Smoked and boiled pork ham, homemade. Smoking ham at home Dishes made from boiled smoked ham

To prepare smoked boiled ham, it is first salted, then soaked, then smoked, and only after smoking is boiled. This produces a tasty, soft and juicy pork ham. After salting, the ham is prepared for smoking. As mentioned earlier, only salted meat is smoked, and mainly cut for this from a pork carcass into hams, loin, brisket, ribs, and so on.

Soaking salted meat and hams. However, during the salting process, the meat is not salted evenly; more salt accumulates in the upper parts; in order to balance the degree of saltiness, soaking is used. Soak the meat in the same way as salted fish before drying.

Meat is soaked, including pork legs, in cold fresh water, the duration depends on the strength of the brine and the duration of salting. Lard and bacon are not soaked. Heavily salted hams take longer to soak. On average, soaking lasts 2-5 hours. Approximate soaking time can be calculated as follows. If you salted the meat using a mixed method, then take 3 minutes for each day. If salted dry, then 7-10 minutes per day. After soaking, the meat is washed with warm water, washing off any remaining salt. Then dry or ventilate.

Hanging hams by looping. In order to hang the prepared hams and other products for drying and in the smoking chamber, they are looped, that is, loops of twine or rope are tied to them. This must be done correctly, so that the meat does not fall, breaking through the edge or twine, during smoking.

The ham is the heaviest part, so a slit is made on it with a sharp knife closer to the bone. Then the twine is threaded through it and secured with a loop. The loin and brisket are pierced and a cord is also threaded through; it is better to pierce the bacon in two or three places, depending on the severity.

Smoking hams. When the ham is hung, it is allowed to dry a little after soaking for 2-3 hours. And only after that they are placed in the smokehouse. If the ham is going to be smoked and boiled, then it is hot smoked for 10 hours at a temperature of 40-45 degrees. After smoking, the ham has a dry surface, yellowish-brown in color.

Then the ham is boiled. Pour water into a bucket or tall pan and bring it to a boil. Then place the ham in it, standing vertically with the leg up, so that it is completely covered with water, but during the first 30-40 minutes the leg should look out of the water.

If you immerse the entire ham in water, the meat at the leg will be overcooked and fall away from the bone. The boiling water should be barely noticeable. The duration of cooking a ham depends on its size, but if its weight is 5-6 kg, then it needs to be cooked for 3.5-4 hours, a 10 kg ham needs 8-9 hours, respectively.

You can check the readiness of smoked boiled ham as usual. . To do this, you need to pierce it in the thickest place and hold the knitting needles for 30-35 seconds. Then pull it out sharply and immediately touch it; if the knitting needle is evenly heated along its entire length, then the ham is ready. You can check the readiness of the ham with a special thermometer, which is inserted into the puncture and when it shows a temperature of 70 degrees, the ham is cooked.

After cooking, the ham is cooled and kept for several days, during which time it acquires the taste of ham.

To smoke a ham, you need to salt it in a specially prepared brine for 4-5 days. To do this you will need: garlic, salt, pepper, saltpeter (nitrite salt) and sugar, mix and salt in a closed container. Periodically you need to watch the ham, it will release brine, but first you still need to prepare a batch of brine and add it to the container in which you add salt. Salting time depends largely on the weight of the ham. We describe smoking pork ham, chicken ham is an order of magnitude smaller.

Then, the day before smoking, you need to remove the ham from the brine, dry it and place it in a container with cold water for 2-3 hours. Then hang it outside and dry it from water and moisture. You can start smoking.

Pour fruit tree chips into the smokehouse, grease the grate on which you will smoke with vegetable oil and place the ham to smoke.

If you want pork the ham was cold smoked, then it needs to be smoked on smoke at a temperature of 25-40 for 4 days, chicken leg is smoked for 10 hours. If it's hot for 13 hours at 65 degrees.
Of course, smoked boiled ham must be smoked using the hot smoking method.

Smoked-boiled ham It is done in the same way as the simple one, only it needs to be boiled before smoking, well, the smoking time is reduced to 4-5 hours.

You can clearly watch the video - a recipe for how to cook smoked ham!

This is a video of cooking chicken thigh

Before you start smoking (cold or hot) the product must be soaked. Let's show this using the example of pork hams, the technology of preparation and smoking of which is longer in comparison with loins, briskets, etc.

Before being placed in the smokehouse, the ham is soaked in cold fresh water to reduce the salt content, which is especially high in the outer layers of the salted product. The duration of soaking depends on the strength of the brine, which, in turn, depends on the amount of salt taken, the concentration of the brine and the time spent in it. Heavily salted hams are soaked longer than lightly salted hams. On average, the product is soaked for 2 to 5 hours.

The soaked ham is washed with warm water to remove possible contaminants, after which a loop is made on its leg for hanging in the smokehouse. The hams are either looped using a thick needle, or a narrow slot is made in the leg of the ham with a knife, through which the twine is pulled with clean steel wire (Fig. 14). A puncture or slot is made closer to the bone at a distance of approximately 3 cm from the end of the leg. To form a loop, take a thin hemp rope or twine, proportioning their thickness (you can fold the twine several times) with the weight of the ham. Then the ham is hung to dry for 2-3 hours in a cool room, preferably with a slight draft. Drying is necessary, since the aromatic substances of smoke do not penetrate well into products with a wet surface, and this reduces the quality of smoking. Raw smoked hams, intended for long-term storage, after cold smoking are kept for 3-5 weeks in a dry, cool room in a suspended state.

At hot smoked The dried hams are hung in a smokehouse, where they are placed without allowing them to come into contact with each other. Unlike the cold smoking method, hot smoke treatment takes only a few hours. If products are brought to full readiness during the smoking process, then smoke is used at a temperature of 80-100 ° C for 10-18 hours. Hot smoked products are cooked very quickly, so they lose a little moisture and are relatively little saturated with the components of the smoke.

If the hams are to be boiled, they are hot smoked with a smoke temperature of 40-60°C for 10 hours. A sufficiently smoked ham should have a dry surface of a yellowish-brown color. Then the smoked ham is boiled. To do this, take a fairly spacious and high pan, in which the ham would fit vertically - with the leg up. The ham is placed in water preheated to a boil. Subsequently, during cooking, the water temperature is maintained at about 80-85 ° C (barely noticeable shuddering of the water surface). For the first 30 minutes, the leg is raised so that its thinner part is above the surface of the water. In this state, the ham is strengthened with a stick placed on the edges of the dish. If the leg is not lifted, the meat at the leg will overcook, sag or even fall off, and the ham will become unattractive in appearance. The duration of cooking depends on the size of the ham: for each kilogram of product it takes approximately 40-50 minutes. Thus, a ham weighing 5 kg should be cooked for 4 hours, and a large ham (10 kg) should be cooked for up to 8 hours. The readiness of the ham is determined by piercing it through the thickest part with a knitting needle, holding the knitting needle for 30 seconds, and then removing it. If the middle of the knitting needle is as hot as the edges, the ham is considered ready. With some skill, the readiness of the ham is determined by whether the fork or knitting needle freely penetrates to the bone. The readiness of the ham can be determined even more accurately by inserting a special thermometer into it (through the hole). When the thermometer reads 70°C, stop cooking.

Hot smoked ham you can cook and in a Russian oven. After soaking, the salted ham is wrapped on all sides with paper and moistened well. Paper protects the product from contamination with soot, and water protects the paper from smoldering and burning. The ham is hung in the firebox, at the beginning of the chimney (Fig. 15). Some kind of dish (frying pan, saucepan) is placed below the Ham to collect the rendered fat. The stove is heated in the usual way with hardwood firewood. In hot smoke, the ham is ready in 4-6 hours, depending on its size.

After this, the ham is removed and, having removed the paper, cooled, for which it is placed skin side up on a baking sheet or tray and covered with a clean sheet of paper, which protects the surface from excessive drying and preserves the juiciness of the ham.

Smoked ham can be regular or boiled-smoked; we provide both recipes below. In addition, we present to your attention a recipe for quick salting for smoking hams.

• Cooking time: 2 hours

• 50 servings

Ingredients:

1 kg coarse salt, 35 g sugar, 100 g chopped garlic, 40 g saltpeter

The preparation of ingredients for smoked ham can be divided into three stages: salting, washing and drying. rub with the curing mixture and place in the barrel skin side down, sprinkling generously with the mixture. Keep under pressure for 5-6 days so that the brine is released. Additionally, prepare a little more brine (10 liters of boiled water - 1.5 kg of salt) and periodically add it to the barrel so that the meat is completely covered with it. If each ham weighs more than 8 kg, it is necessary to keep them in brine for at least 6 weeks; if the weight of the hams is less, you can withstand less. On the eve of smoking, remove the meat from the barrel and soak in cold water for 2–2.5 hours. Then tie it with twine and hang it so that the hams do not touch each other in a cool room (preferably in a draft) overnight so that the meat dries.

Before smoking hams, they need to be wrapped in gauze, folded in two layers, to protect them from contamination. Smoking is carried out at a temperature of 45–60 °C for 12–24 hours.

As fuel for smoking, you can use the wood of old apple trees, cherries, pears, apricots, as well as dense tree species (oak, beech). The top of the firewood must be covered with fine sawdust. To give the hams a pleasant aroma, you can put wormwood, juniper with berries, mint, caraway seeds and other herbs on top of the firewood.

The readiness of the hams is determined by piercing them with a fork to the bone: if the ham is ready, the fork will pass freely to the bone.

To prepare spread hams, use the same parts of the pork carcass (front or back), but without skin and fat. First you need to remove the bones, then cut the meat into pieces (holding one after another), stretch them into a chain and smoke them in this form. This method of preparing ham is popular, but unprofitable, because the cut meat is smoked on both sides, as a result of which it has to be trimmed a lot. In addition, such ham spoils faster.

Recipe for boiled smoked ham

• Cooking time: 2 hours

• 25 servings

Ingredients:

10 kg of meat, 400 g of salt, 10 g of sugar, 4 g of saltpeter, ground black pepper, garlic to taste
For the brine: 1 liter of water, 160 g of salt, 5 g of saltpeter, 10 g of sugar

Rub the ham with a curing mixture (salt, saltpeter and sugar), place it in a barrel in layers, skin side down, additionally sprinkling each layer with a mixture of spices. Keep in a cool place for 6–7 days. After this, place the lower hams on top, the upper ones down, fill with chilled brine and cover with a lid with pressure. Swap the lower and upper layers every 5 days. Salting hams taken from animals weighing 100–110 kg requires 20 days; For animals weighing 180–200 kg, it is necessary to keep the meat in brine for 28–30 days. Soak the salted meat, dry it in a cool room for 2–4 hours, wrap it in gauze or a clean cloth and smoke for 8–10 hours at a smoke temperature of 40–45 °C. Boil the smoked ham in water for 4–8 hours. The ham is considered ready if, when pierced, the tip of the knife easily penetrates the thickness of the product. Cooked-smoked ham cannot be stored for long periods of time.

Quick-salted smoked ham

• Preparation time: 5 days

• 20 servings

Ingredients:

For the brine: 1 l water, 100 g nitrite salt, 5 g garlic salt, 100 g meat seasonings, 10 g juniper berry juice

For quick salting, take a ham with lard and flesh. Inject brine into the meat to a depth of 5 cm (its volume should be from 15 to 20% of the amount of meat), put it in a container, fill it with the same brine and leave for 3 days. After this, wash the meat well, soak it, hang it in a cool, well-ventilated room to dry for 1 day. Smoke at temperatures above 85°C until cooked.

What could be tastier than a piece of delicious smoked ham cooked at home? Self-prepared smoked ham will become a real decoration of any table, as it will simply be impossible to tear yourself away from it. The ham is unique in that it can be used both as an independent dish and as a snack. There is a huge variety of all kinds of salads, sandwiches, tartlets, cold and hot appetizers that contain smoked meats, so everyone can choose something tasty for themselves.

In general, a ham is a part of a thigh containing bone, meat and fat. This is why ham is an ideal option for smoking, since it is moderately juicy, but not too fatty, and it is comfortable to hold.

What's good about smoking? Smoking itself is a method of culinary processing, which, in most cases, allows you to preserve all the beneficial vitamins and minerals present in the meat. Ham contains components such as calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, iodine, as well as vitamins B and PP. In addition, such meat is easily digestible and allows you to satisfy your hunger for a long time. As for the calorie content of the product, it all depends on how exactly the ham is prepared: it can be smoked or boiled-smoked ham.

For example, here are some numbers for comparison:

• 100 gr. smoked ham contains 517 kcal, while boiled-smoked ham contains only 305 kcal.
• Amount of fat per 100 g. The product for a smoked ham is 50 grams, but for a boiled-smoked ham this figure is 26 grams, that is, half as much.

In order to get a completely natural product at home that has a wonderful taste and aroma, you will need to follow a few simple rules designed to make life easier and bring benefits.

So, preparing smoked ham comes down to the following steps:

1. Preparation
2. Pickling or marinade
3. Smoking (hot or cold)

Preparation involves selecting a product and then storing it until smoking time. You need to prepare the ham as follows: remove the ham from the freezer in advance, defrost and rinse thoroughly under cold water. It may happen that small dense hairs are found on the ham - do not be alarmed, this is a normal condition. To get rid of hairs, just place the ham on a large fork or long knife and hold it over the fire on all sides. The fire will burn away all excess hairs.

Pickling

Salting is a process by which the ham is saturated with salt; Salting is one of the most important stages in the smoking process, as it allows you to destroy all harmful bacteria and neutralize toxic substances that may be contained in raw meat. It is recommended to brine pork ham in dishes with an enamel surface or in wooden containers. There are several recipes for making marinade that can be used for both hot and cold.

Dry pickling

To prepare this brine, you will need to take 1 kilogram of salt, preferably coarse, half a glass of sugar and black pepper. Take a pickling container, put about a third of the prepared salt on the bottom and level it. Mix the remaining salt with sugar and ground pepper and thoroughly rub the ham with it. Place the meat in a container and place it in a cool place under pressure for two weeks. After two weeks, remove the meat from the pan with brine, cover with cold water for 5-6 hours, and then hang in a draft to dry. The meat should dry for about 12 hours, or preferably more, after which it is ready for smoking.

Brine with sugar

Unlike the above recipe, this brine will be liquid. Recipes that contain a liquid component require more time; sometimes the pickling period can reach up to one month. To prepare the brine you will need:

• 8-10 liters of water (depending on the amount of meat),
• 800 gr. coarse salt,
• 1 cup of sugar,
• 10 gr. food nitrate.

Pour water into a saucepan, add prepared salt, sugar and saltpeter, then put on fire and bring to a boil. After the brine has boiled, remove it from the heat and cool.

Place the washed ham in the container where the salting will take place and fill it with cooled brine (the brine must first be strained). The water should cover the meat completely. Cover the container with a lid on top, and then put it in a cool place for three or four weeks (t no higher than +5 degrees).

After 4 weeks, remove the ham from the brine, soak in cold water, air dry and you can start smoking. This brine recipe is suitable for hot or cold smoking; smoked ham after such a marinade will turn out very tasty.

Brine "Mixed"

Mixed brine is a combination of two types of marinades: dry and liquid, and each of these stages plays its own specific role.

For dry brine you will need the following ingredients:

• 1.1 kg. coarse salt,
• 60 gr. granulated sugar,
• 10 gr. food nitrate.

All ingredients must be thoroughly mixed, sprinkled over the pre-prepared meat and removed for pickling for two weeks.

After two weeks, the meat needs to be pulled out and filled with liquid brine. To prepare it you will need:

• 10 liters of cold boiled water,
• 600-700 gr. salt,
• 100 gr. Sahara.

All components must be thoroughly mixed and poured into the meat. The ham will be salted in this liquid brine for another 2 weeks, after which it needs to be soaked in cold water, dried and smoked. You can add a small amount of potassium nitrate to the recipe - it will give the smoked ham an appetizing pinkish tint. Mixed brine is also suitable for both types of smoking. Smoked hams can then be used as a main ingredient in salads and various types of appetizers.

Smoking

And finally, the time has come for the third and final stage - smoking. You can smoke ham in several ways, which differ from each other in terms of cooking time and technological features.

Below are the three main recipes that are most widely used for preparing smoked ham.

Recipe No. 1 Boiled-smoked ham

As the name implies, such a ham is first boiled for some time, and only after that it is sent to the smokehouse. The meat is naturally salted first and then soaked in cold water for an hour. Then you need to put a pan of water on the fire and after the water boils, put the ham in there. If necessary, you can add 3-4 bay leaves to the brine, reduce the heat and cook the meat for 1.5 or 2 hours. After two hours, remove the ham from the water, cool, dry slightly and you can start smoking. Pre-boiling allows the meat to become even softer and more tender, and smoking gives it a piquant taste and a wonderful aroma. For ham prepared according to this recipe, it is recommended to use a temperature no higher than 60-65 degrees: since the meat was previously boiled, this will be enough.

Recipe No. 2 Hot smoking

Immediately after the ham is salted and dried, you can proceed directly to smoking. Smoking a ham requires a smokehouse, fruit sawdust and firewood. Fruit chips are poured into the bottom of the smokehouse, and a ham is hung inside the smoking chamber. In order for the ham to better hold its shape, it is recommended to use a special twine, which is inserted through and tied with a cross knot. Cover the top of the smokehouse with a lid and place on low heat. If the smokehouse is in the yard, a small fire is lit for this, and if it is in the kitchen, a regular gas stove will do. That's it, it's begun.

The ham should be smoked for at least 10-12 hours, while the temperature in the smokehouse should not exceed 50-60 degrees. The fire level must be constantly monitored, and if the fire becomes too strong, you will need to add a little damp sawdust. When the specified 10-12 hours have passed, the ham will need to be removed from the smokehouse and dried in a draft. This is done so that the meat gives away all the excess smoke that it managed to absorb during smoking. It is recommended to air the meat for at least 8-9 hours, and only then it can be eaten. The finished ham has an appetizing golden brown crust on the sides and a rich, pleasant taste. Bon appetit!

Recipe No. 3 Cold smoking

Another recipe that takes a little more time, but still has the same wonderful taste, is cold smoked ham.

For this you will need a smokehouse, meat and wood chips. Sawdust is placed at the bottom of the smokehouse, after which the smokehouse is placed on fire. The temperature in the smokehouse should be no more than 20-25 degrees, but the smoke should be quite rich. After the meat is sent to the smoking cabinet, you need to close the lid and leave the meat to smoke for 4-6 days. A more accurate smoking time directly depends on the size of the ham. If these are large pieces, then you need to smoke longer, and for small hams weighing up to 1 kg, 4 days will be enough.

It is important to remember that in the case of cold smoking, the process must be continuous, especially during the first 12 hours. Immediately after smoking is completed, it is not recommended to eat the ham; it needs to ripen. To do this, you can wrap the ham in two or three layers of gauze and leave it in a cool place for 6-7 hours. And only after this, the tasty and aromatic pork ham is ready! Bon appetit!