For Curing Hams

Ingredients

• 3! pounds of fine salt
• 1 pound of saltpetre
• 2 pounds of brown sugar

Method

1. 1

   After mixing these thoroughly, rub the hams therewith on either side.

2. 2

   Pack them in a hogshead, covered tight, and allow them to remain about three weeks.

3. 3

   Then take out and put them in a pickling tub or hogshead and cover with brine strong enough to swim an egg.

4. 4

   After remaining in pickle three weeks take out and thoroughly rub with fresh salt, and hang up in a well-ventilated meat-house for a few days to dry.

5. 5

   After which smoke them well with green hickory wood until they have acquired the color of bright mahogany.

6. 6

   Put them in whitewashed bags, pack away in a hogshead with wood ashes until wanted.

7. 7

   These hams, when two years old, should be soaked twenty-four hours in cold water and then boiled slowly for five hours.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Colonial recipes, from old Virginia and Maryland manors (1907) by Maude A. Bomberger, page 13. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

FOR CURING HAMS {Belmont) For every 10 hams of moderate size, take 3! pounds of fine salt, 1 pound of saltpetre, and 2 pounds of brown sugar

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.