Sugar Cured Ham Food

SUGAR-BAKED HAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large roasting pan with foil; fit roasting rack inside. Place ham, flat side down, on a large piece of parchment or waxed paper. With a sharp paring knife, lightly score layer of fat on top of ham in a diamond pattern (do not cut into meat). Combine sugars.
• Evenly brush top of ham with mustard. Press sugars onto mustard to coat evenly.
• Place on roasting rack, coated side up. Roast until warm throughout, about 1 hour. Raise heat to 450 degrees; roast until crust is crunchy, about 15 minutes more.

SUGAR CURE FOR PORK, BACON, HAM

Steps:

• Double this mix as much as you have meat.
• Weigh down meat so that it remains covered.
• Be sure to boil plent of water day before so it is good and cold.
• Put your meat in wood barrels or vinegar stone crocks.
• Leave small boned meat chunks submerged for 2 days.
• Bacon submerged for 4 days.
• Cut hams and shoulders 14 days.
• Whole hams 21 days.
• Storage area must be extremely cold, but not freezing to prevent fermentation.
• After submersion, run thick thread through corner of meats and hang in smokehouse.

SUGAR CURED HAM

Steps:

• We raise hogs and salt or sugar cure our hams and bacon. You will need FRESH hams, preferably from a salughter house as these are fresher than those available at grocery stores. You will need the above ingredients FOR EACH JOINT (local name for ham or shoulder.) To cure two hams, double the ingredients. Mix all above and rub well into meat, filling hole in end of the bone. Wrap in brown paper and place in a cloth sack. Hang hock (small end) down. Time will cure it. Additional details: Should be hung in a cool (around 40 degrees) place. Thats why before refrigeration hogs were only killed in the winter. If you are curing without refrigeration, try to do it when the temperature will remain from 35 to 50 degrees for at least the first three days. After that its okay if it goes up or down more. You can hang the meat in an old refrigerator to cure it or if you are curing outside and the temp goes haywire, you can move it to the refrig. Needless to day, if you are hanging the meat in an out building or garage, hang it high enough to keep it out of the reach of dogs. They do love fresh ham. The ham should hang for at least 6 month (I prefer a year) before being cut. If you want to smoke the ham, it is best to wait about three months from hanging before doing it. Be aware that you may loose a ham. By that I do not mean that someone will steal it, though, I suppose that is possible. I mean that it may ruin. Thats one of the chances you take. Weve lost a few but most of them have been salted down rather than sugar cured. It is possible to sugar cure bacon in your refrigerator using Morton Sugar Cure (using recipe on bag) and then smoke it. Its GREAT! Much better than what you buy in the store. Yes, I can just hear all the health food people groaning at all this talk of ham and bacon and smoke. Ah, cholesteral (sp?) and salt and cancer causing smoke! May not be good for you but 99.9% of all taste buds will vote for it! Virginia Petty Kentucky Hog Farmer

SUGAR BAKED HAM

Steps:

• Put a roasting rack inside a roasting pan that has been lined with foil.
• Place the ham, flat side down, on waxed paper.
• Making sure not to cut into the meat, lightly score the layer of fat on top of the ham in a diamond pattern,.
• Combine the granulated and brown sugars; set aside.
• Brush the top of the ham with mustard; coat evenly.
• Press the sugars onto the mustard making sure to coat the ham evenly.
• Place the coated side of the ham up on the roasting rack.
• Roast at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until heated through evenly.
• Increase the temperature to 450 degrees and roast the ham until the crust is crunchy (should take about 15 minutes).

HOME-CURED HOLIDAY HAM

Steps:

• Place kosher salt, brown sugar, pickling spice, and pink salt in a container large enough to hold the brine and the ham.
• Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and pour over the brine ingredients; whisk to dissolve. Pour in 1 gallon fresh cold water to cool down the mixture.
• Score the skin side of the pork roast with a sharp knife. Cut into the fat beneath the skin but not into the meat. Score about 1 inch apart, then score in the opposite direction to get the classic diamond-shaped pattern.
• Lower scored roast into the cooled brine, skin side up. Use a plate to weigh down the roast so that it cures fully submerged in the liquid. Refrigerate for 1 day for every 2 pounds of pork (for a 7 pound roast, cure for at least 2 1/2 days). Turn the roast over halfway through the brining process.
• Remove roast from brining liquid. Discard the brining liquid and transfer the roast back to the brining container. Cover the roast with fresh cold water to rinse off some of the salt. Depending on how salty you want your ham, you can soak it for just a few minutes or overnight. Remove roast from the water and blot dry with paper towels.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Add a cup of water to a roasting pan with 2 whole star anise. Place roast on a rack in the roasting pan.
• Roast until ham reaches an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees F, about 2 hours. Ham will not be fully cooked at this point. If water has nearly evaporated, add a splash more. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Continue to roast until skin is browned and crispy and ham reaches an internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees F.
• To make the optional glaze, mix the mustard, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and salt together in a bowl. Brush glaze on the ham at this point, not before. Return roast to oven for about 5 minutes to crisp it even further.