Miniature Home-Cured 'Ham' Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the minimum time for a ham to cure? ›

At the end of the curing time (minimum of 2-1/2 days per pound of fresh ham), unwrap and remove any excess cure and mold. Use vinegar and a cloth to remove mold.

Submerse the ham in the brine and let it hang out for 3 days in the refrigerator.

Hams are either ready-to-eat or not. Ready-to-eat hams include prosciutto and cooked hams; they can be eaten right out of the package. Fresh hams and hams that are only treated to destroy trichinae (which may include heating, freezing or curing in the processing plant) must be cooked by the consumer before eating.

Cooking Temperature and Time

A half ham weighing between five and eight pounds requires 35 to 40 minutes of roasting at 325°F per pound. For whole bone-in hams weighing 12 and 16 pounds, cook the ham at 325°F for 22 to 26 minutes per pound. The internal temperature should be 145°F.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Once oven temperature reaches 300 degrees, bake approximately 3 hours or 20 minutes per pound. Using a meat thermometer, check for a 163 degree internal temperature in the thickest part of the ham.

A whole, uncut dry cured or country ham can be stored safely at room temperature for up to one year. After one year, the ham is safe but the quality may suffer. An uncooked, cut country ham can be refrigerated for two to three months or frozen for one month.

If you miss by a few minutes either way you'll be just fine, but for those of you out there who think, “If a little brining is good then a lot of brining must be better,” that's not really how it works. If you go too much longer than the 1 hour per pound method you risk the protein becoming too salty and over seasoned.

Most over-brining simply makes everything a little too salty, and you can soak the meat in cold water to draw out the excess salt. If you really let it go too long—as in, brining for days instead of hours—things may go beyond repair. Doing so can make your meat mushy, and there's no way to fix that!

Ideal brining time is about a half an hour, but I've found that even a 15-minute brine makes a difference. The meat cooks up juicier and with more flavor than it does otherwise. You can also brine for longer, but after about two hours, the meat can start to get a bit mushy.

Ham is essentially a leg of pork, and the distinction between cured and uncured ham lies in the preservation process. Cured ham is processed and preserved through wet or dry curing, which may include smoking and adding a combination of sugar, salt, and other flavors.

Does cured ham mean fully cooked? ›

The answer, in short, is if it is cured, smoked or baked, ham is considered “pre-cooked,” and would not technically need to be cooked. This includes the ham that is purchased at the deli. In fact, most ham that is sold to consumers is already cured, smoked or baked.

Fresh ham might be a pale color, and cured ham is pink. If your ham starts to take on a green or grey hue, or even gets black or brown in a few areas, throw it away. If it doesn't smell good, throw it away. Ham should have a salty or smokey aroma, almost sweet.

Heat oven to 325°F. Remove all packaging materials. Place ham, cut/flat side down, on rack in shallow roasting pan; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Heat approximately 18 to 23 minutes per pound until heated through.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the ham on a rack in a large baking pan and add about 1/4- to 1/2 inch of water to the pan. If the ham is labeled "fully cooked" (does not require heating), heat it in the oven for about 10 minutes per pound, or to an internal temperature of 140 F.

Place the ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Insert an oven-safe thermometer into the center of the ham. (It should not touch the bone of a bone-in ham.) Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until ham registers the desired temperature (140°F for pre-cooked ham).

Celery juice and celery juice powder contain natural nitrates which deliver the color, flavor, and functional benefits of cure. When the sodium nitrate in celery is exposed to certain types of bacteria, the nitrate is converted to sodium nitrite, which achieves characteristics similar to jerky cure.

When purchasinguncured ham, you may notice that it has a slightly different, yetnaturally occurring color than the cured ham you're used to. This coloring difference is because the nitrates used in the brine of cured meat often increase the reddish-pink color of cured ham.

Yes, ham can be brine cured without nitrates. Nitrates are often used in curing to preserve the meat and give it a pink color, but they can be omitted in favor of natural alternatives such as celery juice or powder, which contain naturally occurring nitrates.

In response to these concerns, meat processors have developed “uncured” meat products that contain “no added nitrates or nitrites except those naturally occurring.” This alternative curing system uses vegetable powder derived from celery as a natural source of nitrite to cure meat products.