Hanging Hams

My best friend Rick's uncle has a special skill. Every year since Heck was a pup, Uncle Mac has cured country hams for his family. They are a special treat, and certainly a skill that not many people have, anymore. I really enjoy seeing an old-timey skill preserved and handed down. My best friend is learning to cure hams from his uncle, so he'll be able to continue that tradition in his family. What a great inheritance! And nobody had to die to get it, either.

Here's the bullet-point version of curing hams:

1. Buy some hams. The standard cut of pork is whatever they call the ham made from the back leg joints. A good butcher will make the cuts clean and neatly. Whoever cures the ham may still find small flaps of skin and fat to trim, but that's part of the process.
   
2. Around the first of January the hams go in a big wooden box in a protected place outdoors (Mac uses a shed), and there they are salted. A lot. The hams get turned and patted with more salt every 2 weeks or so. Special care must be taken to keep the hams clean
   
3. When spring comes (this part was today), the hams come out of their box. They are rinsed with scalding hot water to remove excess salt deposits. Then they are dried and patted down with a mixture of the salt cure and garlic, cayenne and dry mustard. A hole is poked in the small end of the ham (towards where the foot was attached), and a double loop of twine is pushed through.
   
4. The hams are hung in a place that experiences outdoor temperatures, but is not accessible to bugs or light. They will stay hung in this dark place until October or longer. At this point, they are country hams, ready for biscuits.
   

After we helped with curing this year's hams, we were treated to some of the ham Mac made last year, on fresh biscuits. That was instant gratification.


In no way is this post intended to be a guide or authority on curing hams. My knowledge is admittedly slim on this subject, so bone up for yourself if this is something you'd like to try.