Ask your butcher to cut legs for dry-curing as ‘long’ as possible, to maximise the size of the ham.
Italian-style prosciuttio is boned out, so that it can be sliced very finely with an automatic circular meat slicer.
You can make air-dried ham on the bone (See below), but for the beginner a boned-out ham has less risk of going bad, as you can rub plenty of salt into the cavity to help cure it from the inside as well as the outside.
There are two ways to bone out a ham for dry-curing. The simplest is to slit through the skin and meat on the ‘short’ side of the leg (i.e. the side where most of the meat is exposed by cutting from the main carcass) right along the length of the bone.
Use the point of a very sharp knife to nick the meat away from the bone until you can lift the whole thing out. It takes patience and practice but is something an amateur can make a reasonably tidy job of.
Once you have removed the bone, take a handful of salt and rub it well into the cut surface of the meat from which the bone was taken. After salting the inside of the leg you will need to stitch it up again.
This is done by bringing back together the edges of the cut you made to access the bone, to reform the shape of the ham, and stitching it with good butcher’s string.
First use a sharp skewer to make the holes for stitching, and then run the string through the holes with the darning needle.
You need a good tight blanket stitch.
You can avoid the stitching process by asking your butcher to ‘tunnel-bone’ the leg for you. This is a highly skilled technique which not all today’s butchers are up to, but it does create a natural cavity to rub the salt into without the need for stitching.
See you in December for a Christmas Come Dine With Me Play-Along - rate and slate the contestants
Join Come Dine With Me on the official Facebook page!
Can't get enough of Come Dine With Me? Watch the best bits again
Your Comments
Post your comment
Please note: In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in to Channel 4:
Sign In Here or Register Here
Comments closed
Comments are closed at the present time
Comments
Thank you for your comment!
Your message will be reviewed and the best ones will be published below.
If you intended to make an official comment to Channel 4 please contact us.
Comments