Brining & Smoking Raw Fresh Ham
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Austin,
I don’t think I would be able to get ahold of any Prague Powder Quickly. Should I just go ahead & use the whole five pound sack of Walton’s Country Brown Sugar Cure/Brine with 2 gallons of water & little Mascadine Wine to get the 20% pump on this 25 pound ham, brine it for five days, & smoke it for apx. 14 hours to get the best results? Or should I reduce the mix to 2 lbs of mix & the water& wine for the pump & brine on this big of a ham? Thanks, Dave -
Austin,
I don’t think I would be able to get ahold of any Prague Powder Quickly. Should I just go ahead & use the whole five pound sack of Walton’s Country Brown Sugar Cure/Brine with 2 gallons of water & little Mascadine Wine to get the 20% pump on this 25 pound ham, brine it for five days, & smoke it for apx. 14 hours to get the best results? Or should I reduce the mix to 2 lbs of mix & the water& wine for the pump & brine on this big of a ham? Thanks, Davecalldoctoday
I think Country Brown Cure is the best choice when making hams. A little bit of wine would definitely be a nice and interesting addition. I haven’t tried that, but I think it would be worthwhile to try. Wine barrel staves for wood during smoking would be an awesome choice too. I know there are quite a few people out there that do that, but another thing I haven’t ventured into yet.You will not want to use the full 5 lb of cure in only 2 gallons of water. That will be extremely salty. The ratio of Country Brown Cure to Water for making a brine soaking solution is a 1:1 ratio (lb to gallon). Country Brown Cure also already has the nitrite in it you need, so you would not want to add any additional cure, like prague powder.
For a brine, you soak it for 5 to 7 days, and you want to use 1 lb of Country Brown Cure for each 1 gallon of water. You need at least a gallon of the solution, but maybe more, it depends on what container you put it in. You just want to make sure the ham is fully submerged in the brine solution while it is soaking.
I usually use one of our storage containers, which is kind of like a 5 gallon bucket, and make up 2-3 gallons of solution, place the ham in there submerged and keep it in a refrigerator or somewhere between 32 and 40 degrees.
However many gallons of water you need for the brine to cover the ham fully, just use an equal amount (in pounds) for the Country Brown Cure.
Examples: 3 gallons water with 3 lb Country Brown OR 2.45 gallons water with 2.45 lb Country Brown, etc.Let it soak in that solution for preferably at least 5 days, but up to 7 days total is fine too. After the soaking period, then you can remove it and rinse it very thoroughly (helps remove excess salt/brine), and proceed on to the smoking and cooking process.
Let me know if you need anything else!
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Austin,
Super & thank you very much. I will stick to the 1:1 with a little wine. Do you know off hand apx how many cups of Country Brown Sugar is in a pound for quick measuring? I am going to look into one of your containers for the future. Thank you again. Dave -
No Problem, I understand & can relate to that.
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calldoctoday
I think Country Brown Cure is the best choice when making hams. A little bit of wine would definitely be a nice and interesting addition. I haven’t tried that, but I think it would be worthwhile to try. Wine barrel staves for wood during smoking would be an awesome choice too. I know there are quite a few people out there that do that, but another thing I haven’t ventured into yet.You will not want to use the full 5 lb of cure in only 2 gallons of water. That will be extremely salty. The ratio of Country Brown Cure to Water for making a brine soaking solution is a 1:1 ratio (lb to gallon). Country Brown Cure also already has the nitrite in it you need, so you would not want to add any additional cure, like prague powder.
For a brine, you soak it for 5 to 7 days, and you want to use 1 lb of Country Brown Cure for each 1 gallon of water. You need at least a gallon of the solution, but maybe more, it depends on what container you put it in. You just want to make sure the ham is fully submerged in the brine solution while it is soaking.
I usually use one of our storage containers, which is kind of like a 5 gallon bucket, and make up 2-3 gallons of solution, place the ham in there submerged and keep it in a refrigerator or somewhere between 32 and 40 degrees.
However many gallons of water you need for the brine to cover the ham fully, just use an equal amount (in pounds) for the Country Brown Cure.
Examples: 3 gallons water with 3 lb Country Brown OR 2.45 gallons water with 2.45 lb Country Brown, etc.Let it soak in that solution for preferably at least 5 days, but up to 7 days total is fine too. After the soaking period, then you can remove it and rinse it very thoroughly (helps remove excess salt/brine), and proceed on to the smoking and cooking process.
Let me know if you need anything else!
Austin Austin,
Super & thank you very much. I will stick to the 1:1 with a little wine. Do you know off hand apx how many cups of Country Brown Sugar is in a pound for quick measuring? I am going to look into one of your containers for the future. Thank you again. Dave -
Just a note on Brining. I use the 5 gal bucket liners at Walton’s and they save on mess. But for the buckets, I choose the 5 gal measure-right paint buckets which are food safe and available at Lowes. They even sell a nifty screw-on lid for them.
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On the measurements, I measured & calculated the five pound container of cure mix three times & got three different answers as would be suspected for something that should be weighed. However, since I do not have a food scale anymore I settled for about 2.25 cups to equal 1 pound of cure mix. Thank you for the suggestion on the liners & I will look into that too. I tried to find a food safe five gallon bucket, but was unable. I used my typical Aluminum Turkey Pot that I usually use with up to 2.5 gallon freezer bags for smaller turkeys, butts, briskets, etc. However, since this ham was so big, I had to go & get a 10 gallon freezer bag to use for the ham & put that into the Turkey Pot to keep it together. That ham has been taking a bath now for a day. Thank you all for all your help.
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On the measurements, I measured & calculated the five pound container of cure mix three times & got three different answers as would be suspected for something that should be weighed. However, since I do not have a food scale anymore I settled for about 2.25 cups to equal 1 pound of cure mix. Thank you for the suggestion on the liners & I will look into that too. I tried to find a food safe five gallon bucket, but was unable. I used my typical Aluminum Turkey Pot that I usually use with up to 2.5 gallon freezer bags for smaller turkeys, butts, briskets, etc. However, since this ham was so big, I had to go & get a 10 gallon freezer bag to use for the ham & put that into the Turkey Pot to keep it together. That ham has been taking a bath now for a day. Thank you all for all your help.
calldoctoday
Weighing out seasoning is always the most precise, but volume can get you close.
I calculated 9.2 ounces per cup of Country Brown Cure and 8.3 ounces per cup of Walton’s Turkey Cure.
That would mean 1.75 cups per lb of Country Brown Cure and 1.93 cups per lb of Walton’s Turkey Cure.
But, every time you do a volume measurement of cure, it may get a slightly different value, depending on how much is settles, or doesn’t settle. That at least will hopefully get you an idea, if you cannot do a weighted measurement. -
calldoctoday
Weighing out seasoning is always the most precise, but volume can get you close.
I calculated 9.2 ounces per cup of Country Brown Cure and 8.3 ounces per cup of Walton’s Turkey Cure.
That would mean 1.75 cups per lb of Country Brown Cure and 1.93 cups per lb of Walton’s Turkey Cure.
But, every time you do a volume measurement of cure, it may get a slightly different value, depending on how much is settles, or doesn’t settle. That at least will hopefully get you an idea, if you cannot do a weighted measurement.Austin
Austin,
Thank you, I really appreciate it. I am with you on getting a different measurement for volume every time, so I need to try & get me another scale soon. It sounds like I measured a little heavy for both the Turkey & the Ham, but I suppose a little heaviness should not hurt too much vs being light. Have a nice Thanksgiving Holiday,
Dave -
Austin
Austin,
Thank you, I really appreciate it. I am with you on getting a different measurement for volume every time, so I need to try & get me another scale soon. It sounds like I measured a little heavy for both the Turkey & the Ham, but I suppose a little heaviness should not hurt too much vs being light. Have a nice Thanksgiving Holiday,
Davecalldoctoday I would say that a little heavy or a little light will be fine. It would be most important to just not use multiple times more than what you need, and also not just 10% of what you need. Close will be ok, but I would definitely put a small kitchen scale on your wishlist! Hope you have a great Thanksgiving too!
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