How to make a ham - a low-carb ham.

The other day I decided I wanted to make a low-carb ham. Having not a clue on how to go about making my own ham, I googled around and came up with a few different articles on cold curing, which is just what I did. Having acquired a nice ham roast (refers to the cut of pork, not it actually being ham yet), I used the following brining solution, which came out too salty.

Too-salty* ham brine

• 12 cups cold water
• 36 packets Splenda
• 3 cups Morton® Tender Quick®
• 1 tablespoon ground clove
• 1 tablespoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a big ol' stock pot. The roast will soak in this stuff for a recommended one day per 2 pounds of pork. Obtain a pork roast, preferably a ham roast. Ask your butcher if in doubt. Tell 'em you are making your own ham. They will know what you need.

The brining process

• Trim off all the excess fat around the edge of the pork.
• I got this tip from a site, but can't find it now. Anyhow, get a meat injector, and shoot a bunch of the brine into the ham, especially around the bone.
• Get a suitable container to submerge that roast in. This must go into your fridge for a few days. Me, I used the plastic marinade bucket which came with our FoodSaver vacuum sealer. I slid the roast into the vacuum canister, and poured in all the brine that would fit, then I vacuum sealed the roast in there. That's me, though. You, you follow the directions on the Tender Quick package. I stuck the whole container into the fridge and let it brine.
• So, the Tender Quick package has brining instructions on it. I let my ham, which was probably 3 pounds, soak for what, 4 days after being vacuum sealed? Yeah. Probably too long. The vacuum sealer probably shortens the amount of time needed in the brine anyway.
• Drain off the brine and refill the container with cold water. Return to the fridge. This will draw out excess salt from the ham. I only did this for a half-hour, and regretted it. Next time I'll let it cold-water soak for a couple hours.


So as you can see the piece of plain boring pork I started out with (not shown) has been transformed into a lovely ham. I cooked it in a dutch oven at 350°f. for 1 hour, and left it in the oven for an additional half-hour.



Sliced up and looking like a good ham should. To me, at least. It was quite good, but certainly too salty. After our first meal, I returned the ham into the cleaned vacuum seal marinade container and filled it with cold water for an overnight salt-extraction soak. The ham had an intense clove flavor, which I will probably tone down next time. I'm thinking of adding in some ginger, too. but for a first ham, I'm very happy.

So that's my first ham. It was quite fun. Now for trying my hand at homemade bacon...

Oh, and the standard disclaimer: This info is presented as entertainment, if you use it, you do so entirely at your own risk.