Homemade Ham Recipe

How To Cook Homemade Ham Recipe

Homemade Ham Recipe - Ham is pork that has been preserved through salting, smoking, or wet curing. It was traditionally made only from the hind leg of swine, and referred to that specific cut of pork. Ham is made around the world, including a number of highly coveted regional specialties, such as Westphalian ham and Jamón serrano. Technically a processed meat, "ham" may refer to a product which has been through mechanical re-forming. The precise nature of meat termed "ham" is controlled in a number of areas, often by statute, including the United States and European Union. In addition, numerous ham products have specific geographical naming protection, such as Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto Toscano PDO in Europe, and Smithfield ham in the US.

Christmas is weeks ahead and most us thinks that Christmas ham is the star of the celebration but some who can afford to buy a whole lechon still thinks that it is the most important part of celebrating Christmas. Still, not everyone can afford to buy ham or it is the last thing on their list. But for those who have the patience of making your own ham, a home made ham will save you money and if you are a business minded person, you can also sell it to your friends or neighbors at a cheaper price.

 Homemade Ham Recipe INGREDIENTS:

• 3 kilos (pigue or hita) pig’s leg without the bones; select one with the skin and fat intact
• 9 tbsps sugar
• 8 tbsps salt
• 1-1/2 tsps msg or vetsin
• 2 tsps prague powder (instead of saltpeter or salitre)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Rub these seasonings well into the meat. Set aside the seasoned meat in aglass bowl. Cover and refrigerate for one day.
3. Tie the ham tightly into a ball with string (I use cotton crochet string). Remove/Drain the meat juices that were left in the glass bowl and set aside for injecting.
4. Using a huge syringe (you can buy the largest syringe at Mercury drugstore for less than 20 pesos), inject the flavored meat juice all around the ham in small doses.
5. Set the ham aside in the glass bowl (covered) inside the refrigerator. Repeat the injecting process every day until no juices remain.
6. Keep the ham inside a plastic bag in the freezer for a month or more.

To cook the ham

1. Add enough pineapple juice to cover the ham at about 3/4’s level (not quite to the top of the ham).
2. Add the following: brown sugar ( just enough to sweeten the pineapple juice mixture), bay leaves, crushed garlic.
3. Cook the mixture in a heavy, teflon-type pot over a low fire until the meatbecomes tender. Watch out that the meat doesn’t get burned. You can prevent over-browning by turning the meat from time to time.
4. Cool the meat and slice into pieces.

Additional Information About Homemade Ham 

Methods 

Salting - Traditional dry cure hams may use only salt as the curative agent, such as with San Daniele or Parma hams, although this is comparatively rare. This process involves cleaning the raw meat, covering it in salt for about one month for Parma ham while it is gradually pressed – draining all the blood. In Tuscan Ham Prosciutto Toscano PDO different spices and herbs from garlic to black pepper, from juniper to laurel are added to salt during this step. The hams are then washed and hung in a dark, temperature-regulated place until dry. It is then hung to air for another period of time.

Smoking - Ham can also be preserved through the smoking method, in which the meat is placed in a smokehouse or equivalent to be cured by the action of smoke.The main flavor compounds of smoked ham are guaiacol, and its 4-, 5-, and 6-methyl derivatives as well as 2,6-dimethylphenol. These compounds are produced by thermal breakdown  combustion of lignin, a major constituent of wood used in the smokehouse.

Wet curing - Wet curing also known as brining involves the immersion of the meat in a brine, sometimes with other ingredients such as sugar also added for flavour. Meat is submerged in the brine for around 3–14 days, during which time the meat needs to be kept submerged, and the brine mixture agitated periodically to prevent separation of the ingredients. Source: Homemade Ham 

Source  Recipe: MixPH 

Image Source: Homemade Ham 

Learn How To Cook Homemade Ham