If you'd like to know how to make a simple Parma Ham at home read the following instructions and you should be able to achieve great results without too much difficulty.
Genuine Parma ham is one of Italy's most famous food products and is often imitated, this method gives a faithful reproduction and is simple to follow but both the method and ingredients must be followed closely to avoid spoilage and food poisoning!
It's very important that the meat is kept in an airtight container or plastic wrapped for the duration of the curing process to stop any dampness getting to the meat and making it go bad.
For those of you who have had experience in curing meat you may want to try to cure a full leg, including the leg bone but I would recommend first timers try with a smaller piece of pork to start with as the curing times will be less and if it all goes horribly wrong you won't be too much out of pocket!
You will need:
o 1 piece of pork. Leg, loin, or even belly will do.
o Cure mixture for the Ham, this includes the right amount of salt and seasoning to ensure you have a better chance of success. You can make your own cure using the following ingredients:
250 grammes Demerara sugar
350 grammes coarse sea salt
25 grammes cure 2 (alternative name Prague powder 2)
40 grammes coarse ground black pepper
10 grammes ground juniper berries
25 grammes ground garlic powder
Total weight of cure is 700 grammes, this will cure 8 kilos of meat, i.e. use 87.5 grammes of cure per kilo of meat.
Method
Firstly chill the meat overnight, little things like this will ensure you have more chance of the cure taking. Rub the meat with half of the cure mixture, if using a boned joint ensure that the inner surface of the meat is properly coated, massage the cure into any crevices, take time doing this to make sure it is done correctly. Wrap the meat tightly in cling film or seal in a Ziploc bag or vacuum pack and leave in the fridge for fifteen days. Unwrap the meat and repeat step 2 with the remaining cure mixture, draining off any water that has seeped from the ham during the initial curing process. Leave the meat to cure for another fifteen days using the same process as in the first cure. At the end of the second fifteen days un-wrap the meat and leave to soak in tepid water for half an hour, this will leech any excess salt from the ham. Dry the ham off and leave to hang for 6 hours in a fridge or draughty cool room. The next process is to hang the ham in a warm room for 3 days, (an airing cupboard is ideal).
You are getting to the end of the process now but next you have to smear the meat side of the ham with a mixture of lard and black pepper and then hang the ham for a minimum of 30 days at 15 degrees Celsius with a 70% relative humidity.
It can take up to 2 months to cure a leg joint as if it still has the bone in, smaller joints may be cured and aged for a shorter length of time.
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