Boneless Smoked Ham....My Favorite!





I would like to share with you how I made this succulent boneless smoked ham.

Went to my butcher in the Athens Market and asked him to choose a medium size hind leg of a pig skin on and to cut it my way. That is, he cut off the shank part for another recipe I have in mind, and to bone the remaining leg. the result was that I had two pieces of pork, one: the shank, and two: an open leg of skin on pork.

The shank was deep frozen and the open leg of pork was cured for 8 days. It weighed 4.3 kg.

Method:
Serves a party of 15 healthy eating people.
-  Pumped the leg with the meat syringe with the curing solution at 10 % of its weight.
-  Layed the leg of pork wide open skin down meat facing you and added the following:
>  2 Tbsp. crushed coriander.
>  1 Tbsp. Mango powder.
>  1 Tbsp. Garlic powder.
>  1 Tbsp. dry onion flakes.
>  2 Tbsp. black pepper corns.
>  ½ tsp. clove powder.
>  4 sprigs worth of fresh rosemary leaves.
>  1 Tbsp. dry basil.
>  4 sprigs worth of fresh thyme leaves.
>  4 sprigs worth of fresh mint leaves.
>  4 bay leaves crushed.
>  1 Tbsp. dry parsley.
>  1 Tbsp. smoked paprika.
>  10 crushed green cardamom pods.
-  Carefully immersed the pork skin up with the meat and all the herbs and spices below in the curing solution in a large pot which will hold everything.
-  Placed a soup plate on top of the pork.
-  Placed a special heavy flat flint stone I found once on the beach which fits perfectly into the pot. This is to keep the meat completely immersed in the curing solution.
-  Covered and placed in a special small fridge which is cold and rarely opened at around 4 degrees C or less.
-  Seven days later, took it out, drained the curing liquid through a sieve to keep the herbs and spices.
-  Washed the herbs and spices very well with fresh water and spread them all over the meat (not the skin).
-  Rolled meat skin on the outside with butcher's twine as in picture.
-  Placed on smoker at noon till 6 pm filling the liquid tray a couple of time to keep the meat moist.
-  All in all 4 shots of smoke were given to ham.
-  When the ham was ready the inside temperature was 75 degrees C.
-  The skin and much of the fat was taken off.
-  Shallow rhombic cuts were made into remaining ham surface, and pieces of whole cloves were inserted at the centers of these.
-  The meat was then glazed with a mixture of Dijon mustard and cranberry jelly before serving.
It was fantastic.
Hope you guys make it.
Ciao
Stelio

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