinse three times after it is cured, before using it.
• Cold pack 1 hour without any liquid. May freeze instead.