Salting The 9.5kg ham was first rubbed with a mixture of 500g fine salt and .3% Cure #2, then covered with a layer of coarse sea salt. It was then placed in a plastic tub, pressed, and cured for two weeks. During that time it was turned over 6 times and the exudate was poured off.
Post-Salting (equalization). The salt was washed off the ham and it was placed in a lug and in a fridge (3C) for one month. The lug was covered, but the lid was slightly opened and the ham was turned over every few days. During this stage the humidity should be over 80%. To compensate for the dry RH in the fridge, I placed a plastic grate in the lug and added water with salt to increase the humidity around the ham. At the end of this phase the ham was hung to dry at an ambient temp of 18-20C for one week. The purpose of this was to help to set the colour and give a better start to the enzymatic activity, which functions better in warmer temps.
Ripening/DryingThe ham was hung in a curing chamber where the temp fluctuated between 11 and 12C, and the humidity was set at 78%, but often was much higher since other products were loaded into the chamber during that time. In the middle of November 2018 my curing chamber failed and the ham was hung outdoors in a covered and sheltered area, in a vented wooden box, where it stayed until the latter part of March. The temps were all over during that time from highs of 15C to a few days below freezing. With a lot of rain in November, December, and January, the humidity was over 70% for most of that time. Over this period, sugna was applied to the exposed meat part of the ham six months after the initial salting and then on two other occasions. Before each application the ham was washed and scrubbed with a brush in hot water.
Equalization under vacuum For the last 4 months the whole ham was vacuum sealed and rested in the fridge at 3C for 4 months.
