Do you love a good ham, but hate the chemicals that inundate our food?
You don't have to put up with questionable ingredients in your food when you buy from the farmer. You can make your own chemical free ham.
When people choose uncured meats, it is because they are avoiding nitrates, nitrites, and chemicals such as sodium erythrobate. Those additives are commonly found in cured meats.
You can cure meat without those chemical additives. Simply adding a certain amount of regular salt to meat and letting it soak in for a given amount of time changes the composition of the meat, extracting moisture and giving it a more complex flavor. Other spices and sugar can be added to the cure for even more interesting flavors.
Note that naturally cured meat, without nitrates and such, will turn brown as it cooks like any other meat that lacks chemicals. Only ham and bacon with high nitrate levels stay pink when cooked.
You can buy "uncured bacon" which actually is cured, but with natural ingredients, such as celery powder (which is a natural source of nitrates), salt and sugar, rather than chemicals. In that sense, this ham recipe "cures" the ham, but with only salt, maple, and cider. There is nothing unhealthy or unnatural about this cure.
This recipe calls for a fresh half ham. What that means is, an uncured piece of meat. A fresh ham can be frozen. At the end of the five to seven days of soaking in the brine, it is no longer fresh, but cured.
Apples and pork are a match made in heaven. This ham will be a hit!
Cider and Maple Cured Ham
1 fresh half ham (5 - 10 pounds)
Brine:
4 cups apple cider
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 orange (scrub the rind well with soap)
optional: cinnamon stick, 10 cloves, 10 juniper berries, 3 bay leaves
16 oz ice by weight, or 4 cups ice by volume
1 cup water
1. Partially thaw the ham by leaving it on the counter for up to 12 hours. It does not need to be completely thawed.
2. Bring to a boil the cider, maple, salt, pepper, optional spices, and the juice of the orange, plus its rind.
3. Remove from heat. Add the ice and water to cool the brine.
4. Put the half ham in a large, non-reactive container and pour the brine over it. Put the orange rind and optional spices in there as well. Keep it in the fridge while the brine works its magic.
5. If the top of the ham sticks up above the surface of the brine, turn it every day to submerge the part that was sticking out. Keep the meat in the brine for 5 to 7 days.
6. When the day of the feast comes, preheat the oven to 300F. Put the ham in a heavy roasting pan, fat side up. Cover with parchment paper and tuck the edges of the paper under the ham. Bake for 40 minutes per pound, and aim for an internal temperature (next to the bone) of 180F. You may remove the parchment paper during the last half hour of cooking.
7. When the meat has reached the internal temperature of 180F, take it out and let it rest for a half hour. This step is important because it lets the meat reabsorb its juices. If you don't do this, it will not be as juicy.
7b. This step is optional, but it gives it a really nice finishing touch:
After you have taken the meat out of the oven, increase the heat to 475F. When the ham has finished its half hour rest, put it back in the hot oven for up to 15 minutes to let the fat get nice and crispy. Carve and serve immediately.
This ham is amazing with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce!
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