Cider ham cure recipe?

[dbairduk]

Hi, i have a large joint of pork i just got out the freezer and would like to cure it somehow.

I have the following:
2 bottles of cider
saltpeter
sugar
salt
juniper berrys
pickling spice
pepper corns.

The pork is 1kg. Could I make an imersion brine out of this? And how long should i leave it for?

I have only made salt beef before....

[dbairduk]

ok after digging round I found this recipe on here
from saucisson:

1 litre cider
126 gm Salt
126 gm Sugar
6 gm Saltpetre.

Now this seems to suit my needs. How long would I need to keep the meat in the brine? Any how salty/sweet would this turn out?

[saucisson]

You beat me to it I was going to hunt it out for you...

It should be neither sweet nor salty but sweetness may depend on the cider you use. I would leave your kg for 14 days.

[dbairduk]

the man himself!

Well I have 2 bottles of bulmers that got opend and not drunk on the weekend.

Thanks for the tip, is their a drying/equalizing period needed after the 14 days?

I also read it was good to leave the meat out for a day before adding it to the brine.. is this recomended?

If its a success I will be doing a few joints of this size...

Thanks in advace

Dave

[saucisson]

I would dunk it straight in, you shouldn't need to equalise after brining, but dunk it in a pan of water and once you have a simmer check it isn't too salty, if it is, change to fresh water. Pop in your juniper berries and peppercorns and your ready to cook...

You can boil your cider right at the start with the salt, sugar, peppercorns and juniper berries and once cool add the saltpetre and pork for brining. However you prepare the brine remember to turn the meat every other day.

Dave

[dbairduk]

cheers Dave, will get this on the go tonight. That way I can give it a test and get some more joints in ready for christmas

[dbairduk]

I just picked another 1kg piece of shoulder up from sainsburys. The original piece of pork came from a friend of ours who reared it. We found it a little tough on roasting so wanted somthing to compare it too

[saucisson]

I have been reminded (thanks Jim), that you are better to base it on this, replacing the water with cider, rather than that old recipe of mine. :

by Oddley
New English Brine


IMPORTANT, ONLY USE THESE RATIOS
2 Parts Meat
1 Part Brine

Brine Ingredients
84.79 % - Water
0.21 % - Saltpetre (700 mg/Kg)
10 % - Salt (10.5% Brine concentration)
5 % Sugar

Method:
You may add to this brine any insoluble herbs spices you like ie: whole coriander seeds, whole bay leaves, whole juniper berries. Bring the water to a simmer and add all ingredients, including the insoluble ones. Leave to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, allow your meat to come to room temperature, and leave it there for about an hour to encourage the lactic acid flora to grow. Find a tight fitting container of food grade plastic, You will need a tight fitting container, because most importantly you are using the brine, 1 part too 2 parts meat. Submerge the meat below the surface and keep it there with a plate or weight, of some kind. Now put it on the top shelf of the fridge, 5 - 6degC for 10 days per Kg of meat. Or at least 9 days. turning every other day.

Using my ingredients won't kill you, but they may turn you prematurely senile like me Seriously, please use this recipe. If it's already in today take it out now, make up a new batch of brine tonight or tomorrow and drop it back in.

Dave

[dbairduk]

it is in the brine now
So.....
2kg meat : 1l brine?

100g salt
50g sugar per litre?
not too sure how to read this

[saucisson]

Sorry about this, I had forgotten my recipe preceded a rethink on using immersion cures at home. The real thing to change is the saltpetre which is higher than you need.

You could tip out half the cure but it still has too much saltpetre in it.

Can you change your brine to 500ml cider, 100g salt, 50g sugar and 0.5g (maximum of 1g) saltpetre, per kilo of meat?

Dave

[wheels]

dbairduk

You posted the brine, but with everything but the saltpetre amount. Can you clarify what you've done please?

Phil

[dbairduk]

wheels, i had already put it in the brine made from:
1 litre cider
126 gm Salt
126 gm Sugar
6 gm Saltpetre

What i propose to do is create a new brine with:
1lCider
100gm salt
100gm dark muscovado suggar
2g Salt peter

[wheels]

For 1kg meat I would go with:

500gm Cider
50gm salt
50gm dark muscovado suggar
0.75gm saltpetre

In fact virtually what Dave said - if you like a low salt ham use mine, if not use Dave's.

Put it in a tight fitting container. Turn the meat daily and cure for at least 10 days for your 1kg piece of meat.

There is a logic in the way we have calculated this cure - it's borderline as to which of two calculation methods we can use for the nitrates, so we have pitched it to be safe with both.

Phil

[saucisson]

Just to clarify: with an extra 1kg of meat in there now, per kg meat you have:

500g cider
50g salt
50g muscovada sugar
1g saltpetre

You should be fine, as you have already dropped the salt level

Stop listening to us and wait for it to cure

[dbairduk]

ok, sounds good. Will get this brine mixed up in the morning and dump the old brine.