A little background first. I raise Mangalitsa crosses, butchered our first two pigs four years ago this November. The ham pictured started at 45 pounds. We pressed the blood from the leg and salted it in a large tote. For the first week we changed the salt every day. For the second week we changed the salt every other day. Weeks 3 and 4 we scooped out the wet salt and put fresh in. The leg sat in salt for about 35 days and then we hung it up in a room in the basement. We live in Northern MI so November/December is perfect for us to do this in the basement. We used a Sensor Push hygrometer to keep track of temp and humidity, watching closely for the first several months. Thankfully no major adjustments were needed. In five weeks this ham will have been curing for four years. I thought it was ruined because it weighed 25 pounds. Decided to cut into last weekend while friends were visiting. It was perfect! Tasted absolutely heavenly. The next couple of pics are of a guanciale and “noix de jambon” that just finished curing (cured it with salt and black garlic then rolled it in black pepper) and we hung up in the basement room. We will be butchering another pig this November/December and we are going to start another prosciutto! Just wanted to share with you all 😁
by Scared_Improvement_1
6 Comments
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That looks fantastic! Great job!
Looks amazing
Wow, cool job!
Amazing! The color too 👩🏾🍳 🤌🏾
Everything in me says to try this. But the idea of hanging raw meat in the basement for months and then eating seems so wrong. It’s need an Old Italian Neighbour to tell it’s all good