Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [92]
The best generally are those hams that can be aged more than a year, a capability often determined by the amount of fat—the more fat, the longer the ham can dry. The fat affects flavor and texture too. Kaminsky says the diet of acorns results in soft fat with a low melting point, a quality American Smithfield hams used to have as well (when they were fed on peanuts). A long drying time, like any aging, results in changes of flavor.
The general method for any dry-cured ham is standard. The hams are packed in salt and sometimes stacked on top of each other, their weight pressing water out, and typically cured for about a day for every 1 pound/450 grams of weight. The salt, as always, reduces bacterial growth that would cause spoilage, and the drying reduces the water content of the meat, further retarding bacteria and concentrating the flavor.
The quality of dry-cured ham may be most reliant on the quality and diet of the hog. You can dry-cure any fresh ham, it’s not difficult, but if the hog is from an American commercial grower, the ham is not going to taste anywhere near as fine as it would were it from a hog raised on grass and acorns and allowed to grow big and fat (the Iberian hogs can grow to four hundred pounds, while American factory hogs average about two hundred and fifty pounds at slaughter). What makes hams so special is the region, the diet of the pig, and, many believe, the air itself in this or that region of Europe. Size also increases the required drying time, thus enhancing flavor.
Some hams, such as those from Westphalia in Germany, are smoked with local wood. (Kaminsky notes that smoke is used proportionately to latitude: the farther north—as the climate grows increasingly damp—the more smoke is used.) Some pack the exposed flesh in lard or dust it with pepper to keep it from drying too much and to keep bugs off it. Some producers encourage molds and believe they help the flavor; others can take it or leave it. Americans tend to cook their dried Smithfield hams.
Done well, with a good hog and respect for the region, it can be one of the greatest flavors in the world.
SALTED AIR-DRIED HAM
This ham is in the style of the most famous hams, prosciutto di Parma and San Daniele, Bayonne, and Serrano. It’s the most simple kind of dry-cured ham, anyone can do the curing, but the quality of the end result is entirely dependent on the hog, where it lived, what it ate, how fat it grew. We highly recommend this recipe and technique for anyone who has access to carefully grown or organically raised hogs.
It’s important to keep the entire ham well covered with salt during its cure.
4 pounds/2 kilograms kosher salt, or as needed to coat the ham
One 12- to 15-pound/6- to 7-kilogram fresh ham, skin on, aitch-bone removed
1⁄2 cup/500 grams lard
Cracked black pepper
Cheesecloth
1. Rub the salt heavily all over the ham, especially on the exposed flesh and around the exposed femur bone.
2. Place skin side down in a nonreactive roasting pan or plastic tub, cover with plastic wrap, and place another pan on top: weight the ham with about 10 pounds/5 kilograms (cans or clean bricks). Refrigerate for 1 day for each pound/500 grams, checking every couple of days to make sure all areas are still covered in salt. Pour off any excess water and add more salt if necessary. Avoid touching the ham with your bare hands too much; you may want to use disposable rubber gloves for sanitation (a little bit of bacteria can be a big problem).
3. On the last day of curing, the ham should feel firm and dense to the touch. If it does not, resalt as necessary and cure for another 1 to 3 days.
4. Wipe the remaining salt off the ham, rinse under cool water, and pat dry with paper towels. Spread the lard over the exposed meat and pack the