Prosciutto Tasting

Hanging after 5 months

I cured and hung half a leg of pork for prosciutto in early October last year. This has since been hanging in the room off the utility room where the dog sleeps. It was hanging over her bed which was possibly a little cruel but it was the coolest room in the house. The recipe I had used was for a full leg of pork so I had halved the salt, herbs, etc. but was unsure about halving the time for curing. The recipe said 4 - 6 months for a full leg, I left the half leg for about 5 months to be on the safe side. I have heard of prosciutto being hung for 2 years so I doubt it can be left for too long really.

The first slice

Despite everyone that saw it thinking I had wasted a leg of pork, I was hopeful that I had some good quality prosciutto. It might not look very appealing hanging up but any of the meats I had air dried before never looked much until they were sliced.


Once I had taken down the ham and untied it, I washed off the lard that I had put on the exposed flesh. Next I nervously pared off some of the rind which is inedible but apparently good to add to sauces and stews for depth of flavour.
It revealed a lovely deep red meaty interior. It was firm but with a little give, just what I had hoped for.


I then put the leg onto the meat slicer to get the wafer thin slices that are the best way to serve prosciutto. After a little tinkering with the settings I got the slices as thin as I could. This is one of the main reasons I bought the slicer and I am glad I did, the thin slices are excellent.

 I am very happy with the outcome of this. I will be keeping pigs again this year and without doubt will be doing this again. I will probably do a full leg this time around. I have probably about half of my half leg left. It should last a month in the fridge. I don't think any will last longer than that but it should also last a few months in the freezer. Maybe if I do a full leg next time around I will slice some for the freezer to make it last a bit longer.

Today I was building some more raised beds for the garden. I have also separated some chickens for breeding so I will be collecting eggs next week and probably setting the incubator next weekend. I will probably have a post about both of those in the next week.

Until Then