CountryByNet.com Forums :: Ham Cure Method(one less salty)

I've moved over from the TBN board for a more home related question. I hope someone can help.

For decades, I've been curing hams using the salt rub method with great success. It's the same method my grandfather has used since the 1920's.

We usually butcher around Christmas, cure the Hams the day after slaughter, and start the smoking process the first week of Feb. I use green hickory and wild cherry wood and try to get a total of 40 or 50 hours of smoke on the hams. The cure I have been using is salt, pepper and brown sugar with a dry rub method. This results is a Ham very similar to Smithfield Hams. When it's time to enjoy the ham, I clean off all the salt cure, remove the skin and excess fat, slice the ham into two equal size pieces, and soak in cold water (inside the refrigerator) for 3 days, changing the water daily. (This is to remove the salt from the meat.) The resulting meat still has a high salt content, and while I (and most of my older relatives) enjoy 'Country Cured' Hams, my wife and children do not care for the salty taste. In the past, i've tried soaking the meat longer (to try to reduce the salt content), but it's still too salty.

What I'm looking for, is a cure that will yield a ham similar to delly style baked ham, or a pit ham flavor. I'm thinking of trying a brine method this year, but was wondering if anyone out there has a method.

There are lots of brine methods on line, but I'd like to know if anyone has actually tried one.

Thanks.

Post Extras