Curing and smoking a ham.

[dogcop1us]

Here is a recipe for curing raw hams.

Pop's simple curing brine:

 

 for every 1 gallon of water, add:

 

1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet)

1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda®

1 cup brown sugar or Splenda® brown sugar mix

1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt

 

stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over meat, inject if necessary to cure from inside-out as well as outside-in

 

weight down with a partially filled 1 qt or 1 gal. ziploc bag or bags to keep meat immersed

 

Curing times vary with meat, but generally overnight to 2-3 days for chickens and turkeys, 8-10 days buckboard bacon, 10-14 days belly bacon, pork shoulder, whole butts, 3-4 weeks whole hams, 10-20 days corned beef (fresh beef roasts, briskets, rolled rib roasts, etc.)   If whole muscle is more than 2" thick, then inject so it can cure i/o as well as o/i, and/or in and around bone structures, etc.

 

You can add any other flavorings you'd like, this is just the basic curing brine. 1 heaping tablespoon of cure is about 1 ounce.  The maximum concentration allowed safely is 3.84 ounces per 1 gallon of brine (24 lbs.per 100 gallons: 16 oz. x 24 = 384 ounces, 1/100th is 3.84 ounces).  You can experiment with different concentrations as long as you keep it between those parameters:

[1tongarden]

Looks real real good.

[bigcountry1009]

Do you refrigerate while curing?

[dogcop1us]

Do you refrigerate while curing?

Yes keep it refrigerated, and make sure the meat stays submerged in the brine.