The Guide to Cooked Ham - Friedrich Ingredients

The Guide to Cooked Ham
Cooked Ham from pork meat, injected and tumbled or only tumbled with an
added moisture content of 30 – 150%.
The following guide is intended to disclose all possible ingredients which could
be used to make cooked ham products. According to local meat qualities and
machinery park, results and acceptance may vary.
1. Raw Materials
For a whole muscle ham, use well-trimmed boneless pork leg meat. The
injection rate should be no higher than 50%, which is achieved either with a
modern multi-needle injector and a chilling vacuum tumbler. Tumbling after
injecting is recommended to keep the added moisture in the muscle structure.
For re-structured ham, use well-trimmed meat from any lean part of the pork.
Tumbling is recommended to achieve higher yield and improved texture.
Meat chunks should have similar sizes, e.g. the size of a human fist [4" x 4"].
Different meat chunk sizes cause uneven brine absorption, resulting into failures
in colour, binding and flavour.
ProTip: If small meat chunks are being processed, use 20% of the total mix
[meat + brine] as a fine emulsion. Simply add the 20% portion into the bowl
cutter and chop until a fine texture is achieved. Then, remove this portion back
into the tumbler and continue tumbling. The result is a natural, whole-muscle
look-alike ham without air or gel pockets.
Adresse
friedrich gewürze gmbh
Marktstätte 8
D-78462 Konstanz
Handelsregister
Konstanz
Nr. HR B 1548
USt-ID DE812371827
Geschäftsführer
Reinhard J. Friedrich
Telefon
+ 49 7531 89276-0
Telefax
+49 7531 89276-10
Email
info@ingredients.de
Internet
www. ingredients.de

2. Seasoning and Ingredients Per kg Saleable Ham Product
Cooked Ham
F+F Pro
StarchMaxx
tapioca starch
Smokin’ Joe
only
3%
to
the
brine
1
-
5%
2
-
2½%
1
–
3%
0.1
–
0.2
%
0.2
–
0.5
%
Cooked Ham F+F Pro, the complete carrageenan based Flavour +
Function System for Cooked Hams of 30% yield or higher. Only one
product for all yields. Best cost : performance – ratio due to low usage
rate.
Check Online Brine Calculator for complete, tailor-made brine
manufacturing recipe. Always pre-blend Cooked Ham F+F Pro with the
same amount of salt before dissolving in the brine for best distribution
results.
Starch – potato, corn or tapioca starch. We recommend to use flavourneutral
StarchMaxx, a native tapioca starch, food grade. Use in ham
pickling brines to bind excess moisture, and in the tumbler to bind excess
moisture which was not absorbed during the tumbling period.
ProTip: For best results, add the starch after 1/3 of the total tumbler time
[example: after 3 of 9 hours total]. Starch should only bind the excess
water which is neither absorbed by the meat nor the carrageenan.
Nitrite Curing Salt. If no ready-to-use curing salt is not available, we
recommend to use CureMix5/5. Cure Mix 5/5 contains 5% sodium
nitrite and 5% potassium nitrite.
Mix 1 part Cure Mix 5/5 with 9 parts of regular salt to achieve a curing
salt with 1% active cure content.
Dextrose. Use to cover unwanted salt-flavour when higher salt addition
is needed to preserve freshness and yield.
Improves mouthfeel and texture. Reduces the a w -value which results into
reduced micro-biological activities.
Optional: Smokin’ Joe smoke flavour in powder form, on carrier salt.
Adds old-fashioned smoke flavour to ham products without the need of
actually smoking the product after cooking.
Save time and energy, and reduce pollution by using Smokin’ Joe
instead of naturally burnt smoke.
Optional: Garlic Extra, highly concentrated liquid garlic extract, made
from fresh garlic cloves. Use to round off flavour or cover undesired offflavours.
Long-lasting flavour retention. Garlic has anti-bacterial
properties.
Clean label declaration [spice or garlic].
Check our website for more information, including
ingredient declaration and prices: http://www.ingredients.de
page 2 of 3 recipe cooked ham dated 13.11.2004

3. Processing Information
Photo courtesy of
Maja Machines:
http://www.maja.de
Photos courtesy of
Günther Machines:
http://www.guenthermaschinenbau.de
Photo courtesy of
Fessmann
Smokehouses:
http://www.fessmann.de
1
Meat Preparation
Especially for whole muscle ham, it is highly recommended that the meat
chunks are separated from the membrane by using a skinner. This will improve
binding considerably due to higher protein release of the meat.
Skinning machines are available in butcher shop sizes up to fully automatic
membrane skinning machines, for pork, beef, lamb, game and poultry
applications.
Brine Preparation
Prepare a pre-mix of Cooked Ham F+F and the same or larger quantity of salt
& cure/curing salt. Dissolve this pre-mix first. Add all other dry ingredients,
followed by the liquid ingredients, and finally the remaining salt. Use partly ice
flakes instead of water, if necessary, to keep the brine temperature below 2° C
for best shelf-life results.
Continuous stirring is preferred to keep all ingredients well dispersed at all times
Injecting
Depending on the equipment used, the needed amount of brine can be injected in
one or more strokes. The remaining brine is added into the tumbler, together
with the injected meat. 1.8 bar pressure is recommended.
ProTip: Multiple injecting using low pressure is preferred over single, high
pressure injecting. High pressure injecting may cause damage of the meat’s
structure, causing gel pockets and uneven brine distribution.
Tumbling
Most modern tumblers offer vacuum tumbling in intervals. We recommend to
use 30 minutes tumbling, followed by 15 minutes rest, which translates into 40
minutes tumbling time per hour. 80% vacuum is recommended.
A total tumbling time of 15 h [10 h total tumbling + 5 h total rest time] should
absorb all the brine. Any excess brine may be absorbed with StarchMaxx.
Cooking, Chilling
Carrageenan needs a temperature of 70° C to form a non-reversible network with
the meat’s very own protein, yet resulting into increased water binding and
holding performance. Usually, 72° C internal cooking temperature is used to
reach maximum product shelf life.
After the desired internal temperature is reached, immediately chilling is
essential to stop the cooking process, avoiding further loss of juices.
Store at 2 – 4 ° C for at least 24 h before slicing or shipping
1 This recipe was developed with the best of knowledge, and according to today’s technical standards. However,
we cannot accept any responsibility for the result or lack of acceptance.
page 3 of 3 recipe cooked ham dated 13.11.2004