What do you like better, wrapping presents or unwrapping presents? Earlier in December, we dug our hams out of their month-long salt cure to complete the next step in making homemade salt-cured ham. This is one present I’ll have to wait until the summer to unwrap! When I look back on the pre-salt photos, I’m amazed how the hams colour and texture have changed!
Following the remaining instructions from Charcuturie: The craft of salting, smoking, and curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, we rinsed the surface salt off the hams, dried them, and put them down on clean tea towels.
Then, Maria and Mum rubbed all the exposed flesh with lard. This preserves the meat and seals it from air.
Then we covered the lard with whole black peppercorns, to keep any squirrels or birdies or other possible interloper from taking an interest in them while they’re hung semi-outdoors.
Finally, we rolled the hams in cheese cloth—one sheet wrapped around from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock, and then another from 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock.
We also used cheesecloth to create a cross-patterned knot from which to tie these beasts. And later that night, Jim was kind enough to get up on a ladder and hang them from some ceiling hooks in their egg processing garage, where there’s plenty of cool air flow. Obviously they’re no beauty queens, but you know they will be in about six months!
looking forward to our first slice!
I KNOW! The anticipation is killing me!