Dry Cured Ham
I dry cure pork. Up until today I had two hams quietly hanging in my basement. However it is getting warm here.
Normally the hams start curing right after Thanksgiving, however due to a freezer failure the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving they had to remain in the new freezer an additional two weeks. Plus there was some procrastination so insead of the hams - this year I did two - getting hung about Xmas it was well into January. So instead of 5 months + it was only going to be 4 and a week.
In addition two hams is a lot more than we can use in a year. We don't use one in a year. I've still a few pieces of the 79 cent a pound from the 2007 ham in the freezer. Good taste but too tough to chew. The 2008 ham came from Dietrich's meat. The book Slow Food mentions two sources of meat; one is an Islamic charcuterist in Germany, does it by sense of smell and touch, the other is Dietrich's Meat.
For the 2009 hams I said I would be curing them, leave the skin on so they did.
Why two? you ask. Because Bob delGrosso of A Hunger Artist looked at the picture of the 2008 ham, Proscuitto-duh-Pomona and suggested that I hang it longer. So I intend to hang one at least a full year.
How you ask, my basement doesn't stay below 60, it is 59 today. Ta Da a wine cooler. After checking Lowe's, PC Richard's and a couple of other places, I looked at Costco. They beat both the other stores by over $150. That is a lot of ham. Plus it is big enough for both hams. 
If I shorten the string on the one in front there is room in there for 10 bottles of wine as well. $199 plus tax, ordered on Saturday arrived on Wednesday. A US or Canadian company too. OK it isn't digital, it has a knob. I'm aiming for 55 F, if somebody has a better temperature let me know. It is adjustable from mid 40s to 60.
Later in the year I'll build a top for it so the microwave to it's left fits on top.
The deck is coming along nicely as well.
What is the humidity in the wine cooler? Can you control it?
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I've a meter that measures the humidity, but haven't looked at it yet. I do have an open bowl of salted water in there.
Just checked 7:43 EDT temp of 42 F, humidity of 62%. Adjusted the temperature up and will check again later.
The wife thinks two of these sitting next to each other would be good. One with ham, one with wine. I agree but think the second should be other dry cured meat. I see more of these in a year or so.
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I can officially add hams hanging in my basement to the list of cool things I will do when I have a house. Cheese cave is already on there... any other suggestions??
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Home canning. We can as much as possible in winter to heat the house.
There is also a fairly decent wood shop down there as well as my personal library. The professional library is in the guest room across from my office.
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Personally I think hanging the ham in a wine cooler to cure is a brilliant idea!
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I don't think it is original, and know I mentioned it to http://theyummymummy.blogspot.com/.
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Spent part of yesterday at http://www.cowsoutside.com/
at a cheese& breadmaking demo.
Probably met my next dry cured ham. They raise pigs. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera.
An interesting day, I will probably do it again, simply because I want the pictures and to blog about it.
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I never thought about using a wine cabinet for hanging. I have been debating converting an old fridge but I like this idea lot better.
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That is a good idea, if I had room for one
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If my wife wants dry cured hams at no cost to her she needed to find room for this.
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wine cooler... of what a great idea. I don't care if it's not original, your blog is where I saw that idea first!
Maybe I can cure meat after all...
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I know I mentioned using a wine cooler to Kim at the Yummy Mummy perhaps a year ago, but I simply can't think that I must not have read about it someplace.
Both hams seem happy by the way.
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