Brined Fresh Ham
There are two main types of hams: wet and dry cured. Dry cured hams are like Virginia hams, long-lasting, super salty, and full of win. Wet cured hams are also called “fresh hams” sometimes, and that is because they are not cured well enough to store long-term (without freezing, of course) and so they are eaten “fresh.” Fresh hams are still cured, though. In a brine. Hams, including fresh hams, can be smoked for longer storage, but generally in modernity fresh hams are smoked before eating (or before they’re packaged for sale).
This ham happened because my friend Richard shot a pig (I assume javelina, since that’s the native species that people are often encouraged to hunt due to overpopulation), texted me a picture of said pig, and asked if I wanted some. Of course I did. And even if I hadn’t, I would’ve said yes because Ross can’t ever say no to ham. Like, never. He becomes unreasonably giddy when he eats ham, and if he eats enough of it I will generally abandon him to Child Tester, because she’s also a giddy ham person.
The other reason this became a ham and not a roast or something else is because I am always trying to figure out how new foods I might want to know how to make. Cured meats is an unexplored territory for me in terms of fermentation, so really, what better time to take a crack at it than when a hind quarter is gifted to you?
The last reason is actually about why this became a fresh ham rather than a Virginia, not about why it was a ham at all. What I wanted was Virginia. But I live in a rental, and I’m not convinced many landlords would be okay with tenants hanging meat from the ceiling of a rental unit. That just seems like it’s really not that cool of a thing to do. Okay, I actually wanted a prosciutto instead of a Virginia, but a Virginia ham is a fine substitute for prosciutto. Same rules apply to tenants, though, I feel. Don’t hang meat for a long time if you’re renting; just wet cure it and go about your business.
Some Notes
What I really did not wish to do was purchase curing/pink salt. When I’m learning how to do something in this general overarching category of “random survival skills I hope to never need but intend to enjoy having while they’re not in need,” I try to learn them in a way that I am not reliant on modern conveniences. I couldn’t ditch the refrigeration component due to aforementioned rental situation, but I do understand how to do it if I am somehow thrown back to the 18th-century and making hams.
Anyway, my goal was to make this as reliant as possible on not needing a store to perform the task, although I made allowances for spices that don’t grow here in Texas. Not a small percentage of those spices, either.
Y’all do this as high or low tech as you like, of course. Also feel free to change the spices.
Important Note
This recipe is largely going to be explained in captions of pictures. It’ll make more sense to the overwhelming majority of you if you can see exactly what happened while you’re reading about it, step by step.
The Brine
The brine is a 10% brine, because that’s what you need for ham. What this means is that for every litre of water, you’ll be dissolving 100g of salt. NOT iodized salt. Any salt but iodized is fine, so if you want a really expensive salt, go nuts. If not, use the 49 cents per tub “free flowing” salt. Free flowing is not iodized, generally speaking, but any tub without iodine will have a disclaimer on it saying so in order to allow you to be certain of what you’re getting.
Do not reduce the amount of salt. This is a safety issue. Using the wrong salinity in a brine is dicey at best, and you’re putting anyone who eats it at risk of food poisoning, which obviously can and sometimes does lead to death.
With vegetables, you often have flexibility on the salinity, but your hams need to be 10%. This isn’t flexible or negotiable, so please follow this one rule and eat safe ham. Pretty much everything else is negotiable here, but not that.
So that’s it, y’all. That’s how you make a fresh ham! There’s definitely some patience involved, but it’s a relatively easy process. I also really appreciate just how many people’s gifts were involved in this process, making it a true community ham!