Salt Bomb

[tongatim]

Just pulled a 15 lb ham off the smoker after meticulously following Meathead's recipe for wet curing and smoking, and it's a salt bomb; otherwise turned out great. I heeded the health and safety warnings about not fiddling with brining ingredients, but really would hope to find a way to safely do a ham that's way less salty. I briefly rinsed the ham after removing from the 7 day brine, as I saw nothing in the recipe about rinsing or desalting. The apricot glaze counteracts the saltiness a bit, but still think most of this ham will end up in soups, beans, etc.

The only "optional" ingredient I added to the brine was a cup of sugar.

Suggestions for my next ham would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Love this site and the Pitmaster Club.

[David Parrish]

tongatim where the curing recipe calls for salt did you use kosher salt or table salt? http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porkn...uring_ham.html

What kind of ham did you use? Had it already been salted or injected with solution? Trust me your salty ham wasn't due to the recipe.

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[_Keith]

If he weighed the salt, as the recipe specifies, whether he used kosher or table shouldn't result in a meaningful difference in the salt concentration once it's dissolved in the brining solution.

[_Keith]

I'm guessing you overdid the injection step. You should probably inject significantly less brine next time.

[Huskee]

Bum deal tongatim, sorry to hear things went on the salty side. There's an obvious thing hidden somewhere here, my money is on the ham already being injected with a sodium solution or otherwise "enhanced".

Chock this up to "that one time I made a salty ham" and rest assured once we get to the bottom of this future projects will be much better!

[Jon Solberg]

Its not salty ham. Its country ham. Crank up the red eye and grits!

[tongatim]

All comments greatly appreciated. This is a virgin ham, from half a pig I ordered from a small local farmer. It was butchered 2 weeks ago, wrapped and frozen. I defrosted it and meticulously followed Meathead's recipe, using coarse kosher salt weighed on precise digital scale. Liberally injected it with my Spitjack injector. Don't understand the logic of liberal injection making it too salty, and do notice that the saltiness of the finished ham seems less the deeper I go into the ham.

Mind you, this ham is not going to waste, and I'm finding yummy ways to enjoy it. Also, family and friends think it is just fine, so chalk it up to my personal taste. My intent in starting this discussion was to find a safe way to make the next one less salty, and I think the pastrami desalination step suggested by Huskee on the general porknography forum sounds like the way to go next time. There will be a next time.

[Huskee]

I always think storebought hams are too salty and potato chips are too salty. But then I'm always adding salt to my dinners and my wife thinks I'm salt crazy, and it confuses me too. Salt is a very personal taste just like spiciness and sometimes you just can't explain it. Full steam ahead though!