My city has a Maple Festival every April and this year the blue ribbon syrup producer made Bourbon Barrel-Aged syrup, so I picked up a large bottle and made some sausage with it. It is sweet, with a little heat, and a small bourbon taste at the end of the bite. Any suggestions on spices to add in for a more complex flavor?

Hey all, need some help! Got a hog back from slaughter and had the processors cut the hams in half for me, so I now have four 12 pound hams in my freezer. I volunteered to make a ham for Christmas dinner, so I can’t mess it up!
I won a Bunzl giveaway contest on Facebook for a curing packet and some other items, but the curing packet was busted open in the box. I have a few pounds of cure #1 on hand, and of course water, purified sea salt, and various sugars. For a ham, what is the proper ratio of cure salt to meat by weight, ratio to water? I make bacon several times a year from a fresh belly so if it is the same, I’m golden. But being a thicker, stockier primal, and with a bone, I’m not sure. I’ve been a retail meat cutter for 4 years and have yet to have a customer or coworker ask how to make a ham, so this is virgin territory for me.
Also, I recalled reading years ago that using juniper berries is fantastic in curing a ham, so I bought some from work and hope to use them somewhere along the line as well if I recalled that information correctly.
Thanks all!

http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Use this site for the cure ratio. You will need a reliable scale for this. It all depends on weight. Make sure you zero the scale to account for the weight of bowls or containers you are using so it doesn’t throw off the meat:ingredients ratios.
Buy cure salt #1, and for a single belly, the smallest package you can buy will likely be enough. I buy 10 pound buckets, and make bacon 2-3 times per month, and a bucket lasts me over a year.
Mix up the brine formula, put that plus the belly into food safe bags (I cut my belly in half “hamburger style” so I can still get full slices when I’m done, and I use Ziploc 2 gallon bags- 1 half of the belly in each bags).
This will cure for 7 days in the fridge. Suggest using a cookie sheet under the bags in case they leak. You can always wrap the bags up tightly in plastic wrap to help with this as well. Every day, just pick a time that works for you so it is consistent, you want to flip the bellies over. This allows even brining and also makes you feel involved and important while the brine does its thing!
After 7 days, remove the bellies, rinse them very well under cold water to remove excess salt (some people soak them for a few hours, but I never have and my bacon is fantastic).
Here is the real divider amongst the bacon-making community: smoking. Some hot smoke and some cold smoke. Either way it is great. You just do you here and see which method you like more. Being winter, it is a great time to try cold smoking. If you have an offset smoker, lighting a fire in the smoke box is a bad idea. Buy an A-Maze-In Smoke Tub or maze tray (tray holds more pellets). Cold smoke for 4-6 hours based on flavor preference.
I hot smoke at 225-250 for 4 hours. Either way, still fry it or bake it when ready to eat. If you’re great with a knife, cut the skinniest slices you can. A slicing knife works better than a regular kitchen knife does. Eventually buy a decent deli slicer. Keep an eye on Facebook market place in areas where there are hunters. Some areas are better than others to search for this stuff.
So cure 7 days, flipping it. Smoke it. Cut it. Cook it. Eat it. Repeat it.

Forgot the jalapeño part! After it is smoked, do this:
Mash the jalapeños with a little bit (smallest amount as needed) in a mortar and pestle until you have a light paste. You will wear disposable gloves to rub the green paste thinly onto the smoked bellies and the refrigerate them for 6-12 hours until cold before slicing them into bacon. Do not brine with pepper slices in the mixture. It tosses your alkalinity out the window and can allow bacteria to prosper in the brine mixture- brining removes and prevents bacteria growth. Don’t waste product and 7 days of waiting by doing any method with peppers in the brine.