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CIA Recipes

Prosciutto Hudson Valley – Print This Recipe

 

Prosciutto Hudson Valley

Yield: about 17 lb 11 oz/8.00 kg

  • 25 to 28 lb/11.34 to 12.70 kg trimmed whole pork leg, bone-in (see Notes)
  • 1 lb 2 1/2 oz/525 g kosher salt
  • 1 1/5 oz/34 g Insta Cure No. 2
  • 4 oz/113 g pork leaf fat (kidney fat), ground
  • 1/2 oz/15 g rice flour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Trim the leg (see notes). Remove the foot just below the lower knuckle.
  2. Tie a string just below the bulge in the leg where it was cut, you need to secure the shank in two places so that it is secured very well. When tying with string, tie it twice around the bone in two places so that it will hold.
  3. Weigh the leg and record the green (uncured) weight.
  4. Place the leg on a cutting board. Cut away excess flesh; trim any silver skin and any soft fat.
  5. Mix the salt and Insta Cure to make the cure mix. Spread half of the cure mix on the leg and massage it in well; reserve the remaining mix.
  6. Place the leg in a deep perforated hotel pan on top of a small cutting board to create a 45-degree angle so gravity will help pull some of the moisture out. Place a 7- to 8-lb/3.18- to 3.63-kg wooden cutting board on top to weight the leg down and give it the traditional shape.
  7. Place the pressed leg in a refrigerator at 40°F/4°C at 60 to 70 percent relative humidity for 20 days.
  8. On the twentieth day, spread with the second half of the cure mix and massage it in well. Weigh to see loss and document. Put it back in the refrigerator for 20 days more.
  9. After 40 days, the ham should feel firm all over and have taken in almost all the salt. (At this point, about 15 percent of its initial weight should be lost.)
  10. Rinse the leg with warm water and hang it in the refrigerator to begin the drying process. (Store at 38° to 40°F/3° to 4°C at around 70 to 75 percent relative humidity with slow air movement for 5 to 6 months.) Periodically wipe off any mold or dust that collects on the ham. At the end of this stage, the ham should have lost up to 25 percent of its initial raw weight.
  11. Seal the prosciutto with a mixture of the pork leaf fat and rice flour. Smear the mixture evenly on the rump knucklebone and the entire cut surface of the ham. Hang at 50°F/10°C and 50 to 75 percent relative humidity for about 6 months.
  12. Ham should have lost about one third of its original trimmed weight. It is now ready to eat. Slice very thinly. Wrap in plastic and hold in the refrigerator or can freeze for up to 4 weeks.

Notes: Pork legs for prosciutto weigh in at 30 to 35 lb/13.61 to 15.88 kg before trimming and are cut free from the carcass perpendicular to its length at a point 3 1/2-in/9-cm above the tip of the aitchbone.

Make sure the aitchbone is taken off but do not make a big hole when you take it out. Removal of the trotter, tail bone, pelvic bone, sirloin, and flank-side fat yield a leg ready for salting in the ideal range of 25 to 28 lb/11.34 to 12.70 kg.

The leg should have ample fat cover, about 1 1/2-in/4-cm, and all the skin.

The leg should be as fresh as possible and kept cold prior to trimming and salting.

 

Recipe taken from: The Art of Charcuterie