doing several hams (not pork roast) have brine question

[CJATE]

i have seen great success curing a butt into a ham. However, I've only done one at a time.

i'm about to do 5.

i understand that it's 1 day for every 2 lbs, so one 10lb butt soak for 5 days.

if i put in five 10 lb butts, do they still soak for 5 days or will they soak for longer.

using deductive reasoning, i can see the surface area is the same on each of the 5 butts as it was on the single butt, but i don't want to mess up that much meat for lack of asking.

i understand i'll need more cure, as that does matter to the amount of meat you are doing.

thanks.

[DATsBBQ]

I've never cured a butt so I'm not offering an opinion other than to say I think the days per# is actually days per inch on thickness. If you inject, probably speed things up a bit. I'm sure that Guru Papa will be by soon with some advice you can actually use.

[CJATE]

this is what i'll do, and report back.

I encourage everyone to do this. i think it's the best thing to come off my smoker, most surprising if not best.

[Papa Tom]

Yes the cure time will be the same for 1 or 5 butts. As for the amount of cure it will take more because it will take more brine however the amount of curing salt per gallon of brine will be the same as it was for one. I would inject if possible to insure a complete cure.

[CJATE]

then i guessed right, I don't think i need a 1:1 ratio, is the hams will be packed in together... I'm doing 8 hams, i did 6 times the recipe 6 times the water same # of days.

my recipe is 1 cup of salt, and I could not bring my self to make a brine with 8 cups of salt.

will report back.

[Papa Tom]

The amount of salt and cure has nothing to do with the amount of meat in the brine it is associated with the amount of water (or other liquid) in the brine.

[CJATE]

then i did it right.

[CJATE]

in all the "how to" research i did, this is the first I've seen of this. point me to a place to read more?

I'm cooking them after they soak, per the directions and my past several successful hams (just never done more then one at a time)

[DATsBBQ]

My sense is that most time cured butts are actually used for buckboard bacon.

Curing by itself does not make any meat safe to consume. All curing does from a health and safety standpoint is prevent botulism. It has the added benefit of creating that nice reddish color. To render the meat safe to eat it must be heated to 155° (some gov types say 165°). With smoked ham / Canadian bacon / some sausage (et al) this is accomplished by smoking over low heat (to prevent the fat from rendering) to the target temp. Refrigeration is still required after all is said and done.

The exception to the above are certain sausages and hams that are air dried over to percentage of the original weight over weeks, even months. These are those expensive meats you see hanging from the ceilings in delis. Its a ph thing that keeps the beasties away and not a heat thing. Yes, I know some of these are "cold smoked" but the smoke is for flavor and not heat.

[Papa Tom]

What DATS said.............................and he calls me the "guru"....

[DATsBBQ]

What DATS said.............................and he calls me the "guru"....

I'm a guru cadet.

[DATsBBQ]

Good point about hams. On my bucket list is take a green ham all the way and do something special with it. But, need the equipment first. I also want to make some dry age sausage some day.

Terminology can get confusing. Witness the new-to-Q person who is surprised to find out that a (Boston) butt is actually a shoulder. I've seen canned "Picnic hams" which aren't hams in the sense that most folks think of a ham that coming from the hind quarters. I even witnessed an argument, albeit a friendly one, last weekend over the difference between a Shank Ham and a Butt Ham. City ham, country ham, whole ham, but now I'm just hamming it up