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Dry Salt Cure For A 14-Lb Ham

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      Title: DRY SALT CURE FOR A 14-LB HAM
 Categories: Pork
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      1    Ham (English hams weigh
           -roughly 14 to 20 lbs)
      1 oz Brown sugar
    1/2 oz Saltpeter (from the
           -drugstore)
      2 lb Rough salt
 
  The same method may be used for bacon.  A leg of pork severed from the
  whole side is called a ham.  When the leg is left attached to the
  side, and severed only after the cure, it is called a gammon.
  
  You will need a salting pan.  Leave the ham unskinned. Rub in the
  sugar and the saltpeter first, paying particular attention to the
  bone ends. Then rub on half the salt and put the ham to rest on slats
  in a slating trough (best if it has a channel for the brine to drain
  out). Rub in the rest of the salt at the end of a week. Leave the ham
  to take the salt for a total of 3 weeks (depending on the size of the
  ham), turning regularly. Then hang the ham to dry in a draft of warm
  air for a day or two. If you would like to smoke your own, you will
  need a barrel smoker or a smoking shed. Light the fire with kindling
  first, then feed it with beech, birch, or oak sawdust. Smoke over the
  open end of a smoker barrel. Keep the fire smoldering constantly - it
  is not good for the cure to allow changes in temperature.
  
  Twenty-four hours in the smoke shoudl suffice for a ham; 6 hours is
  enough for a side of bacon.  York hams are then hung to mature for 2
  to 3 months in a tgemperature and humidity controlled room.
  
  Time:  3 weeks plus.
  
  From:  "The Old World Kitchen - The Rich Tradition of European Peasant
  Cooking" by Elisabeth Luard, ISBN 0-553-05219-5 Posted by: Karin
  Brewer, Cooking Echo, 7/92
 
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