Ham Cure Method(one less salty)

[Pat]

Most pork products don't last too long around me whether in the freezer, meat drawer, or wherever so long as I can find them.

$30 seems like a bargain to me if they do a good job!

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Bird]

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$30 seems like a bargain to me if they do a good job!

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That's a fact. I sure wouldn't want to tackle that job for $30. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[Goldchaser]

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That's a fact. I sure wouldn't want to tackle that job for $30.


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Neither would I, I get to do it for nothing. &lt;sigh&gt; Didnt do my hog this weekend as planned. My son forgot to move it to a seperate pen and take it off feed the day before. (Maybe on purpose?)
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So now its rescheduled for next weekend. Actually I think it will be better since it will be colder then. The only thing I am dreading is skinning the doggone thing. Am looking forward to some fresh pork though. Am going to try to cure one ham at least and of course the bacon. Our guesthouse will be unheated the next month for the most part so I figure that will work perfect for an area to cure them.

Someone mentioned Storeys Guide to raising pigs. Its not a bad read. I picked it up a few years ago when we decided to start raising our own hogs again. Its a good book for someone who hasnt ever raised hogs on a small scale and for those whom its been a looooonnnnggg time since raising any. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Not what I would call the definative guide, but it does have a fair amount of usefull info in an easy to understand format.

Dennis

[GregMVT]

Here's the link I'd mentioned earlier Brining pork We couldn't taste the salt when we did the picnic shoulder. This Sunday is the big day for the pigs. I talked to the guy doing it last week. He said it should take about 2 hours to do all 5 of them. I'm not sure how he can do it but for the price it'll be good even if it takes longer! I'm planning on taping them this Saturday to get an idea of their live weight.

Greg

[greggh]

I know that it has been some time since any response to the post, but I am new and I saw the post which interested me.

When I was a kid and butchered our own pigs. My grandad would get the Morton's sugar cure and put the ham in a box covered up when the curing sugar (which is more like salt than sugar). He would leave it there for a long time, unfortunately I don't remember how long, but it seemed like a couple of weeks. Then he would hang it in the smoke house. After smoking he would then wrap the ham in a burlap sack and leave hanging in the smoke house until he felt that all of the moisture had drained from the meat. There were always puddles of what looked like fat on the floor under the hanging meat. I remember that I enjoyed the taste of the meat but I don't remember if it was salty or not. I do remember that there was no need to refrigerate the meat once it was cured, One could just slice off a piece and eat it without cooking. I didn't do that but my dad did it several times.

Sorry for the long post, but it just brought back good memories of my childhood. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

Sounds much like our home cured bacon on the farm. But we did use salt and there was no need to refrigerate the bacon. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[eccentricfarmer]

Just wanted to revive this for a bit because it sounded so interesting. My experience was with 2 pot belly males (intact) that got pretty disruptive and the decision was made for them to 'disappear'. I did the 1/2 the shooting and all of the gutting and cutting. Did not know much then (sometimes less now) but managed to get some meat off. Was a little wild tasting but not bad. No smoking or anything just eating.

Now get it from the farm (which delivers to the butcher). About $180 for the pig and depending what you want, about $200 for processing. That stuff is just the best ever had!! Waay better than something out of a grocery (box) store and does not need special considerations so it can look edible in the meat counter. Why people are not DEMANDING better and more local food is beyond me. Lamb shipped from New Zealand and Australia is not the same as something picked up from to back yard or slightly further. Nothing against them, but with all the talk of carbon footprint and such it seems like that would be lots friendlier!!

Just my rant.