Ever cured a ham hock?

[bonniethomas06]

Following Green Aura's excellent thread on curing ham, I have decided to make a start on our huge freezer full of pork.

I now get how to cure normal bacon, but have some ham hocks (i.e on the bone) to cure. I gather that this is done by soaking them in brine, rather than just salting them.

Has anyone ever done this before? If so I would be grateful for any advice - I have googled it but all of the info seems to relate to industrial techniques - really, if I wanted to inject flesh with multiple needles full of saline solution, I would have become a nurse!

Thanks in advance for any advice. Now must try to arrange mortgage so I can buy HFW's Meat Book!

[pelmetman]

Can't help with hock but I have HFW Meat Book and his Fish Book which I thoroughly recommend, I might add that we had both books given to us as presents by very generous friends.

Sue

[Green Aura]

I've never done one but HFW did his in salt, in a box for a while, then wrapped it in muslin and hung it somewhere - wasn't it in a tree? Or was that another programme - they all start to jumble together after a while

I think hanging it in a tree at this time of year might not be such a good idea though

You could try the library for HFWs Meat book - it is excellent but I have to be honest, I rarely look in it - it was only when I got it out recently to put in the charity box that I realised how good it is - I really must use it more.

[phil55494]

The other place HFW talks about curing meat is in the River Cottage Cookbook (some of the recipes in the Meat book are copied over from there, even he says so). You might be able to find the the River Cottage Cookbook cheaper as there has been a softback edition of it as well as the hardback edition.

I finally got hold of the Meat book at a music festival earlier this year where they had a River Cottage catering tent and of course the books were on sale (with a discount).

[lesley]

you said you had cured bacon - isn't it essentially the same thing? I'm a novice, but have successfully cured both bacon and 'pig leg on the bone' (can't think how else to say that). There is a choice though, brine or dry cure? Your choice, then you decide whether to smoke it or not (I haven't smoked anything yet). But if you've done the bacon, why not do the hock the same way? As far as I can gather, and I did a lot of research before actually doing my bacon/pork on bone, doing it with brine means you get the salt deeper into the meat quicker and so lessen the, admittedly small (particularly if you're doing it in cold weather) chance of it spoiling before it cures. HFW is good on instructions, but if large quantities of salt is no problem then it appears you simply leave it smothered in salt until its done - as in John Seymour's self-sufficiency book. That's what I'm doing with my next one - I can buy a whole pig from my local butcher at £3.30/kg, keeping the prime joints to roast, then sausage for some, and bacon for the rest - I wanted to save on freezer space so I did the bacon, but ended up freezing it anyway as I didn't want to test my success too heavily and lose any precious bacon! I will eventually get up the courage to hang it up in the larder (in a boiled pillowcase to guard against flying insects) but not until I'm secure in my technique. PS - if you end up salting it too strongly, steeping it overnight leeches out the salt.

[lesley]

oops, I forgot. I read somewhere that you shouldn't try to cure pork that has been frozen. I simply can't remember where I read it, but be careful.