Bone-in Fresh Ham for Processing Prosciutto?

[K Haberer]

Has anyone used the UMAi dry bags for processing real prosciutto? I would really like to process a couple fresh hams to make prosciutto here at home. I have some perfect plastic containers for the salt brine and weighting process that fit right in the refrigerator. Hanging/drying is another matter.

Jerry

[Jim]

Hi Jerry,

A while back about 2 years ago a customer wrote to us this:
This is home hade prosciutto that I made with your bags and aged about 7 months I just thought I would let you know I didn’t see anybody talking about prosciutto.

and sent these pictures:

[K Haberer]

Thanks Jim

The ham in the picture appeared to be bone-in. I assume that customer went through the four-week brine cycle. rinsed the ham, covered with black pepper and just put it in the bag. The large 16 x 28 bag would seem to work well. for a reasonable sized ham. I have seen hanging hams where the exposed meat was covered with lard to keep the meat surface more supple and edible.. Refrigerator is filled with other stuff right now, but I am planning ahead.

I could hang in the garage during the winter months here but it gets just too hot here for that in the summer months.

Jerry

[Joseph Czerniawski]

I started 21lb ham for prosciutto 12/29/15. I cured for 55 days based on 17.5lbs after I deboned it (3 days per lb). Then rinsed and equalized for 30 days before putting in the largest UMAI bag enclosed in netting. Hung in the garage until April 30, 2016 and placed into my curing chamber for the summer months. I’ll hang it back in the garage after the summer when the garage temps stay below 60F. I might taste it for this Christmas season, but will decide after checking the weight loss & feel. I was thinking of starting a bone in ham soon, so I can leave it out all year round, I figure if I start soon, it should be safe to leave next summer.

Btw, I used a ham press I picked up from The Sausagemaker.com for the first couple months.

[K Haberer]

Thanks for the additional information. This gives me some more to work with. December sounds like a good time to get started with the curing. In Italy they most often leave the bone in while curing Something else to consider.

Jerry

[Joseph Czerniawski]

Jerry, I’m not sure where you are, but I’m in North East Pennsylvania. I wanted to start earlier last year but time & life got in the way. I figure I should start my next one real soon since it stays in the refrigerator during the curing period for about 2 months and another month of equalization in a little warmer temp of around 48f. So by the time it goes to hanging it will be near fall and I think it can stay out the whole time (all 4 seasons) because it should be dry & cured enough by next spring to stay out through the summer like they do in Europe.

One other tip, I kept the ham in a meat lug that was placed in a “loosely closed” clean scent-free plastic bag during curing mode and equalization mode. I did this to keep th humidity high to prevent “case hardening” as my refrigerator has no humidity control. Of course I opened rhe bag for air exchange pretty frequently.

And, being this is my first prosciutto, I boned it out and stitched it closed after curing and placed into the Umai bag; but I still wont know if my procedures worked until after another 5 or more months. Regardless of that, I still plan on doing a bone-in one next.

[K Haberer]

I’m in northern Arizona at an elevation of 5000 feet. It’s nice and cool here in the winter, but summers can get a lot hotter than northern Italy. 96 degrees in the garage! I’ll just keep stuff in the refrigerator when the warmer weather arrives!

Jerry.

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