SO EXCITING TO PUT A WHOLE HAM IN SALT FOR 3.5 DAYS PER KILO KNOWING THAT THIS IS THE START OF A YEAR OF PREPARATION FOR SOME FANTASTIC GORGEOUS HOME CURED JAMON
24 DAYS UP AND OUT COMES THE LEG OF PORK READY FOR NEXT STAGE OF PREPARATION TOWARDS BECOMING JAMON
YIPPEE FINAL STAGE WRAPPED IN MUSLIN AND NOTHING ELSE LEFT TO DO NOW BUT TALK TO HER AND LET HER WIND DRY FOR THE NEXT YEAR BEFORE WE GET TO UNVEIL AND TASTE THE REWARD OF THE PAST YEAR
INGREDIENTS
6kg curing/table salt
1 wooden crate & lid 2" smaller
1 10kg weight
1 bottle white wine vinegar
2 muslin cloths
5ft string
1 hook
1 date tag
Take your leg of pork, boned out, rub salt generously all over in and out of the leg, then in the box make a thick bed of salt, place the pork leg in and then cover completely with the salt, make sure that there is at least 2" of salt on top, place the wooden lid on and the weight on top to help compress the salt and pork. Keep in a cool place for the duration of time. A small tray under the wooden box is essential as after a week or two a small amount of liquid will seep out.
2nd STAGE
24 days past, remove the leg of pork from is salty bed and wash off well with cold water, pat dry the rub the jamon thoroughly and generously with white wine vinegar, pat dry and then wrap in muslin cloth 2 cloths thick, this is so that is is just thick enough to protect from greedy pests but thin enough to allow air to dry out the jamon. I tie my muslin bundled jamon up with some butchers string and make a loop at one end then I like to tie a label to my jamon with the date and length of time cured and time to wind dry. Hang somewhere where the rain will not really touch the jamon, if you want to hang in a tree in the garden then I suggest that you place a simple wire cage around your jamon so no squirrels or birds feel the need to help themselves before you can!
3rd STAGE (Will update when jamon is ready)
On this jamon I am not there yet, but the first time you do this it is so scary and so exciting, I had a champagne un-veiling ceremony! When you come to un-wrap your jamon don't panic if there are animal casings on the outside of the muslin, that is what it was there for to protect, so it has done its job. Take the jamon down and there will be a black mould like appearance, place the jamon in a dry sink and cover with lots and lots of white wine vinegar be very generous and scrub off all the unpleasant looking marks, don't be shy with the vinegar, once cleaned and looking rather like a whole jamon leg pat dry and then it is ready to start to enjoy. DO NOT EAT THE OUTSIDE SKIN. When carving the jamon start at one spot and then remove the first full layer of area you want to slice, then remove the outside of the jamon where you are going to shave off the jamon. I like to keep the exposed edible jamon just lightly covered with some baking paper or muslin square in order to keep of flies and I often leave the whole leg in a carving stand on my kitchen side or in the fridge if really hot. I also keep the jamon knife by the meat as several times a day I will pass the jamon and opps there goes another mini slice mmmmmm. Will update with photos in a year when there...
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