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Wild hog hams done right

8,542 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Caddis Farms
Caddis Farms
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I had the opportunity to pop a few hogs a couple of weeks ago. 1 was a boar and the other was a large sow.
I took the deboned hams and cured them in a wet brine/cure for 8 days. The hams were then slow smoked at 180 degrees for a few hours and then 225 degrees until the internal temp reached 150.
The hams came out great and are very similar to commercial ham. They are a little tough but not terrible.













jaseev
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Those look awesome!! I would like to hear a little more detail on the process and measurments of items used/needed .
Caddis Farms
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Appreciate it. I looked all over for a good recipe/method for the cure. I ended up with this concoction which worked well for me.

Ham Cure

2 1/4 cups coarse Kosher salt
2 cups brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons pink curing salt #1
1/4 cup molasses
6 quarts water
25 whole cloves

1/2 the water and add all ingredients. Heat over medium heat until granules are dissolved. Combine mixture with remaining water. Chill and then add raw ham (it needs to be completely submerged). Place a bowl or plate on top of ham to hold it under the wet brine. Cure for 7-10 days depending on the thickness of the ham.
Remove ham, rinse throughly and allow to air dry. Put ham into a smoke sack and cold smoke for 4 hours. Bring temperature up slow until internal ham temperate is 150 degrees.




tsuag10
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Looks great! Did you keep them refrigerated during the 7-10 day cure period?
Caddis Farms
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Appreciate it. The hams were in a food grade tub in the refrigerator during the curing process.
BurrOak
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Not OP, but for reference, this is the basic cure for curing meats like this. You need the weight of the meat you are planning to cure. It's best to use a digital scale.

Basic cure (measured by weight):
0.025% 0.25% pink curing salt #1 (1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat)
2.5% kosher salt
3% brown or regular sugar (this one can vary to your taste)

From there, you can dress it up however you like, i.e. garlic, black pepper, etc.
tsuag10
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Caddis Black Angus said:

Appreciate it. The hams were in a food grade tub in the refrigerator during the curing process.
HTownAg98
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BurrOak said:

Not OP, but for reference, this is the basic cure for curing meats like this. You need the weight of the meat you are planning to cure. It's best to use a digital scale.

Basic cure (measured by weight):
0.025% pink curing salt #1 (1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat)
2.5% kosher salt
3% brown or regular sugar (this one can vary to your taste)

From there, you can dress it up however you like, i.e. garlic, black pepper, etc.

I think you're off a decimal point on the percentage for the cure. The standard Insta-Cure #1 ratio is 4 ounces per 100 pounds of meat, or 4 ounces/1,600 ounces of meat, which is 0.0025, or 0.25%.
BurrOak
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Yeah, you're right. It is 0.25%
tsuag10
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0.25 lbs per 100 lbs of meat is correct for sausages.

For immersion cures (also called a "cover pickle") you have to take into consideration the volume of the water.
Amazing ribs has a nice calculator and lots of good, science-based information on this: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/salting-brining-curing-and-injecting/curing-meats-safely

The cured color of OP's ham looks great, so I think his
method worked just fine. As he says on the Amazing Ribs link, there is a range of 100 - 200 ppm of ingoing nitrite that is sufficient - but not above - the recommended level.
HTownAg98
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That's why I do equalization cures and dry cure everything. Then you don't have to worry about salt concentration.
tsuag10
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AgGrad99
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That ground looked pretty dang muddy. I bet that was a fun one to load up.
Caddis Farms
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It was dirty but we were able to pull right up to it to load. Head shot helped out since it wasn't flopping and getting completely muddy.
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