For standard hams use 78-degree pickle with 200 pounds of sugar and 65 pounds of saltpetre.
Pickle Making.
—For sake of uniformity it is best to have as large vessels as possible for making pickle solutions, so as to minimize the likelihood of error; storage vats should be provided, with coils, through which refrigerated brine should be circulated for the purpose of chilling the pickle to a uniform temperature, usually 35° F.
Wilder Hams.
—A ham cure method advocated by Mr. Wilder was as follows:
A very satisfactory method of handling hams, before beginning to pickle is (providing the hogs have been properly chilled in the cooler for from sixty to seventy-two hours), as soon as they are inspected and graded, to spread them on the floor, piling them up carefully, shank down, about 2¹⁄₂ to 3 feet high, salt each ham slightly with fine salt, and let them lie packed over night in the cooler at a temperature of from 36° to 38° F. The next day they are put into process of curing. When hogs are properly chilled in a dry cooler, they come out more or less dried, and the surface of the ham, as well as the rind, is not sufficiently porous and open to absorb the pickle promptly, the meat being cooler than the curing room. When, however, it comes in contact with the fine salt, this causes moisture to form on the meat, which opens up the pores, in which condition the ham readily absorbs the pickle.
Formula for Wilder Ham Pickle.
—Inasmuch as the hams have been salted on the floor, the pickle should carry correspondingly less salt in curing. Otherwise the meat will be too salty. A 75-degree plain pickle is as strong as should be used for hams thus handled.
To a tank holding 1,680 gallons, filled with 75-degree pickle, there should be added:
475 pounds granulated sugar.
90 pounds saltpetre.