Recipes
Homemade Ham in a Ham Maker

Homemade Ham in a Ham Maker

Name: Homemade Ham in a Ham Maker
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 45 min
Yield: 10 portions
Ingredients: 1000 g pork leg; 20 g curing salt; 100 ml water; 2 cloves garlic; 0.5 teaspoon ground pepper

Jakub SýkoraMeatCzech Cuisine x se líbilo

Homemade ham asks for just three things: a good pork leg, salt and patience. You cube the meat, season it with curing salt and knead until it releases the sticky protein that holds the slices together. After two days of maturing in the fridge you pack the mix into a ham maker and let it cook slowly at 80 °C. No additives, no carrageenan, just ham that smells of meat. On bread with horseradish it is a small celebration.

Příprava: 45min

Vaření: 3h

CELKOVÝ ČAS: 3h 45min

Step by step process

Preparing the meat

1
Homemade ham stands or falls with the meat. Trim the pork leg of membranes and excess fat and cut two thirds into cubes of 2 to 3 centimeters.
2
Chop the remaining third finely with a knife or pulse it briefly in a food processor. The fine portion works as a binder and holds the ham together.

Kneading and maturing

3
Put the cubes and the fine meat into a large bowl, sprinkle with the curing salt, add the pressed garlic and pepper, and pour in the ice-cold water. Knead for 10 to 15 minutes, until a sticky protein film forms on the surface of the meat.
4
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the meat mature in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours. Stir the mix once at the halfway point.

Packing and cooking

5
Line the ham maker with a roasting bag and pack in the matured mix layer by layer. Press each layer down firmly so no air pockets remain inside.
6
Tie the bag, fit the spring-loaded lid and place the ham maker in a pot of water so it is fully submerged.
7
Keep the water at 75 to 80 °C and cook the ham for 2.5 to 3 hours. The water must not boil, so watch it with a thermometer. The ham is done when the core reaches 70 °C.

Cooling and serving

8
Cool the ham maker in cold water and refrigerate it for 12 hours. Only then turn the ham out, peel off the bag and cut it into thin slices.

More tips:

Curing salt gives the ham its pink color and the typical cured flavor. The recipe works with plain salt too, but the ham will be gray like boiled meat.

No ham maker? Pack the mix into a tall canning jar greased with oil and cook it the same way. Just allow more time for cooling.

Homemade ham keeps wrapped in the fridge for 5 to 7 days. Slice only as much as you will eat, a cut surface dries out quickly.

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