Air dried ham

[lameredefromage]

Has anyone much experience with making their own air dried ham. I aspire to the gorgeous air dried hams we ate in france and spain. So far i have one hanging which is due to be opened in two weeks. sneak previews suggest its pretty good.
I have a pig to dispatch next week and want to try another two.
My question really is can i freeze them then salt and hang them at the beginning of next winter or the freezing ruin them. Our summers are really too hot to be able to hang a ham during summer. My current one has been hanging since mid april and is now feeling great. I will peek at it next week.
Thanks for any help.

[kai]

air dried - yum! only ever done one. My suggestion it to do the usual plonk in salt for a week, they dry it. Freeze after drying not before.

[Kate]

I can't help with your question but I'm very interested in how your ham turns out, I loved jamon serrano when we were in Spain and was considering trying to air dry a ham.

The recipe I've found says

The adoption of new technologies and health requirements has led to improved ham quality, but the experience and know-how of ham experts, in a tradition passed down over the centuries from father to son, continues to be essential.
Preparation of hams is a 4-stage process:

1. Salting and washing
2. Resting period
3. Drying and maturation
4. Cellar phase (bodega)

Salting and washing. After pigs are slaughtered, hams are covered with sea salt for a week or ten days, depending on weight. Temperature of the room needs to be between 1º and 5º C, and relative humidity is usually kept around 80 or 90%. After this period the hams are washed in lukewarm water to remove salt crystals from the surface.
Resting period. Once washed, the hams are kept for 30 to 60 days in rooms at a temperature between 3º and 6º C and a relative humidity of 80 or 90%. During this period the salt penetrates the pieces uniformly, enhancing dehydration and conservation. This process gives hams a significantly denser consistency.
Drying and maturation. During this period hams are moved to a "secadero", or natural drying area, where temperature and humidity are controlled, essentially with ventilation mechanisms. Temperature ranges from 15º to 30º C for the 6 to 9 month drying period, during which hams continue to lose moisture, and "sweating" - dissemination of fat throughout the muscle fibres, which then retain the aroma they have acquired - also occurs. The final flavour and aromas begin to develop during this stage, due to a series of changes that occur in the protein and fat of these hams.
Bodega phase. Hams are hung in cellars, or bodegas, for at least 6 and up to a maximum of 30 months. Temperature may range between 10º and 20º C, and relative humidity, between 60 and 80%. During this phase, hams continue to undergo the biochemical processes initiated during the curing process, enhanced by microbial flora which give them their particular aroma and final flavour.

I'm not sure how I can get the right conditions for the drying phase...

Cheers
Kate

[lameredefromage]

Thanks Kate
We can manage the drying conditions in winter but not in summer. This little pig has been perfecting these hams for a while now and has been fed on acorns for the last while too. I think i have no choice but to freeze immediately adn then take my chances with the effects of that and salt and dry etc next winter.
My first try we will taste next week. it has been drying only six months but is really nice and firm. I got the process wrong for the first one and hadn't decided to air dry until after i had already brined it. I know it needs to be dry salted rather than brined to air dry but as yet have been unable to work out why (other than the obvious why wet something if your goal is to have it dry!) and against the odds it seems to have worked (fingers crossed).
I will let you know how it tastes next week. We are impatient and will skip phase 4!! perhaps next time we will be more patient at least with one of the two hams.

[lameredefromage]

by the way, piggy who is due to depart tomorrow is called serrano (jambon de..). His destiny was determined some time ago!

[Andrea]

What breed of pig are you turning into these lovely-sounding hams?

[lameredefromage]

Saddlebacks!! not quite your traditional iberian pig breed but a pretty good all rounder.

[Blueberry]

both the brining and the dry salting serve to pull the water out of the meat - the water in the cells is replaced by salt, which inhibits deterioration of the meat. Obviously, as stated, dry salting makes more sense if the end result is a dry ham. Rubbing dry in a mix of salt and herbs is the traditional method in Switzerland, where this process has been used for centuries to preserve meat - not just ham, but beef, venison and sausages as well. I would not dare to try it in Northland, whereas the mountains of the South make perfect sense - in the winter months! Temperature, relative humidity and airflow have to be carefully watched, and you need to be 150% certain that no insects can get to the meat.