JHCC Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Just a quick observation that there's a certain satisfaction to carving a ham you cured yourself with a knife you made yourself. (Apart from it being a darn good ham.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Ayup, few things in life are as satisfying as using tools you made yourself. Smoked ham. . . mmmmmmmmm. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 26, 2016 Author Share Posted November 26, 2016 25 minutes ago, Frosty said: Smoked ham. . . mmmmmmmmm. Dry cured, actually: essentially homemade prosciutto. Double mmmmmmmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Yum. True cured (vs quick cure) ham is hard to find these days...especially without emptying one's wallet. Being in the food equipment business, I've been in commercial ham production facilities--kinda turns one off to the notion of store-bought. Just a curious piece of history--one of the old ways to store fresh pork was to sink it in a barrel of lard. You fill the barrel with the pork, and pour liquid lard over so it encapsulates everything and then let the lard harden up. When you want some pork, you dive in and scrape the hardened lard off your prize, cook, eat. Lack of oxygen is what keeps it fresh for about a year without real refrigeration (you do keep it cool in a root cellar). I haven't had the guts to try this yet and still prefer my freezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Similar method was used by chuck wagon cooks only for beef and for shorter lengths of time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 10 hours ago, Kozzy said: Yum. True cured (vs quick cure) ham is hard to find these days...especially without emptying one's wallet. Being in the food equipment business, I've been in commercial ham production facilities--kinda turns one off to the notion of store-bought. Just a curious piece of history--one of the old ways to store fresh pork was to sink it in a barrel of lard. You fill the barrel with the pork, and pour liquid lard over so it encapsulates everything and then let the lard harden up. When you want some pork, you dive in and scrape the hardened lard off your prize, cook, eat. Lack of oxygen is what keeps it fresh for about a year without real refrigeration (you do keep it cool in a root cellar). I haven't had the guts to try this yet and still prefer my freezer It's the origin of the word "Larder." Packing in lard keeps lots of things a long time, you can do similar by dipping in melted wax, waxed eggs will keep a long time. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 Part of the curing process for the ham was giving the outside a thick layer of lard before wrapping in cheesecloth and hanging in the basement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcostello Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Souse is essentially the same thing done with the small bits. If You would see it cold You might never eat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou L Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Consider yourself fortunate that you didn't have to use a hammer you made on that ham instead of the knife. I've heard of a number of holiday dinner disasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 7 hours ago, Lou L said: Consider yourself fortunate that you didn't have to use a hammer you made on that ham instead of the knife. I've heard of a number of holiday dinner disasters. Oh good GRIEF Lou, that reminds me of the first (well only) time my sister made biscuits. They turned out like some kind of beautiful golden brown, construction material. She was so embarrassed she threw them out back so we wouldn't see them in the kitchen trash. The crows flocked on the free chow but couldn't eat them no matter how hard they pecked. Smart critters crows are they started flying them up a couple hundred feet (seriously) dropped them on the pool deck and ate the crumbs that CHIPPED off. Yeah, chips not one actually broke. After the whole family watched the action for a while she ran out and crushed them all up with a claw hammer and the crows feasted. Happy flock of crows you betcha. Well, at least till they tried flying, not one could stay in the air long enough to clear a 6' fence. They ended huddling in a corner of the fence hiding till they'd digested enough biscuit to fly. That disaster was the last time she ever tried making biscuits. Bummer was she took it so hard I couldn't even tease her about it, even now. <sigh> Our family was good for Kodak moments. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Frosty, I love your story! I too had a terrible run with baking. It seemed as though I was onto some kind of physics breakthrough because everything I made weighed more than the sum of it's ingredients! JHHC, That's a great looking ham and knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou L Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Oh, Frosty, that is a wonderful story! I want to disbelieve the part about the crows not being able to clear a 6' fence but I just can't. Either way, this is my "I told you so!" moment. I knew a hammer was necessary for someone's holiday cooking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Hmm sounds like good "biodegradable" cannon rounds.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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