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This Dry-Cured Ham is deeply savory, seasoned with juniper, garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage, and honey. Thinly sliced this ham is worthy of featuring centerstage on a Charcuterie platter. It also makes a great ham sandwich, omelet, and quiche. Diced, it is perfect for salads, soups, stews, and sauces.
During my years at The Farm Table Restaurant and Charcuterie, this was our “house ham”. We used it all over the menu: brunch, lunch, and dinner. Tuesday was the day the restaurant was closed and the charcuterie was made. The day started by cutting pork. Usually, around 300lbs of pork shoulder would be carefully trimmed and sorted. 50lbs of coppa (aka the “money muscle” in BBQ competition lingo, or “pork collar”) would be removed from the rest of the pork shoulders for hams and the remaining would be turned into sausage and pâté. We rubbed the hams in the dry-cure mix and packed them tightly into a 50lb bin. Midway through the week, we would rotate them into another bin so the hams on top would be on the bottom. At the same time and in the same manner, we would rotate the pork bellies we were curing for bacon. When Tuesday came around again, we would cook the hams and bacon started last week and start the next batch. For 10 years, curing and cooking ham provided the bookend of my week.
Making ham at home is an entirely different experience. Divorced from the hours of standing to cut meat, and the endless rearranging of heavy meat bines in an overcrowded walk-in refrigerator, curing a single ham at home is an easy, quick and enjoyable experience. A fun DIY kitchen project that takes up minimal (active) time and creates minimal mess. My recipe has been modified for the home kitchen. Some notable changes to the process: instead of curing the ham in large bins that need to be swapped out and cleaned (a challenge in itself with a small home kitchen sink), you can cure a single ham in a vacuum seal bag or gallon size zip lock back and simply flip it over once as it cures in the fridge. I also allow more time for forming the pellicle/ drying the surface of the ham before smoking it (or cooking it) because there’s less rush at home.
WHAT’S THE COPPA?
The coppa is a 2-4 lb well-marbled cylindrical muscle group within the pork butt (which is actually a shoulder). Pork butt is one of the cheapest cuts of pork. It also makes the best sausage, pâté, and ground pork. You could use this cure mix and general process to make ham from any cut of pork including pork loin (Canadian bacon) or the leg. The larger the piece of meat though, the longer the cure time will need to be.
Of all the cuts, the coppa is my favorite. It’s the perfect mix between fat and meat, has the best flavor and texture when dry-cured and smoked, is an ideal size and fits nicely on a meat slicer. It’s also one of the most economical cuts at $2-$5/lb (California prices), which beats the $14/lb for deli ham at the grocery store.
This is a good video showing how to find and remove the coppa.
Do You Really Need the Curing Salt (Nitrates)
The actual amount of sodium nitrite used in this product is 200 parts per million – a very small amount. This ingredient adds to the rosy hue of ham and bacon and in my opinion, makes a better-tasting product by preventing oxidation. It also extends shelf life. In some products, sodium nitrite plays an important role in food safety by preventing the growth of clostridium botulinum (the bacteria responsible for botulism). Botulism grows in non-acidic anaerobic (oxygen-free environments) at room temperature. Places like a sealed canning jar, a vacuum-sealed bag, or the inside of a sausage. However, it does not add much to food safety for this product as you are curing it under refrigerated temperatures and cooking it and cooling it relatively quickly so if you would like to omit it, go ahead. Just be aware, that bacon and ham made without it will not be pink (or quite as tasty).
There are 2 types of curing salt. Curing Salt No. 1 (Prague Powder #1, DC Curing Salt #1, InstaCure #1, etc) is used for cured and cooked products. Think duck confit, cooked ham, bacon, Canadian bacon. Curing Salt No. 2 (Prague Powder #2, DC Curing Salt #2, InstaCure #1 etc) is used for cured, air-dried meat like salami, capicola, and pancetta. Curing Salt is died pink so as not to be mistaken for regular salt. Sometimes it is referred to casually by meat processors as Pink Salt. This is not to be confused with Himalayan Pink Salt (which sometimes comes up on google if you search for curing salt). Himalayan Pink Salt will not cure your meat. For a detailed discussion on all the types of salt, check out this post Salt: The Most Important Ingredient in Your Kitchen.
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Dry-Cured Ham Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 6+ servings 1x
- Category: Charcuterie
- Method: Cured and Smoked
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For every pound of ham, combine in a mixing bowl:
10 grams (3 Tablespoons) salt
10 grams (1 scant Tablespoon) brown sugar
1.2 g (scant 1/4 teaspoon) curing salt (SEE NOTE BELOW)
1 gram (3 each) peppercorns
1 juniper berry, crushed
1 garlic clove crushed
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 3-inch sprig fresh rosemary
1 fresh sage leaf
Honey for drizzling later.
Instructions
Rub this mixture all over the uncured ham and drizzle lightly with honey.
Place the ham with any of the excess Cure Mixture that didn’t stick to it in a vacuum seal bag and vacuum seal tightly. If you do not have a vacuum sealer, place the ham in the mixing bowl and cover. Transfer this to the refrigerator.
Every couple of days, flip the ham over. If the ham is not vacuum sealed, rub it down with the liquid brine that has formed in the bowl.
After 6 days if vacuum-sealed or 8 days if not, remove the cured ham from the cure. Rinse it well and place it in a bowl of clean water for 30 minutes. Change the water once or twice during that time. Pat the cured meat dry and leave it uncovered in the fridge for another 1-2 days to form the pellicle and allow the salt concentration to reach equilibrium throughout the meat.
Heat your smoker (or oven) to 200 F. Cook to an internal temperature of 140-145 F. Remove from the smoker (or oven) and let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Slice it only after it has cooled all the way down.
Notes
Kitchen Scale is Highly Recommended
Though I gave volume measurements I highly recommend using a scale and sticking with the weight measurements for these ingredients. Volume measurements are approximate. If making a 2-3 lb ham, the margin of error will be minimal. However, the margin of error between the volume and weight increases the more you scale the recipe up. For a 10 or 20 lb batch, you could be off significantly on your curing salt. Too much curing salt is toxic.
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