This is an old Canadian Prairie recipe for smoking ham and bacon.
Ingredients
- 50 kg (100 lb) Ham or Bacon
- 4 kg (8 lb) Salt
- 1.5 kg (3 lb) Sugar
- 60 ml (2 oz) Saltpetre
- 16 l (4 gal) of hot water, approximately
Preparation
- Make brine by mixing the salt, sugar and saltpetre in hot water until completely dissolved.
- Cool the water to the temperature of your meats.
- Place meat in a large barrel, skin side down on the bottom and up on the top.
- Pour in the brine until meat is completely covered and add weighted cover to keep the meat submersed.
- This recipe should take about 28 days to cure. After 7 days remove your meat. Scald the barrel with boiling water and reload with the a new brine, made from 1/3 less ingredients, and the meat. Repeat this process every 7 days for a month using 1/3 less ingredients in the brine each time.
- Store at approximately 5°C (40°F). If stored at too cold a temperature the meat will not take the cure, too warm the brine will start to ferment causing the meat to taste sour.
- After the 28th day remove meat from the brine and allow it to dry.
Smoking Method
- Place meat in the Bradley Smoker and smoke with Maple flavor bisquettes.
- Cook your hams at 25°C to 30°C (80°F to 90°F) smoke for 3 to 4 days or 40°C to 50°C (100°F to 120°F) for 3 days. Too much heat causes the meat to shrink.
- After smoking, enjoy!
Note: This recipe is designed for a large smokehouse, however it can be modified for smaller portions of meat that will fit in the Bradley Smoker/Smokehouse.