Making Prosciutto

1 Leg of Pork
5kg (approx) Cooking Salt (not Sea Salt)
1 Tbsp Black Peppercorns - Crushed
1 Tbsp Coriander seeds - Crushed
White Wine Vinegar

Bone out the leg

1). Slit through the skin of the meat on the shortest side of the leg along the length of the bone.  Use point of boning knife to nick meat away until the whole bone can be removed.

2). Take a handful of salt and rub well into the cut surface where bone has been removed.

3). After salting inside of leg stitch it up again, use butchers string as thread.  Use a good tight blanket stitch.

Packing the Meat in Salt.

1). Weigh the meat and make a note of it.

2). into a wooden box pour the salt so it is approximately 1 inch in depth.

3). Sprinkle the cracked peppercorn and coriander seeds over the salt in an even layer.  Into the box place the boned leg of pork, the lean, meaty side facing down and the skin side facing up.

4). Pour the rest of the salt, in an even layer, over the leg of pork.  Every piece of the pork must be covered by at least 1 inch of salt.

5). On top of the salt packed meat place a piece of wood that fits inside the box to act as the box lid

6). Place a heavy weight, at least 1.5 - 2 times the weight of the pork leg, on top of the wooden lid.

7). leave the box in a cool place.  At the start of the section you should have weighed your pork leg.  Weight determines the length of time the pork leg spends in the salt.  Not less than 3 days per kilo but not more than 4 days per kilo, for example a 2 kilo pork leg will need at least 6 days but no more than 8 days.

Hanging the Ham

1). After leaving the ham for the allowed time, remove form the salt box and wash thoroughly with fresh cold water to remove the excess salt.

2). Rub the whole pork leg with white wine vinegar

3). Wrap the leg in a double layer of muslin, tie tightly using butchers strings.

4). Hang the well wrapped leg in a cool, well ventilated (essential) place for 4-6 months to Wind Dry.  Ventilation is essential as the more wind there is the faster and better the pork will cure.

Unwrapping

1). after unwrapping if the ham is covered in mould take a nail brush and using vinger scrub off the mould.

Once the mould is removed you are ready to slice and serve.