I had no intention to blog. What on earth could I have to say that would interest anyone else? In fact, I doubt that the internet really needs another food blogger. So what got me to this point?
I was in need of a way to record my experiments and online just seemed the best way to do it. For some reason it’s just easier to discuss things over a page on a screen these days than scribble in a notebook. Don’t worry, the notebook still exists, dog-eared and splattered. It just wouldn’t be the same without a book to make notes in along the way.
The adventure itself started with an early Christmas present. With about two weeks until the holiday, my partner and I decided to buy ourselves a small smoker cabinet as a joint present. That led to the idea of a small smoked ham for Christmas dinner. And the frantic research began.
An injection cured ham seemed the only way to go with the very short time frame available. There was no way we needed a full leg of ham for four adults, and therein lies the beauty of the D.I.Y. option. A boned loin section was chosen for the process. With access to a vacuum packing machine I used the method for Pauline’s Ham in a Bag for the curing.
Mid morning Christmas Eve the gas was lit in the smoker, some soaked apple chips dropped into the smoker box, the now cured ham released from its plastic cocoon and placed in the dark chamber to rest and take on the fragrance of the smoke within. Nervous hours followed during the heat of the day, checking temperatures, feeding more chips to the magic black box all the time worried that the contents within wouldn’t come out as the flavoursome ham that I’d hoped for but some horridly dry, salty lump of coal.
Fortunately the ham received rave reviews from the table occupants come Christmas day and I was emboldened to experiment further…
Time 2 Cure 