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Since it is impossible to find a smoked ham here in Loreto, I decided to take a shot at making my own. Trouble is that one of the necessary ingredients is not available here and I wonder if it's available in the bigger towns. I'm talking of potassium nitrate, saltpetre, Prague@1 which seems necessary to keep botulism at bay and also causes the ham to get its pink color. Does anybody know of the availability of this item anywhere but in the States??

Here ya go, Ed. You can make your own. Nothin' to it.........if you have a cow.


Saltpeter
Potassium nitrate (KNO3) also known as saltpeter and in the 1800’s as, nitrate of potassa, or saltpetr. It has many uses including the manufacture of gunpowder, gun cotton, dynamite fusses and it is a good oxidizer. It can be extracted from green plants, ashes, and almost any dirt except sand and on the large scale from cow manure.

Before the 1900’s people in Sweden had to pay their land taxis in saltpeter; we will be using the same method of extraction that they used.

Step 1: Make a heap
Gather a large amount of cow manure or you can use some planting soil. Now mix the cow manure with some green plant life, dirt and a little bit of ash from burned thistles, worm wood, ash from tree bark or normal wood ashes, The ashes contain potassium carbonate which helps extract the minerals in the pile. The pile is also known as a saltpeter bed. If you can you should mix in some potato leaves so that the dirt and cow manure just cover the leaves; potato leaves are good because they contain a lot of potassium. The pile should be about ½ cow manure and it should be 6 to 7 feat tall so that most of it is exposed to the atmosphere and if you have some straw mix that in too it will help circulate the pile. Your pile should be setting on something that is waterproof so that the (KNO3) doesn’t seep into the ground, a peace of plie wood or a layer of clay will work. Now you need a roof over it; you can use a tarp and some cinderblocks. It should look like this. If you don’t have enough cinderblocks you could attach one side of the tarp to a fixed structure like a shed.

Step 2: Pore stale cow urine over the mound
Lant (stale urine) is pored over the pile at least once a week for three or fore months or until thin light yellowish crystals collect on the surface. Stop poring lant over the pile and wait until you see a layer of potassium nitrate efflorescing over the surface 6 to 10 centimeters in thickness. The trick hear is knowing what to look for, potassium nitrate collects in light yellowish crystals. This takes longer in dry climates like Arizona. Next scrape off the top layer and start purifying it, later when you see more crystals you will scrape off the next layer and so on until the pile needs replaced.

Step 3: Treatment of the ripe saltpeter earth
Poke several small holes in the bottom of a five gallon bucket and place a peace of cotton cloth over the holes in the bottom then pore a ¼ to ½ inch layer of fine wood ash over the cloth, place another peace of cloth over the ash so as to make a filter. Now fill the bucket ¾ of the way to the top with dirt from the heap. While you are doing this you should be boiling two gallons of water. Set a pan under the bucket, you can use some wood blocks to keep the bucket from touching the bottom of the pan.

Next very slowly pour the boiling water over the top and wait for the water to collect in the bottom of the pan; “this may take a while”. Then bring the water back to a boil in order to get the most out of the solution you can add some potassium carbonate. Next pour it through a paper filter “a coffee filter will work” it is important that the water is close to boiling when filtered. “Do not use a charcoal filter it will remove the potassium nitrate”. If you want you can boil most of the water off. To get the fine silt out of the bottom you could use some tape; stick the tape to the bottom while you pour the water out; you could also try using non soluble glue.

Next pore the water into black containers, “you could use film containers”. You don’t have to use black containers but it makes it is easier to get all of the potassium nitrate out of them. If you want real fine saltpeter you should find a way to role or spin the container while the water evaporates.

Important note: if you are going to use this saltpeter for nitric acid; after the water is evaporated you should mix the saltpeter in with some purified distilled water, re filter it and evaporate the water off once again to insure that there is no other alkalis in it like potassium chlorate.

Jesse have any suggestion???

Ed, have you tried Googling?

Try this:

http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=ff...ome+smoked+ham

I didn't look at any of these results, but the first hit sounds like it's a don't-try-this-at-home kinda deal....the second one appeard like it might be more encouraging.

I'm not a ham fan, so whether you fail or succeed, please don't be bringing me any for parking privileges!

Originally Posted by DENNIS

...
Step 2: Pore stale cow urine over the mound...

How on earth would you collect that?

DON'T answer that!

"...Cow urine can be collected by gently stroking ..."

Let's hear it for the Gentle Stokers of the world




Evidently, from watching the vid, she must be in the mood first.


No word on how to accomplish this with bulls.

Dennis,
If I would go through that much trouble, I'd be making gunpowder.

Originally Posted by edinnopolo

Dennis,
If I would go through that much trouble, I'd be making gunpowder.

Hi Ed,
It may not be a true smoked ham, but this might work for you as a substitute-

We've smoked many meats using our gas BBQ grill. Our grill has 2 burners, but if you get creative, it would work with 1 burner.

Things you'll need-
small to medium Stainless steel or cast iron pan you don't mind torching. mesquite or other wood chips

Pre-cooked ham (or otheer meat, this same process works for pork, beef, fish, etc.)

Remove the flame baffle from over the burner. Place the SS or CI pan over the flame, you'll need to experiment with positioning of the pan so that it smoulders the wood without flaming it.
Place the wood chips in the pan and turn the burner on low. Watch it until you get it dialed in.

Place the regular ham on the other side of the grill, not over the flames. If you're using a pre-cooked ham, an hour or so in the smoke should be enough to infuse it with a good smoke flavor.

We've done ribs, brisket, pork roasts with this ghetto-smoker. Even took the pan and chips to the in-laws and did some smoking down there. Their grill had a large opening at the back of the lid that I had to cover with foil to keep the smoke in.

The first try I did was with a ss tray from a toaster oven, that was suspended from the grill grate. That was too fussy to get more wood into the tray, so then we went to removing the baffle and placing the tray crosswise over the burner.









Have fun, post pics!

Great idea Nuts! Definitely going to try that with some fish...

Hey Nut's ... good to see ya ..... with the really important stuff... FOOD !!!

hey wesson...I been around...

yea the important stuff...FOOD...that's where I always seem to end up in forums....:crazy:

But seriously, it's a DIY technique that could also work with a charcoal bbq if someone had the patience.

Heavy pan, low flame to make the chips smoke, enclose the meat......sweet and simple.....


Happy New Year, everyone!