Several years ago, before my father passed, we took a few wild pigs and raised and fattened them. Then one day when it was extremely cold for south GA, we butchered them. Made cracklins, lard and cured the hams and shoulders with salt and a little sugar added. We cured them a couple of weeks before washing them and cold smoking them. They kept very well, even upto July down here in almost 100 degree weather. My father wanted to cure and smoke a deer, but the weather didn't want to cooperate the next few years, then his health declined considerably. You need cooler temps for extended periods of time for a good cure. That or a cooler unit of some kind. Keep up the good work and raising those kids as they should be raised. God Bless

Finally been looking for this kind of video no frills no crap, just process, great video!

The old ways/skills of doing things needs to be preserved (pun intended) because you never know when you may need them. I haven't canned since helping my Mother back in the 70's, well, I started again in 2019. I'm water bath canning sour kraut tonight. I firmly believe these skills will be the difference between a quality life and mere existence in the near future. Thanx Friend.

Micah, I remember as a child running into the salt shed to get out of the rain and getting curious about all of the about all of the things hanging from the ceiling. I asked my Dad , He explained that it was Granny's salt curing shack and all of the wooden boxes were full of salt and some had buried meat inside curing. And when they were done they'd be wrapped on cheesecloth and hung. I'm sure my memory has lost some of the steps but I remember him having my Granny show me what she did to cure them . I also remember watching her take the salt out of the boxes and sift it and putting the hard knots of salt in her big ole crank cast iron grinder and grinding it and then placing it back in the exact box to re-use. Each box had a picture branded in the wood of what animal was to be cured in the box . She said you never share the salt between the meats. I think I remember pig, duck and fish pictures I'm sure there were probably others. That salt house stunk, I remember that.... Lol Thanks for sharing and bringing back some good memories. Stay happy, healthy, hydrated and safe. May God continue to bless you and your family.

Can't say thank you enough Micah! I watch your videos over and over. I see you don't have a $$ tab to send money, I would in a second...but it is obvious you aint in it for the $$ or attention...just want to help good folks out...need more of that in this world these days. I am so pumped up to go drop a pig or two down here in South Texas this weekend. We just finished our version of mini smoke house to make some bacons...then on to smokin some hams. Again thank you for being so informative & genuine salt of the earth kinda folk...Kelly

You’re the only Chanel I’ve found that does things the way my Pawpaw told me about and how I’m trying to live. God bless and y’all take care

McGie, I use 6 pounds of brown sugar and 4 pounds of curing salt and mix it up really good. Then, I rub it into the meat. I push my finger down around the joint and fill it with the mixture. I fill up the end of the joint at the end of the shank. Make sure that you mix plenty of red and black pepper to the mixture. Then, I wrap it in brown paper. Then I stick it ib

I like how you are curing your hams I’ve never cured a ham that’s had the hide removed I’ve always scalded my hogs and wrap and hang mine with a brown sugar and salt cure

This method has worked for hundreds of years. I'm sure those hams will be good, and TASTY.

Here in spain are mountain regions that are ideal for ham curing. Dry, cool and always a bit windy. The Alpujarra mountains are famous for their cured ham, but their are other regions too. Here in Spain hams are cured only, not smoked. Curing time 12 months minimum. It's delicious! I don't make ham myself, but I love to make smoked fish. Salmon, trout, mackrels and others. I use olive tree wood for smoking, it's mild and a bit sweet. Before smoking i put the fish in sea salt for approx 12 hrs, than i smoke them for 3 or 4 hours. The taste is sensational i tell you!! I particularly like the short process time. I buy the fish today and we can eat it tomorrow evening. Keep up the good work. Greetings from Spain.

Great video Mcgie. You have good helpers and taste testers.

God bless America!!! Thank you for showing us how to do it.

I cured my own ham for Christmas off a 300 lb boar. The family loved it.

Old timer methods are the best ... thank you for sharing as to how to do things the old way.

I just found your channel and i can telll by the videos you put out you are a great low-key prepping channel. Keep hunting, viva europa!

“ i wasn’t around back then “ 😂🤣😂 awesome 👏🏽

I don't know how I ended up in here but I like it. Hi from Spain

Amazing Video. Subscribed!

It’s amazing what salt does . Good job

Love the videos, thank you 👍

Definitely want to see the result. My dad and I have just found your channel, and subscribed. We're brainstorming about smokehouses now.

Great video I think I am going to have to try this. Harvested 4 wild hogs last month in Florida.

Great stuff. I have seen 3 huge wild hogs on our land in January and wanted to learn how to use that meat. Thank you for sharing your experience.

lol ' we going to smoke them with smoke' Man I bet that smoke house smells amazing :-) Hey save me a piece of that cherry wood too hahaha! Have a great weekend brother

I'm a new subscriber and I sure am enjoying your channel

It definitely looks tender and delicious, Brother! I like learning how to do all this stuff. When I was a little kid, I remember at at the Grandparents, there was always meat hanging in the smoke house. Take care Brother

My Grandma salted hers in the smoke house & then cured it. It never left the smoke house until she was ready to cook. We soak over night and then cook.

One thing about reusing salt. You can reuse it infinitely if you take an extra step. Take the salt which is likely contaminated with all sorts of stuff and throw it in water until it all dissolves. Then pass it through a sieve to catch any large stuff. Then pass it through some coffee filters. Boil the remaining water/salt mixture (it'll kill anything unpleasant in the mix) and after it's cooled, put it in a a shallow pan and let the moisture evaporate. You should be left with very pure salt that can be reused. It's excessive I know but if you're ever short on salt then it's a useful thing to know. If you wanted to purify it further then you could try recrystalizing in a fridge but that's going to the extreme.

great video looks good!

Wow this sounds so good wish I was there to try it.... after it was ready to eat of course ;)

Lovin the channel, cooking this ham was definitely the right thing to do concerning trig. The other ham will be fine to hang all summer since obviously the salt penetrated and cured all the way though. Tie it up in a pillow case and hang it in your attic over the summer, keep an eye on it for mold wash it off as needed. The higher temps in your attic will finish the curing process and kill any “trig”.

Awesome video

Looks like it turned out awesome ! That would be cool you trying to make a prosciutto . I think the Mangalitsa"s will be prefect for that . I hope you guys have a great weekend !

Can’t go wrong with a crew like that ❤, Enjoy!

I have wanted to do thar for a long time but thought it would be way harder . You made it look easy. Thank you . Definitely gonna do it now !

Damn, you are showing how to make old world delicacies. Smart of you to look at how they make prosciutto here in Italy. From what I know (which aint much) there are some similarities. Anyhow, some of our old knowledge in the US came from Europe with our forefathers, then it matured in isolation. I bet bringing these cooking cultures back together would be good for everyone at the table. Wild boar (called "chingale" here) is a unbelievable good. But your method is much simpler that what I have heard of, so I'm going to share this with them and see what they say.

This is so interesting to me.New subscriber and in two videos I've learned alot.Thankyou🙏🙂

Man what memories...granny and pawpaw did this exactly. And uncles in Arkansas still today to this process. Question?, with modernday curing do you have issues with insects or flies

McGie, if the meat is too salty, put a pot of water on the stove and put it in and let it stay for a few minutes.

Hey man I saw old time hog killing he had a ham that was 7-9 years old still good he put malaise brown sugar pepper made a liquid paste and painted it on before he cold smoked it.

I can't wait to see how the other one turns out! 😂

Good job!

Thanks for the video son

DELISH!!! Thanks Fellas!

I saw on another video an old timer talking about putting hot red pepper on the exposed bone ends and holes so that when you hang it long term it keeps certain microbes out.

WOW 😳 CRAZY WHAT THE SALT DOES TO THE MEAT! THAT WAS REALLY MEATY, I BET IT WAS DELICIOUS 😋 LOOKED SO GOOD

I love that hock.

My Pappy would do a short parboil to remove excessive salt. Then fry or bake. Enjoyed the video. God Bless.

Frank needs his own channel!

If a ham took to much salt, grandma would boil it in fresh water changing the water half way through. After that she would bake the ham.

Pretty interesting method of making a ham. Are some hams made by soaking in brine? I could almost taste how good that was just by watching.

That a nice meat hook. I would be willing to try that 👍

It's amazing how salt is a great preservative in older times which had successes and failures, I agree eat the other ham and don't worry about trying old time preservation tools, it may fail and it gets wasted and you could get sick, it's not worth it. I did wonder how different the hog tasted compared to your mangelisa pigs. How different food source between farm food and wild food foreging pigs. Great to see young Mr Frank taste testing.😂 God bless you all

Looks good to me, I have a friend who cures his in a big crock pot covered in salt, I need to find out how long he leaves it

Bet these would be beautiful on a Thanksgiving dinner. 👍

We just put the legs in a pit barrel smoker , taste great, lot less work. Only takes part the day. My kids like our wild hog better than store bought. Do the small deer the same.

It looks yummy 😋 😍 but question, back in KY my papa always had his wrapped in some type of burlap or cheese cloth? You know what I'm talking about? I'm curious as to what it was.

Look at them little guys

Traditional salt boxes will have drainage holes in the bottom to prevent having a brine collect down there and sit.

👍👍👍😁🇺🇸

I've got 2 hams been in salt for a little over a week,planning to keep in there 30 days. Our temperature has warmed to 70 in daytime. I'm wondering if itll be to warm to smoke in a few weeks? I really enjoy your videos and have learned from them! Thanks!

Another question do you use quick tender curing salt vs plain salt???

God bless you sir.

Are there nitrates already in the salt you use or do you add them before curing? I’ve never done a salt cure but watching your videos has motivated me to try!

Does ambient temperature matter when smoking? I live in Texas and our average winters are still in the low 40’s even up into the 50’s during the day.

I'd have brushed off excess salt vs washing. Soaking is typically done at time of usage to pull out saltiness.

How long should I let my hams hang, they were skinned and off a sow that weighed around 90 lbs before dressing.

How long can we preserve the meat.. if we use this method?!! Btw the ham loos good👍

What kind of wood is your smokehouse made out of? Do you recommend building a smokehouse out of cedar? Thank You and Gods Blessings- Jerry M

Soak the salted meat in several changes of water for 24 hrs before cooking to cut out the saltiness

I had to order the salt I saw in one of your videos. The Dunlap TN Co-Op said it was on back order🙁 Maybe they will get some in for me soon.

I think that the old timers soaked their meat in a salt brine for a couple of weeks before they smoked it. The brine would soak in and keep the meat from spoiling.

The University of Kentucky's got some good videos on KZfaq on how to do country ham crib the question is will they work on Wild?

How did you process these, shoot them? I have been thinking about trying this but worried about blood spoiling them since they don't get bled when they are shot.

I thought they only cured the hams during cooler/cold seasons. Not certain the temp ranges. Hope it works out.

Red pepper on the bones to keep the fly larva out

When I’m out hunting, can I put wild hog directly into salt instead of ice - skipping the ice process altogether?

Can you debone the ham and still do this?

Can you reuse the salt after you used 1x.... I like your cooler method.

What kind of salt is used? Can you use Epsom Salt? I was told by a trusted source but as always, would like a second source confirmation.

Can you please tell me if you hang the hog for a couple of weeks first.....like beef etc is hung? Thank you :)

I do a fair bit longer on the salt so I'll be interested to see how long it can hang without spoiling

I wonder if this process could be used on a small deer hind leg ??

Can You Cook salt and make it useable again?

Do you buy your salt in bulk? Where do you get it?

Pepper to keep the flys off the ham

the old timers done it in the months that the temp. was cold but not freezing

Glad you didn’t get trick gnosis.

You got pack the salt till it want take know more salt then the ham will be good

My teacher feeds his chickens chicken. Any leftovers at the school they gone throw away, he will take it.

if you want it to stay good at room temp it need more time in the salt ...its only recently that we get used to eat those 'ligth cured' meat. it will be alot more stiff , chewy and salty. more like european ham cut in very thin slice to put on bread. not as good for a ham diner. but the old timer still did it, beer will help to tenderised it and counter act the salt

Up stay gijt

Can u debone the ham hindquarters and still make hams

Here Piggy, piggy, piggy....oh wait, I forgot he is in your freezer! 😂

I figure lots of wild hogs got shot for food by military forces during The War of Northern Aggression!

I here tail when Your ready to eat boiling Your salted pork takes salt out then Your ready to cook.

Do you notice different tastes of wild boars versus wild sows?

Triquinose 1ª freezer 21 days

I don’t understand? If you were just going to bake them anyway why go through the trouble of curing them

Looks like alot of work