Ham Brining 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.

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.