Place chilled, trimmed cut into a clean crock or barrel and cover with
a cold pickle solution. The pickle solution is made by dissolving the
following ingredients in 4½ gallons of water:
• 8 pounds salt
• 3 pounds sugar
• 1.18 ounce (33.45 grams or two and a half tablespoons) sodium
nitrite (see precautions on nitrite).
Weight the meat down to keep it from floating and cover it with curing
solution. Keep the meat cold during the curing period (36° to 40° F).
Overhaul the meat about once or twice during the curing period to
allow the pickle to reach all parts of the meat. To overhaul, remove
all the meat, pour out the pickle, repack the meat, and cover with the
same restirred pickle. To the extent possible, the cuts should be
repacked so that surfaces that were previously in contact with other
cuts are now exposed to the curing solution.
Curing time for hams and shoulders is 3½ to 4 days per pound. Thus
a 6-pound shoulder needs 24 days to cure and a 15-pound ham will
require 60 days. A 10-pound belly will cure in about 15 days. However,
heavier bellies and loins will require 21 days.
During curing the temperature of the pickle should be maintained at
around 36° F. At higher temperatures, the brine may become sour or
ropy due to the growth of bacteria. Ropy brine looks like partially
cooked egg white. If this happens, discard the brine, scrub the meat
with hot water, wash and scald the curing container, and repack meat
with a new, cold curing solution. If the curing period was half over,
make the new solution two-thirds the strength of the original. If
three-fourths over, make the new solution one-half the original
strength.
After curing, prepare the meat for smoking by soaking (as discussed
under dry curing) and drying.