How to Cure a Country Ham

With the proper mix of sugar, spices, temperature and patience you can cure your own country ham. Dr. Gregg Rentfrow. a certified meat scientist will show you how.
Here is a write up that you can print out:
www2.ca.uky.edu...
For more on Animal and Food Science including educational opportunities, check out: afs.ca.uky.edu
For swine in particular: www.uky.edu/Ag/...
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Produced by Brian Volland at The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. For additional questions or for more information on this story, please contact: [e-mail]
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[@randyrussell6246]

I grew up on a farm thru the 60s and 70s , 15 acres in crops , beans , purple hull peas , cabbage, potatoes , peanuts , turnip greens , okra , tomatoes , water melons , musk melons , cantaloupe and lots of CORN. We had starberries , plums, peaches , concord and muskadine grapes. Had a corn sheller that shelled corn fast as you could dump it in and a corn mill for our own corn mill and my Grandaddy ground for many others who came from miles around to trade , many bringing their own corn from their fields. We had a large corn crib and the real deal walk in smoke house where everthing from dry corn cobs to hickory wood and tree bark was used for smoking the meat. Renderd lard from hogs to cook with and make soap. Canned and pickled most everthing but had several big freezers in the large garage that had been turned into have canning and food storage with its on fridge that would hold water melons when they come in , it would hold two or three and others would be there to replace them as they come out , we gave away thousands of melons and truck loads of produce. Those of us living on the farm were hunters and fishermen and have feasted off wild game and fish . We did not have cattle but hey .......the need of beef , butter , milk and flour was a good reason to go to town and buy some groceries . The farm fed several families and not the full time job for those that lived on it, my Daddy was a Carpenter builder and my uncle that lived on the farm was in the refrigeration business , they both could weld , plumb and do electrical , my Granddaddy was a master black smith . No such thing as taking a car ,truck or tractor to a mechanic because we were the mechanics with grease racks ,pits and all . Sure there were times that we had to take engine parts and others to a shop to hare worked or buy new ones but we did most everthing but so did many of those around us. I had a flat on my bike at 7yrs old and my Daddy said " I'm gonna show you one time " meaning pay attention because you are exspected to do it from now on , then I broke the rod in my mini bike engine at 12 ( got away on some wet red Georgia clay ) my Daddy said " I will show you one time " and that is all it took . I only had a 9th grade education and got a Army GED while serving in the 82nd ( Required in my family to serve ) and have spent most my life building and blessed to have skills that many or most Americans once had but I am truly worried about most of our young adults and their mothers and fathers , they have lost skill sets and work ethics that are certainly going to be needed if our Nation is going to be able to survive, Americans must start doing for themselves again , you can not count on running to google , be a doer , God gave humans something wonderful ........hands , He also gave us instructions, start using them before its too late. God Speed

[@shaggydogg630]

You are correct. I tell my grandchildren “ we don’t call the man, we are the man!”

[@stevescuba1978]

Oh how I wish my family cared to pass down these skills. Here I am trying to learn, as an adult, what most of my ancestors knew as children. I've been a machinist,mechanic, electrician, teacher, plumber, and farmer, but I'm having to teach myself to grow, raise, and preserve food. It's sad, especially since my grandfather was a rancher/farmer, who raised hogs, chickens, cattle, corn, wheat, and had a large garden full of veggies. At least I got to see some tid bits before he retired and the rest of the family quit doing any of it.

[@randyrussell6246]

@@stevescuba1978 Go down to the feed and seed , co-op or county extension and tell them that you are wanting to hook up with a farming family to trade your labor and skills that wpuld be usefull to them in trade for the knowledge of their ways .....then jump in with them ! You may want to help more than one farming family to cover all the things you wish to learn. God Bless

[@tillerbeez6575]

I helped my dad cure 8-24 hams/shoulders every year for 20 yrs. We never used ANY sugar. I remember losing 2 hams in all those yrs and both were cause by moisture contact from the wooden shelf we used. During the first 3 months of open air curing with the hams and fat back basicly in total coverage of pure salt. After the first curing session we washed the hams, dried them, then reapplied a lesser amount of cure mix of salt, black pepper, red pepper and paprika. It is then paper bags and bagged in washed cloth flour sacks for what you the summer sweat.

[@laurencelance586]

Grandfather lived in the deep woods of British Columbia. He cured all his own meats, and they were DELICIOUS! I can still remember his smokehouse! Thanks for posting this.

[@lazarus_1_506]

I love that they are teaching these skills to new generations

[@8aleph]

One of my fondest memories of childhood is waking up to the smell of home sugar cured ham frying on a cold morning and eating it with my mother's homemade biscuits

[@megadawg342]

I'm drooling....! Thanks

[@tomlinthicum4160]

Sure do miss it. It is said that smells are the most vivid memory shakers, 50 years evaporates remembering that meat ftying. Thank you!

[@8aleph]

@Jozi X I grew up poor and white in Southern Arkansas

[@MI-vn4tp]

Yes with some canned apples or peaches.

[@8aleph]

@@MI-vn4tp Or Jelly either Muscadine or Blackberry and Free range eggs

[@gateway8833]

Man, I’ve done scads of these. My Grandpa had a small drill operated auger injector for putting the rub right into and around that joint. He also had boards placed under the hams so you could see the color of the dripping fluid both during the cure and smoking. The boards ran outside so you could see without having to go inside. He was a brilliant guy.

[@guidichris]

Great video. My wife's grandfather passed before he could tell me how this was done, so I am looking forward to doing this. The one thing I do remember him telling me is the best hams were made from pigs harvested that day.

[@bnelogic6237]

Six years later and I've just watched a really good practical and informative video.

[@caroltee2242]

I can't get over how you can do all this without refrigeration and it doesn't go bad. I've tasted only one country ham and I thought it was wonderful.

[@whisperingsage]

In the old days, looking up smoking, some folks would smoke their ham for 2 or 3 years.

[@Hodmokrin]

I never really knew there was such a thing as a meat scientist, but now that I know, I'm glad.

[@dmithsmith5880]

It blows my mind how someone could give this video a thumbs down...Country Ham is like meat candy.

[@swiperfox3145]

must be vegetarian.

[@dmithsmith5880]

@@swiperfox3145 Country Ham is so good even Vegans will sneak a chunk into the closet and eat it lol.

[@alexjogyerek2120]

Vegetarian and low life muslims will thumbs down for sure.

[@Wotdermatter]

I do not understand either but having said that there are people, myself included, who do not buy, prepare, serve, or eat anything connected with pig meat and that includes the oink. However, my grandfather in Yorkshire taught me how to make things with pork including hams but that was before I learned they eat faecal material and that they carry many diseases such as E. Coli, and trichinosis and transmit things like tapeworms and liver fluke all of which can easily be passed on to mankind. 'nuf sed. plamuk aka travellingchef

[@danthedewman1]

They dis like it to bring out the whiners,,,Who cares if someone dislike it..enjoy the video yourself..

[@juneladd1912]

Great video ..and I really enjoyed the process ..I was in FFA many years ago and raised a hog...I'm 63 now, but wish I had learned this curing process way back in 1976-77...They should teach more of this in the Agricultural classes in High school, especially if your raising a hog..

[@bigdawg3364]

Just got finished downloading the info., what a professional site guys!! I will defrost my 1st in a lifetime ham Thanks to you guys, and I will follow the instructions to a T!! I told my friend: "Once I defrost the ham, their is no turning back!" Thank you. I will give more news ASAP.

[@bbq-fasho503]

That is a old school way people do not see anymore nice video big man!!!

[@28drafting]

I dont know if I will ever try this, but this is maybe the best starter video, and a must see, as I have seen! Thanks!

[@Bajaranger]

Great video, but there are some pertinent questions that would be nice to have an answer to. Cleaning the ham before aging is one in particular. Washing, rinsing or just brushing off with a brush? Thanks for your efforts and posting this video.

[@johnrhansonsr]

In Las Vegas, we just purchased a "green ham" from the local Mexican store and the cost was an unbelievable low price of just 59 cents per pound. It is a beautiful piece of meat and we plan to cook this as a FRESH HAM for Christmas. We will try this recipe after Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks for the great recipe.

[@tookmyhandle2]

How did it turn out?

[@johnrhansonsr]

@@tookmyhandle2 Absolutely delicious. It was more meat than we could eat so we made the left-over as pulled pork BBQ and put it in the freezer.

[@dpelpal]

​@@johnrhansonsrDid you cure the ham in a curing chamber? Just curious. The video didn't really mention what temp the ham should be at during the initial cure..... Thank you!

[@gm6719]

In Greece as soon the ham is cured we wash the mould off with strong red wine and brush it off then smoke it and further salt it ! Then we hung it wrapped up with a variety of herbs to age further and develop the aromas

[@georgepapagiorgio6138]

That sound delicious!

[@MrSpansell]

Thought I was German found out I’m British isles Native American and Greek and zero German. Send recipe for ham cousin.

[@worthvilleminimart]

I'm a US citizen don't have a flippen clue where I can from just know my skin is white and Burns well in the sun and I agree send more information on your ingredients and steps

[@thervers2140]

GOOD, It's a different type of ham.

[@antonhuman8446]

Simple. Easy. Short and sweat. Many thanks! Regards from South Africa.

[@rickschneider9019]

Excellent demo. If you don't have a barn or a curing room could you use a fridge

[@Rhodieman]

From the title, I assumed it was "United Kingdom College of Agriculture..." So I was very shocked when this deep country American accent broke out.

[@soundinvestments1]

They have a really detailed PDF on UK website that has more detail on this process.

[@CaptainScarlet1961]

@Straight Razor Daddy: This is obviously fuck all to do with the UK - fucking click bait shyte

[@armouredoutlaw1537]

@@CaptainScarlet1961 it's the UNIVERSITY of KENTUCKY.... not click bait

[@CaptainScarlet1961]

The video is titled UK Collage of Agriculture, in case you didn't know the UK is a country with it's own Collage of Agriculture so blame the lazy fuckwit that couldn't be bothered to type University of Kentucky in the title!

[@squirehaggard4749]

@@CaptainScarlet1961 U=University + K=Kentucky. Illiterate oaf.

[@CaptainScarlet1961]

@@squirehaggard4749:Oh fuck off dimwit the connection is only obvious to you yanks!

[@OutdoorsandCountryLiving]

Would love to see a newer version of this that includes the smoking and explains the points where you can eat it. Could you eat before you age once it’s cured after the 60 days? Thank you!

[@jackwalker9492]

UK learning from Kentucky! Love our cousins in the UK and proud to be an American and a lot is from guys and gals like this who represent our nation so well!

[@garnetk3751]

one would like to see the cutting and sharing of the product after seeing the steps

[@sumitmhatre8419]

This one agrees.

[@kevmalone]

This two agrees, too.

[@Iowarail]

Three also.

[@carolcobb9004]

Garnet K Does

[@DenverLoveless]

Agreed. Show the cutting of the ham AND cooking & eating some of it.

[@gullreefclub]

My Great Uncle Cured Hams used to wash the ham off with corn liquor right before he applied his cure, he would wrap his hams in brown paper bags that he cut apart. After he wrapped the hams in the first layer of paper he would wrap them again with a second layer of paper that he had brushed with very salty water and then sprinkled a little bit more rub on. After wrath ham with the second layer of paper he would carefully truss the hams with cotton twine and then hang the hams in the hanging shed which was area inside the smoke house. The hanging shed area was about 3 feet deep and 6feet high, it was screened off with #8hardware cloth screen to keep the bigger critters out and house screen to keep the little ones away from the hams. The floor was covered with sawdust and salt. The fall was also the time he would shell black walnuts for cooking, making oil, ink for his drawing, and save the shells for smoking hams, bacon, and fish. He smoked his hams for a rather long time with only the faintest amount of smoke afterwards he would sew them into white cotton sheets and having them back in hanging shed area of the smoke house for the summer until fall. He also would hang a ham for two sometime three years those hams after the first year would get smoked again and then would finish there hanging in the cellar

[@jerrycoon4504]

I know I'm kinda late watching this video but I just wanted to give credit on a video well done. Great job!

[@zerumvia5472]

I have been watching video about ham since I know youtube (4-5 yrs ago). You didn't make the best ham, you didn't give the best instruction but This is the best ham video EVER!

[@AnotherAmateur]

This is an excellent video lesson. For just a couple of people in the household a ham of this size seems excessive. I make small hams that I cure in a brine then use a dry rub and then smoke myself. Hope you'll take a look some time.

[@oneshotme]

I'll have to check them out!!

[@1hardman161]

Do you have a step by step process, video on youtube? I grew up in the country always had our neighbor do all this. Now I moved and there is no beacon or smoked hams, at all. HHHHELP! haha

[@davidjones-vx9ju]

i smoke myself

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

Excessive? Once it's cured it will stay good forever, you could eat on it for a year until the next one is done.

[@b_rad5678]

Great video. would have liked to hear you mention the salt box method too.

[@Larryd1001]

I have been looking for a instructional video like this for a long time, thank for sharing!

[@UKYAgriculture]

+Larryd1001 You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@Someoldguy69]

UK College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment when you resocked the ham and cleaned it. How did you clean it? Did you wash it, damp cloth, brush...you didn't say sir, thank you

[@aCycloneSteve]

Tormented Darkness, this is exactly what I wanted to know.

[@kennethcaine3402]

My grandfather cured and smoked his hams and bacon and it was a lot simpler than what you did. I'm sure your hams are great but I have been old schooled, and my Granddaddys hams were the finest I have ever put in my mouth. Thanks for sharing but I still use my grandfather's method, I am 67 years old and I have never tasted a ham that could compare with the ones he cured and smoked with hickory smoke.

[@MRMETZGAR1962]

Kenneth Caine please pass along what you know to the next generation

[@avelr6587]

Teach us please

[@kennethcaine3402]

@@avelr6587 the main thing on curing a ham is to use the best ham from a Duroc Hog. My Grandfather like me and my Father always raised Duroc hogs. The ones they use today for the market are from white hogs and the meat is light in color and doint have the flavor of a Duroc. As for curing a ham most people only let the ham cure for a day or more, they should cure longer, at least a week or more before you smoke it and then the smoke is a cold smoke, you're not looking for heat at this point. You let it stay in the smoke house for at least 30 days on just smoke. And you will have a great smoked and cured ham. That is the way it has to be. It ain't no quick thing, it takes time. Remember that it takes salt to cure the meat, a lot of people like to use sugar in the cure but that is for flavor not curing because sugar has no real effect on curing the meat. Good luck.

[@lorenwegele7517]

I'm wishing now that my parents hadn't stopped butchering and processing hogs at home before I was old enough to help and learn it.

[@Cola64]

Loren Wegele just prepared 2 yesterday for luau 🤙🏼

[@repalmore]

When I grew up in Virginia there were smoke houses all over the country side and story was the farmer could tell the temperature within a degree or two by stepping inside. Don't know if many of those old wood smoke houses still exist but it was easy to spot. They were around 10 to 15 feet square and didn't have any windows and the door was small and low. Guess it's gone industrial by now.

[@c.a.m.6276]

Great video, I´ve done a couple of times down here in Brazil and it worked out pretty good. tks for posting

[@sviorek4276]

This is excellent. Thank you for putting it out here for us to view.

[@UKYAgriculture]

+Wishkah Valley Farm Let us know if there are other videos you'd like for us to post!

[@andrebuytaert4225]

Wishkah Valley Farm

[@lesjohnson9740]

Very informative, just like Scott Rea in the UK, loved it , good Video.

[@jbarker2160]

I think you should update the information with ambient temperature min/max/target for each phase of the process as well as humidity.

[@tomstestkitchen]

Very informative, one of my cousins in KY cures his own hams. I've tried doing it myself but I live in Texas now and it just gets too hot, even in the winter/spring.

[@joerivas9847]

Maybe in the garage with a fan to circulate the air? Never give up, there are solutions to almost every problem. Perhaps even a dedicated fridge, there are plans to build them on the cheap on the internet. like the ones used for dry aging beef, i would think it would be the same process.

[@asahoura2798]

An excellent video; this is what I expect from a land grand college! Extra credit for including 4-H students.

[@mpalikko]

This knowledge is invaluable. Good work!

[@paulhann7445]

We use to wrap our ham and /or shoulders in large clean news papers. We also injected our solutions inside to the bone with a large needle. The meat always turned out excellent. Ham and eggs.

[@bryanadams256]

I'm having a hard time applying the cure. May I borrow your assistant for a few days?

[@jasonlay9492]

She gonna cure your ballsack

[@Cola64]

They were some fine Ass istants for sure 🤙🏼

[@Matteus733]

Haha

[@JoshuaHardie]

They are busy in the boning room

[@aaronharris6299]

That was great to see the actual process. I remember when I was a little kid and my grandparents explained to me that a country ham was good for years and I couldn't Ponder the thought of a piece of meat being good to eat after several years. we used to shop at an Old Country Store and I couldn't walk past the hams without getting a big sniff. I would try to find a little piece of dried skin to pull off to chew on while we shop.

[@imari2305]

I love the fact that he didn't use any of the pink curing salt. How I wish I had one of these hams.

[@richardcurasirtp1922]

they did

[@fatman7817]

I didn't see where he added pink salt

[@littlerascals4u]

Fantastic step-by-step presentation. Thanks for sharing this knowledge. Worth watching. Very informative!

[@earlharris571]

Looks like I have a recipe and instructions for curing our bacon during the holidays. I now need to build a smoke house. Looks like fun.

[@robobee1707]

Love country ham. I've known of people who say they dislike like it, only to learn later that they cooked the ham without soaking it. Depending on the size, my Mom would usually soak a ham six to eight hours, changing the water every hour.

[@bigal25938]

Were the hams laid on salt when they were first salted? Is it important to control the temperature during the first 60 days? Around here the temperatures fluctuate a lot.

[@quentinn.3837]

Excellent video, really show how much it takes to make a decent ham

[@suzannemuliolis6066]

When you take the ham down at the 60 day mark, what do you do to " clean " it? Also, do you add more cure at that time?

[@cynthiacherry9077]

Once you have cured the ham you do not wash the ham. The ham is cut in slices. It's best if you take how ever many pieces you wan to cook and soak them in warm water. This removes some of the salt so it isn't to salty to eat. Place all sliced ham in a fridge. It keeps for a long time and longer when not cut. When you buy a whole cured ham just have butcher cut it for you. They know how thick the slices should be.

[@hobmoor2042]

Hi Suzanne. This info is from U of K College website. "Some home curers will lightly coat the ham in cooking oil before the summer sweat to help retard mould growth, whereas others do not consider a ham ready until it has a healthy growth of mould on the surface. A scrubbing brush and a mild vinegar and warm water solution can be used to remove the mould. Sometimes small black dots or spots have been reported on the surface after the mould has been removed. These spots are caused by a species of mould that is difficult to remove from the surface; chances are the spots are harmless". Go to www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ASC/ASC213/ASC213.pdf

[@Brett_S]

We use a semi stiff boning knife and trim the outside of the ham. Ours regularly get a very thick mold on them and we find it to be the easiest way for us. We keep ours so presentation is not a priority to us.

[@christianstclaire5706]

great video but it would have been nice to see the trio try some of the ham so we can see the consistency color etc. great job

[@kevb65]

Nice, either you thought my HACCP class or were just part of it. Either way great you guys made it a great class.

[@artemiomadrid7557]

rhis is the easiest video to comprehend. it looks so easy with all the instructions being simplified.thye helpers looked very efficient and the guy was very direct and precise. thanks for a very instructional and very helpful video. i will surely follow this instructions hen i do my ham,

[@actionman9357]

"A Country Boy Can Survive" ;- )

[@Daehawk]

Makes my mouth water.

[@jt7216]

Really great video full of tips, secrets, and techniques for one lost art. Do you have a video on making bacon and salt pork? Do you soak a country ham before cooking it, kinda like you cook salt cod?

[@diy_nailsby_heidi_r3889]

My mother would sometimes soak ours, briefly, before cooking it, but she'd always cut off a little sliver, first, and taste it.

[@robertbrod3691]

A lot of comments are asking for some details he might have left out. Specific temps, humidity, cleaning mould, etc. Check out the cooking issues website/blog for some awesome information from Dave Arnold. I love his show and he talks about Country hams often as well as other cure styles.

[@dochawk08]

I used this exact same procedure and mix. Turned out great! I let my hams hang for 60 days, then smoked them.

[@carpii]

this was a great vid. But how do people age hams at home without an aging room? is there an ambient temp you definitely shouldnt exceed, or it just means youll have more mold to brush off?

[@sviorek4276]

+carpii I hang my hams and bacon in my kitchen. Seems to work just fine. If I let the bacon hang to long it gets pretty dried out and you will need a good meat slicer.

[@davidbarry8035]

You are a very good teacher!

[@charlesbreen4252]

Great seeing the process from start to finish. I do have one question. When you referred to cleaning the ham before aging does that mean that you wash off all the cure or do you merely just wipe it down with paper towels?

[@chefgiovanni]

UK ~ Love you all. Thanks for sharing ! Get cooking !

[@joshuahjfarquharm.3269]

Hamm Hamm Hammmm....when they said UK it took me a minute to realize this wasn't a British research project. Girls are cute in Kentucky.

[@4dogmain566]

Good video...thanks for sharing. A friend cured a ham using this same process or at least close to it. He sent it to a friend in the city and when they opened it...saw mold and threw it away. My friend saw them about 6 months later and asked how the was the ham. When they told him they threw it away...he couldn't believe it. Told them all they had to do was clean it off and it would've been fine. Next time...he best insert instructions in the package. LOL true story.

[@57REDROOSTER]

Verry interesting and informative video... Only wish you would have shown the cleaning of the ham after it was taken out of the paper and resocked for hanging... Does all the cure get brushed off or how was it cleaned? I would greatly appreciate knowing this step... Thank you for your time making this awesome video... Oh and a new sub for you...

[@joebarwick7779]

you can use a brush and just brush it off

[@sovereigns1grace]

I had the same question. joe barwick seems to have answered it for us. Thank you Joe.

[@jamesmiller8910]

My father would cure our hams using a similar mixture and used a white sack to hang the hams in our meat house. And were they good. I haven’t been able to enjoy one since I left the farm. We used to make scrapple, called “pond horse” for some reason which consisted of corn meal and cooked up butchering broth. It was great fried with apple butter on it. It was especially good on a cold morning as we got ready to shovel snow.

[@Sam-lq9vb]

That would be Pan Haus, from German immigrants( The Pennsylvania Dutch- a misspelling of Deutsch)-in Lancaster, Pa. See AMISH Country Cookbook from the 1960s, tan hardback book for scrapple, hexel, mummix, shoo fly pie, busy sister pickles recipes.

[@gaztalab]

Nice tutorial video...Really well explained!. In any case, that "Bag" curing method seems to absorb all the cure (salt and sugar) added to the ham. I´ve calculated the salt % and with the proposed cure and amount of cure (2,5 lb of cure for 25lb of ham ->10%), we are talking 8% salt...Isn´t that too much?? specially considering that the ham has the bone in...

[@aciusprime]

I think a lot of the liquid dripping off is basically brine. It’s a lot of salt but I think it’ll be less than 8%

[@3FAZNI]

It is to much. I tried those and they are very salty.

[@theshadowpeople1493]

I have walked in old country stores in the dead of summer hotter than hell and humid and seen hams hanging of the rafters for sale and they looked damn good to me !

[@antoinettek.mangan7382]

Sadly most of those hams have been cured using nitrates.

[@patkcorcoran]

What a wonderful video. I learned a lot. Thanks for producing this presentation.

[@yanquimike]

To get UKY's pdf for How to Make a Country Ham, search for ASC-213 They list nitrates/nitrites as optional! It covers insects and rodents and hanging temps and more. It's a great doc!

[@UKYAgriculture]

+yanqui mike Here is the link: www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ASC/ASC213/ASC213.pdf added to video description as well. Thanks!

[@bobjones263]

When I was a child in the country my brother would get a ham (very salty) and hang it up and put paper on the floor. Can't get them anymore and can't get good ole country butter.

[@jolujo5842]

Thanks for the education! I have always wondered how hams were properly cured.

[@elliottbrodzinski312]

I worked in a butcher shop when I was 18, now I am 53...wish I had stayed :) …..love the video! :

[@butterflyladeda1080]

Lovely assistants.

[@s46d45m17]

This was a very good video to learn to do this you were more informing than any others I saw thank you this is something I have been wanting to do for sometime now.

[@jerryjohnson2338]

I'm going on a wild pig hunt next week. I really want to try this with the hams. I have a small smoker and I'd like any advice you can give

[@copperlocks1]

Thank You for sharing your knowledge and experience...did not realize it took that long to produce..sooo delicious!!

[@lawrence6007]

This video made me hungry there's nothing better than a country ham in the morning for breakfast yummy yummy yummy, it doesn't look too hard to do so maybe I might have to try making my own one day

[@Allegronaut]

I'd like to go back to college and get a bachelors of bacon!

[@kens.3729]

Very Interesting Method. I haven’t tried a Country Ham yet but would certainly like to after seeing ALL the Time and Efforts involved. 👍 Thanks!

[@tomwolf4609]

Soooo?? Once its cured can i slice it and eat it or do i still need to cook it...

[@julescarney7258]

Great video! Thanks UK. I am making prosciutto and building my own curing chamber. Any help with that process would be much appreciated. Keep these coming.

[@shawnvictorharriman5759]

Try “2 guys and a cooler” he does great informative videos on curing and sausages etc

[@CompanyOfWolves27]

lmao "look at dem ham girls!".

[@markspc1]

UK College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment Nice instructional video. The video narrator mentioned salt, sugar for the cure, was sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate used in the cure ?

[@GlenAndFriendsCooking]

Nope - not needed for this type of dry cure where you allow the water to evaporate and dry out the meat.

[@PenDanger2]

I love this video. I like this man.

[@pdlister]

The girls, the assistants, have names. A little respect wouldn't hurt. We got Dr. Renfrow's name.

[@scottmccluremcclure3916]

When I was a kid whe aged our pork on old bed springs in the cellar

[@cathyholden6442]

No kidding? Bed springs? Please explain, thanks

[@tomohia1428]

The second hang and the cold smoke is for how long, please, awesome

[@diy_nailsby_heidi_r3889]

Second hang is 6 to 9 MONTHS. Light smoke (not needed for curing, but some like a touch of smoke to their ham) is 12 to 24 HOURS. You *can* go as long as 36 hours, but then you lose the unique flavor/texture of a "country ham".

[@seanmcdonald5859]

Nice to watch two Kentucky girls working some big meat . . . . . . . . What? Im Australian and saw an opening . . . . .

[@Ijetskilc2]

As a born and raised Kentuckian, I can confirm that Kentucky girls love working with big meat!

[@TheBill70800]

I'm from Louisiana and i maybe traveling threw Kentucky soon does the U. K. sell the hams?

[@jay71512]

Country hams in the uk?? Why have i never heard of them?? Aahh its a different uk damn it! Would sure love to try some of this tho it looks beautiful!

[@MeanLaQueefa]

jay71512 country hams are fantastic! Try making one

[@billsmith9711]

beautiful and delicious....the Brits should be doing this all the time with their hogs.

[@wiganfan3373]

@@billsmith9711 We make better ham than this in the UK, I actually laughed at the process

[@billsmith9711]

@@wiganfan3373 - well you can laugh all you like... this salt cured ham is very tasty and keeps for months without refrigeration. When I have worked in Saudi Arabia over the years I have smuggled in several pounds of it and my colleagues were amazed I got it through Customs... bon appetit!

[@bigbadtree]

@@wiganfan3373 yeah using preservatives like potassium sorbate. Salt, pepper and paprika sound better to me!

[@megadawg342]

If the hock is the area that goes bad first, why wouldn't that be the highest hanging point to dry it fastest? Hung at the bottom it stays moist the longest? Is it a sacrificial area? If it goes bad there, is the entire ham lost? If yes, why risk it?

[@mneeley490]

Was wondering that myself. Prosciutto hams are dried hock-side up.

[@xboxhuegable]

Why is sodium nitrite (cure#1) not recommended here? I thought it is needed to prevent botulism. Also I am accustomed to wet curing in a brine where you inject into the middle to prevent the inside from spoiling before curing is this not a concern here where you apply dry cure to the outside only with such a large piece of meat? I am very curious and want to try this method, your considerations are much appreciated. Thank you.

[@archovist]

Cure #1 is a quick cure. You need cure #2, which has both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. The nitrate acts like a slow release, so is used for things that will be aged.

[@xboxhuegable]

yes, but here he used neither just salt and sugar.

[@frenchustube]

In Europe Parma and Iberic ham proscuitto are prohibited from using nitrates . You don't need it if the ham is dried long enough and properly. They have done so for centuries. Nitrates alter the flavor of the meat . The fat is whiter as oppose to slightly yellower. It just a requirement of the FDA for some hams.

[@terrygrant3206]

the way i understand it is, you use nitrite when you are going to cook, smoke, or can. No more than 1 ounce per 100 lbs. of meat. Nitrate can be used for meat that is not to be cooked, smoked or refrigerated. WIKIPEDIA.

[@ch_blue511]

There is no need for nitrites/nitrates when curing solid undamaged muscle, where botulinum spores would not be present deep within the meat. If you grind the meat up and pack it as a sausage, or if you poke/prod/slash the meat (e.g. poke a hole and then shove in a garlic sliver) you risk introducing spores into an anaerobic environment where botulinum can thrive. In those cases, much greater control of pH, temperature, water activity, and nitrites/nitrates is required.

[@sesquashtwo]

Dr. Rentfrow, if the hams are hanging in a barn, etc...what about attracting flies...and their maggots, or boring wasps...etc. How do you protect the curing, hanging hams from insects, rodents, and any other vermin? I would like ask this question...you mentioned that the mold was penicillin like...so a question, HAD pioneers of the 19 century eaten this mold..and not scraped it off...would it have actually combatted bacteria? Could it have helped (if dried) cholera victims, etc? Just curious...that if it could have been applied against a bacterial infection...the 'cure' was always right in front of pioneer families...but they could not have known that... Would this mold attack and kill bacteria responsible for Dysentery and Cholera?

[@fookutube501]

What do you mean by cleaning it..Do you use just plain water or salt water or something

[@diy_nailsby_heidi_r3889]

My mother used a very stiff brush and then wrapped the ham in a 100% cotton floursack towel that had been boiled in saltwater.

[@michaelscott966]

Just wanted to say thanks for the helpful information on how to cure build and smoke

[@shananagans5]

I think it's to late for a cure, they appear to be dead already. :) Great information. It takes longer than I expected but it's not as complex a process as I thought. I need to look into it more but we could do this at home.

[@SuperSetright]

All that effort.....and we don't get to see what the final product will look like...........Charming.

[@kevinpayne8708]

Are you using any nitrates or nitrites In your cure? Great video by the way

[@pugsworld9886]

kevin payne yes Gold,gunpowder,salt,sprinkles,pepper and nitrate salt

[@antoinettek.mangan7382]

If he had been using Nitrates he would have stated he was using either "curing salts" or "pink salts". Since he only mentioned salt, sugar and spices he did not use nitrates. People often forget that what we use today was not always used.

[@skywave12]

Yes and Spinach and others. lmgtfy.com/?q=nitrites+in+green+vegetables

[@johnchase4408]

Did you see him instruct you to use them in this video?

[@Jpb6583]

Nitrates are not new, they have been used for hundreds of years in the process of curing meats. Stop listening to idiots who shop at Whole Foods.