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Putting meat into a brine produces a flavorful, moist dinner. This is a basic recipe/method for brining a fresh ham.
Ingredients
- Fresh ham (not stuffed or cured)
- 2 gallons (7.6 L) of ice cold water
- 2 cups of coarse kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon of whole cloves
- 5 whole bay leaves
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 large onion, cut into large slices
Steps
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Purchase a fresh ham roast. Fresh ham is not the cured, smoked product we associate with ham. It is a cut of pork. Choose one that is 8-12 pounds total weight. Ham needs to be thawed and not frozen when you place it in the brine.You also need a food grade container large enough to place your ham and brine in and have the meat completely covered by the brine. -
Take 6 cups of the water and put into a large kettle on your stove. Add in all of the other ingredients, except the remaining water. Bring to a boil.Advertisement
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Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Boil about 2 minutes.
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Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
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Place your fresh ham roast into the container you have chosen.
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Pour the cooled brine recipe over the ham.
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Add the rest of the water and stir it around to combine. The ham needs to be completely covered by liquid.
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Keep at 38–40 °F (3–4 °C). If you do not have a cold garage or room in your refrigerator, reduce the water you add by 6 cups. Add 1 pound of ice instead.
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Keep meat in brine no less than 48 hours. You can brine up to 4 days if you keep the temperature down.
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Remove from brine. Pat dry and let meat come close to room temperature.
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Roast in the oven until done, about 21 minutes per pound of meat.
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Remove from oven and let rest on counter for 5-10 minutes before carving.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionCan I use regular table salt?MicheleTop AnswererYou can. Just be sure to use a little bit less than is called for, mostly because kosher salt has larger flakes than table salt, so a tablespoon to tablespoon measure won’t work. Table salt will take up more volume, thus making the brine saltier.
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QuestionWhat would the oven temperature be for cooking?Community AnswerSee this wikiHow article on how to Cook a Ham.
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QuestionWhat about canning and pickling salt? Do I use the same amount of salt, 2 cups?MicheleTop AnswererYes. Pickling salt, Kosher salt, sea salt or flaked salt will work fine for this.
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Tips
- A cooler makes a great container to brine your ham in.Thanks
- You can add more spices if you want. A cinnamon stick, 1 tablespoon (14.8 ml). of whole mustard seed, 1/2 cup of honey. Use your imagination. Like it spicy? Add in some red pepper flakes.Thanks
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Warnings
- You can substitute the coarse ground kosher salt with table or pickling salt if you prefer. However, you must reduce the amount to just over 1 cup of salt. If you use 2 cups of finely ground salt, it will be far too salty!Thanks
- Do not add salt to the meat before cooking it. It will be salty enough from the brining.Thanks
- Be sure this does not get too warm during the brining process. Although the salt in this brine kills a lot of bacteria, food kept above 40 °F (4 °C) can cause food born illnesses. If you must rely on ice to keep it cold , prepare more brine according to recipe and add in 4 cups when you add the ice to keep the salt ratio correct.Thanks
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