Salt curing a ham is a straightforward process that takes patience more than skill: you pack a fresh ham in a salt-based cure, let the salt slowly penetrate the meat over weeks, then hang it to dry for months until it loses roughly 30% of its original weight. The result is a dense, intensely flavored country ham that can be stored without refrigeration. Here’s how to do it from start to finish.
Choosing and Preparing the Ham
Start with a fresh, bone-in hind leg from a butcher or processor. A whole ham typically weighs between 12 and 20 pounds. The skin (rind) should still be on, and the fat cap should be intact, as both protect the meat during the long curing and drying process. Ask your butcher to leave the hock end trimmed but not sawed through, since an exposed bone creates an entry point for bacteria.
Before you apply anything, make sure the ham is thoroughly chilled to below 40°F. Press firmly on the meat near the bone to squeeze out any residual blood, especially around the ball joint (the aitch bone) at the wide end. Residual blood deep in the joint is the main cause of “bone sour,” a form of deep-tissue spoilage that ruins the ham from the inside out.
Mixing the Cure
A basic dry cure for ham uses three ingredients: salt, sugar, and curing salt. For every 10 pounds of fresh ham, mix roughly 8 ounces of fine-grain non-iodized salt, 2 ounces of brown sugar or white sugar, and 1 ounce of Prague Powder #2. Prague Powder #2 is the correct curing salt for long-term dry curing. It contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 4% sodium nitrate blended into table salt. The nitrate slowly converts to nitrite over the weeks and months of curing, providing ongoing protection against botulism-causing bacteria throughout the process. By the time the ham is ready to eat, the nitrate has fully converted and no longer remains.
Sugar does more than add a touch of sweetness. It tempers the harshness of the salt, feeds beneficial bacteria that help lower the meat’s pH, and contributes to the ham’s final color. Brown sugar gives a slightly deeper, more molasses-forward flavor. Some cures also include black pepper or crushed red pepper on the exterior, but these are optional and purely for flavor.
Applying the Cure
Divide your total cure mixture into three equal portions. You’ll apply the cure in three separate rubbings, spaced three to five days apart. This staged approach drives salt deeper into the meat than a single heavy application would.
For the first rubbing, take one-third of the mixture and work it firmly into every surface of the ham. Pay special attention to two areas: the aitch bone joint at the wide end and the hock at the narrow end. Pack cure tightly into the crevice around the exposed bone at the aitch joint, pressing it in with your fingers. These are the spots most vulnerable to spoilage because salt takes the longest to penetrate the thick tissue surrounding bone. Be generous here.
Place the ham skin-side down on a clean wooden board, a plastic rack, or inside a food-safe container. Store it in a cold environment between 36°F and 40°F. A dedicated refrigerator works, and so does an unheated garage or outbuilding in winter if temperatures stay consistently in that range. Three to five days later, apply the second rubbing of cure the same way. Repeat once more with the final portion. After the last rubbing, let the ham sit undisturbed for a curing period of roughly one day per pound of meat. A 15-pound ham gets about 15 days of total cure time after that final application.
The Resting Period
Once the initial salt cure time is up, brush off any excess salt from the surface. The ham now enters a resting (or equalization) phase, where the salt that has concentrated near the surface gradually migrates inward toward the center. Traditional Spanish producers hold hams at 34°F to 40°F for a minimum of 30 days during this stage, and many American country ham producers do the same at similar temperatures.
Humidity matters here. Keep the relative humidity between 75% and 85%. If the air is too dry, below about 75%, the surface of the ham hardens into a tough crust before the interior has equalized. This “case hardening” traps moisture inside, which can lead to spoilage. If you see the surface becoming stiff and leathery while the ham still feels soft deeper in, your environment is too dry. A pan of water placed nearby or a simple humidifier can help in a small curing space.
Drying and Aging
After resting, the ham moves to a warmer, well-ventilated space for the long drying phase. Traditional country hams are hung in a smokehouse or open-air barn where temperatures gradually rise with the seasons, from cool spring air into summer warmth and back down into fall. If you’re controlling the environment yourself, aim for 55°F to 70°F with humidity around 65% to 75%.
Hang the ham hock-end up using a sturdy hook or cotton twine. Air needs to circulate freely around the entire surface. Don’t let hams touch each other or rest against a wall. The drying process takes months. Most country hams age for a minimum of six months, and many producers prefer nine to twelve months or longer. You’ll know the ham is progressing correctly by weighing it periodically. A properly cured ham loses about 28% to 30% of its original weight by the time it’s finished. A ham that started at 15 pounds should weigh roughly 10.5 to 11 pounds when fully cured. If weight loss stalls well short of that range, your drying environment may be too humid.
Dealing With Surface Mold
Mold on the outside of a drying ham is normal and expected. Country hams commonly develop surface mold during the aging process, and the USDA notes that dry-cured country hams “normally have surface mold that must be scrubbed off before cooking.” A thin coating of white or gray-green mold on the exterior is typical and not a safety concern.
What you don’t want to see is black mold, mold that penetrates deep into cracks in the meat, or any foul, sour smell coming from the ham (as opposed to the sharp, salty, funky aroma that’s characteristic of aged meat). If the ham smells putrid near the bone when you press on it, or if you see mold growing inside a deep crack or joint rather than on the dry surface, the cure likely didn’t penetrate fully and the ham should be discarded. When your ham is finished and you’re ready to prepare it, simply scrub the surface mold off with a stiff brush under warm water or a mixture of water and vinegar.
Smoking (Optional)
Smoking adds another layer of flavor and an additional antimicrobial barrier. If you choose to smoke the ham, do it after the salt equalization phase and before or during the early part of the long drying period. Cold smoking at temperatures below 100°F over several days is the traditional approach. Hickory is the classic wood for American country ham, though apple, cherry, and oak all work well. The goal is flavor and surface preservation, not cooking. The ham stays raw throughout this process and will be cooked later before eating, or sliced paper-thin and eaten as-is once fully aged, depending on the style you’re after.
How to Tell When It’s Done
A finished salt-cured ham is firm to the touch all the way through, with no soft or spongy spots. The surface is dry and may be slightly tacky. The color of the exposed meat at the cut face (around the aitch bone) should be a deep reddish-brown, not gray or green. It should smell sharp and intensely savory, not rotten. And it should have lost close to 30% of its starting weight.
Before serving, most country hams are soaked in cold water for 12 to 24 hours (changing the water a few times) to draw out excess surface salt, then simmered or baked low and slow until the internal temperature reaches 160°F. Alternatively, if you’ve aged the ham for 12 months or more and followed a proven cure ratio, it can be sliced thin and eaten uncooked, similar to prosciutto. The extended salt exposure, low water activity, and long aging period make a properly cured ham shelf-stable at room temperature, which is the entire point of the process and the reason people have been doing it for centuries.