The short answer
- A boned pork leg or shoulder piece, injected with a curing brine, then 4 to 5 days in a vacuum bag in the fridge.
- Cooked ham isn't boiled: it cooks in a 70 °C water bath for about 4 hours.
- Curing salt contains nitrite: weigh it exactly and use the amount for your product.
- Keeps about a week in the fridge, 2 to 3 weeks sealed, longer frozen.
Ham you season yourself
Cooked ham is cured pork cooked gently, not boiled. With a brine injector, a vacuum sealer and a sous vide cooker it's straightforward, and you decide the seasoning. Pork leg or shoulder is classic; venison or beef work too.
The brine (for a boned leg piece of about 2kg)
Ingredients
500ml water, 20g sugar, curing salt (see the table), 1g ground caraway, 2g ground black pepper, 2g ground ginger; 5g lemon powder if you like.
Curing salt: weigh it exactly
The amount depends on how much nitrite your curing salt contains.
| Curing salt | Nitrite | In the 500ml brine |
|---|---|---|
| Nitrite curing salt (ready mixed, as in LAVA's recipe) | about 0.5 % | 60g |
| Prague Powder #1 / pink curing salt | 6.25 % | 4.8g, plus 55g plain salt |
Never use Prague Powder at the 60g amount. Check the nitrite content on your product and follow its instructions; keep curing salt away from children.
Step by step
1 · Make the brine
Bring the water, sugar and spices to the boil, let them cool, then stir in the curing salt until it has dissolved; a stick blender helps.
2 · Inject
Inject the brine evenly all over the meat with a brine injector, until it takes no more.
3 · Seal: 4 to 5 days
Seal the meat in a vacuum bag and leave it in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
Helps: RS-Vac bags
4 · Cook at 70 °C, about 4 hours
Cook the sealed meat in a 70 °C water bath for about 4 hours; check with a probe that the centre has reached at least 68 °C. Keep the bath at 70 °C, not above: for hotter, longer cooks LAVA recommends heat-resistant cooking bags.
Helps: PreserVide SmartPro · Insulation balls
5 · Cool
Take the ham out of the bag, cover it and let it cool completely before slicing.
Finishing and keeping
- 1
A touch of smokeOnce cooled and completely dry, 1 to 2 hours of cold smoke with cherry wood gives a gentle smoky flavour.
- 2
How long it keepsAbout a week in the fridge; sealed, 2 to 3 weeks; for longer, seal in portions and freeze.
- 3
Slice thinlyCold from the fridge, with a long sharp knife or a slicer.
LAVA AustraliaOfficial LAVA distributor and vacuum-packaging specialists since 2018.
