Another Practice with a Home Cured Ham and a Veggie Roast

Earlier in the year, I gave making a home cured ham a whirl.  We liked the taste, but I was a bit unsatisfied as the cure did not make it to the middle of the ham.  So, for Easter, I cured three, five pound fresh hams and took a different approach.

Before coating the outside of the ham with the sugar/salt mix, we made a small batch of brine for injecting.  It was 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar, 1/2 cup of sea salt, and 1 cup of water...

We brought it to a boil, placed in a pint canning jar, and let sit in the refrigerator all day long to cool down.  Once chilled, I injected into the deepest part of all three hams...

Then we covered with a 50/50 mix of sea salt and turbinado sugar, covered with foil, and placed in the refrigerator...

After three days, we removed from the refrigerator, drain the water that had been pulled from the pork by the sugar/salt mixture, and reapplied the sugar/salt mix...

Look at all of the water that was pulled out of the meat in just three days.  Impressive if you ask me.

Then, after eight total days of cure time, I rinsed the hams thoroughly with cold water to remove the excess salt and sugar...

Then I covered with ice to sit over night and remove more of the salt/sugar mix...

The next day, I fired up the smoker and removed the racks inside so that I could hang my hams for smoking.  While I was waiting on the smoker to come up to temperature, 200 F, I prepared my hams for smoking.  I removed them from the ice and patted them dry.  Then I prepared my ham stockings...

I purchased these ham stockings so that I could smoke hams, but I can't wait to use them to make chicken stock.  Just put your chicken and veggies in one of these and you should eliminate the hassle of straining the broth.  But, I digress...

After the hams were placed in their Easter stockings, Hope tied them to the wooden hangers.  I used untreated pine for my hangers, and had pre-seasoned them in the smoker.  Don't use treated wood as you may leach chemicals from the wood into your meat.  Bad news...  Once tied, I placed the ham into the smoker with a 50:50 mix of hickory and apple smoking wood in the ash pan...

After three hours...

I took the hams to an internal temperature of 150 F.  Then, I pulled two of the hams to chill and freeze for later in the year.  With the third ham, I ramped the temperature of the smoker up to 350 F and brought the internal temperature of the ham to 165 F for dinner.  Here are the two hams I pulled at 150 F...

For a side dish, I made a brussel sprout and asparagus roast (yes, fresh asparagus is back!)

Quick and simple...

Brussel Sprout and Asparagus Roast

1 lb fresh brussel sprouts, cleaned, trimmed, and cut in half
1 lb fresh asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 large sweet onion, diced
1 tbsp garlic
Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste
Olive oil for coating
Parmesan Cheese to cover

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl with enough olive oil to coat thoroughly.  Spread in the bottom of a 9 x 12 pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil.  Cover with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.  Place foil over top to seal and place in a 350 F oven.  Bake for 30 minutes and remove foil.  Cook 15 more minutes or until the cheese and veggies are starting to brown.

Once the ham was done, I brought it inside, let rest for 15 minutes, then sliced...

Served with the brussel sprout/asparagus roast and some homemade scalloped potatoes...

We really do like home curing the ham.  It allows us to make a ham with great smoky flavor and a lower salt content.  It is still a work on progress, but we are closer to a recipe that will make us happy.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill