Well that was clever, wasn't it?

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Well that was clever, wasn't it?
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Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 8:36 am Post subject: Well that was clever, wasn't it?

A few months ago I had the idea to make a ham, so off I went to my dealer (Savin Hill, as featured on 'On Your Farm' Sunday just gone) and ordered a leg. 21 days in salt, and 3 months in my back bedroom and it's ready. The edges are a a bit more like biltong, but the inside is lovely, dark, dry-cured ham.

Problem is, there's only me in the house and a whole leg of ham to get through!

Anyone else had a bright idea that's proved a bit 'interesting' once complete?

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28250
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 8:46 am Post subject:
Certainly will confess to going a little overboard with smoking stuff and probably numerous other little things as well if I think hard enough.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 8:54 am Post subject:
Well done on making the real thing. A good air-dried ham is my Holy Grail at the moment. You could slice it up, package well and freeze. I often freeze parma ham and the like.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 9:13 am Post subject:
I have a huge batch of gravad mackerel, that I made and froze in one huge portion. I was in a rush to go away so bunged it in the freezer, how i wish i had taken 10 minutes to pake it in batches.

bagpuss

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 10507
Location: cambridge

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 9:20 am Post subject:

I did this with sausages

They were being take on holiday and would of fed us for breakfast (There were 10 of us) but we didn't use that batch in the end so I used them this weekend when I was entertaing, this was how I used possible 2kg os sausages in one weekend

We made sausage casserole on friday night and froze half
Saturday lunch some of them got turned into little pattie with coriander, shallots, garlic and chilli
Saturday dinner, baked about 10 and added to a jamablaya (That would be a good use for some of the ham!)
Sunday breakfast, sausage sandwiches
Sunday dinner, the remaing pattie mix used in a stirfry

boff

Joined: 23 Mar 2005
Posts: 354
Location: Still alive and kicking

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 11:07 am Post subject: Re: Well that was clever, wasn't it?

Northern_Lad wrote:

Anyone else had a bright idea that's proved a bit 'interesting' once complete?

We have a large quantity of frozen leek and potato soup, just the thing in this cold weather..!!

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 11:22 am Post subject:

Planting more courgette seedlings out when it looked like the first ones had died in a late frost seemed like a good idea at the time.

A whole row of red cabbages seemed like a good idea at the time.

16 runner beans on 4 little pyramids with net above those for them to continue growing onto... also seemed like a good idea at the time.

First time I encountered a ring of giant puffballs and picked three of them. That seemed like a great idea for the first day or so.

So many times I've bought things in bulk because they were cheap then wondered where the hell to store them.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 11:30 am Post subject:
You would also be amazed at how much brawn you can make from one pig's head. And it doesn't freeze.

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 1:01 pm Post subject:
I thought I would have a dabble with brewing my own wine and beer, and answered a posting in Freecycle. Now I have TWELVE DEMI-JOHNS.

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 05 9:15 am Post subject:
Judith: I have no trouble freezing brawn. What happens to yours? I just had to make a huge batch of sasages, and as the meat had been frozen, I then had to cook them all before I could re-freeze them!

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 05 9:56 am Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

Judith: I have no trouble freezing brawn. What happens to yours?

Can you really? All my books say not to freeze anything with aspic - I assumed it did strange things to the jelly. I'll have to try it then next time if the jelly survives OK.

twoscoops

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1924
Location: Warwickshire

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 05 10:12 am Post subject: Re: Well that was clever, wasn't it?

Northern_Lad wrote:

What interests me is that it only took three months to dry. Mine has been hanging in the garage since December and still isn't ready.

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 05 10:31 am Post subject: Re: Well that was clever, wasn't it?

Twoscoops wrote:

What interests me is that it only took three months to dry. Mine has been hanging in the garage since December and still isn't ready.

I believe it depends on a number of things.

My leg was 6.5Kg of free-range British Middle White pork, tunnel-boned and left un-tied. I then put it in a box of salt with a weight on it for 23/34 days, by which time it was about 3 inches thick. Rinced it in running water and enbalmed it with white-win vinigar. I then double-wrapped it in muslin and hung it from a perling in my back room. As I was doing it in summer, I left the window open and placed a fan about a meter away (but not directly at it) to keep the airflow going. After 2 months I took it down to check it out (looked good, but still slightly flexible), and re-hung it the other way up. Took it down on Monday, and examined. Slight white bloom all over, and the fat's gone a creamy yellow colour. The end was very dry and salty, but the flesh is much softer, and very dark.

twoscoops

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1924
Location: Warwickshire

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 05 10:33 am Post subject:
That will explain it - mine is much bigger.

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 05 10:39 am Post subject:

Twoscoops wrote:

That will explain it - mine is much bigger.

Brag, brag, brag.
Yours may be bigger, but I can use mine now.

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