Still have some of my home cured Easter ham-- Cubano time again (pron galore)

[Big-Joe]

Bam you nailed that Sako! Love me a good grilled sammie never had a cuban but need to try it out sometime.

 

[Brad Y.]

:shock:

I get a lot of cubanos in South Florida. None have looked better than that. Sweet!

 

[CakeM1x]

You sir nailed it! Now I want one

I love cubanos and make them pretty regularly. I used to use leftover pulled pork but now I make mojo sliced pork just for them after people preferred that. Now I have been trying to make the bread myself to complete it.

 

[gtr]

Fantastic from start to finish, Sako! :clap2:

I brought my lunch to work today, but I might have to run over to Porto's instead. I used to say they had the best Cubano in town, now I think I'd have to qualify it as "the best commercially available Cubano in town", 'cause it looks to me like you got 'em beat.

 

[kfdvm]

Any way you would share the marinate recipe you out the ham in for 10 days?

 

[tom b]

I'm loving the looks of this, awesome samich brother!

 

[Stingerhook]

Beautiful. No pickles on mine please.

 

[ronbrad62]

I would rename that sandwich the "Gloria Estefan" because it, too, is a hot Cuban.

 

[cowgirl]

Super Nommy Sako!

 

[THoey1963]

I love sandwiches (he types as he is eating a grilled Slap Ya Mama boneless skinless chicken thigh between two slices of sourdough with Mayo and provolone). I like trying various regional types. Finally scratched Bahn Mi off the list last year. Cubano is gotta be next. I'd gladly try yours if you were local!

 

[bbqwizard]

Yes sir! that looks perfect!

 

[Smokiemon]

Very good pics !! Awesome job

 

[ssv3]

Thanks guys!!!

 

[ssv3]

Wow Sako, impressive and fantastic looking as always. I'll take one too!

Only thing missing is the plaintains.

Thanks Sportster! Oddly enough I'm not a fan of plantains so I replaced them with chips.

Beautiful trim job on the ham Sako, turned out perfect!

Your cubano looks great, love a good sandwich!

Thanks Norm! Gotta say my new curved boning knife helped a great deal.

Sako you make something as simple as building a Cuban look magnificent, it's amazing really. May I humbly suggest Claussen Pickles :-D

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words Kevin! :redface: Agreed on Claussen but I was at Sams so I just grabbed a jar of Vlasic.

Sign me the fark UP brotha!!! That sammich looks knockout, and much of the credit is due to that gorgeous ham ya made!

Thanks brotha Chris! The ham def made the sammich what it was.

 

[ssv3]

Fantastic from start to finish, Sako! :clap2:

I brought my lunch to work today, but I might have to run over to Porto's instead. I used to say they had the best Cubano in town, now I think I'd have to qualify it as "the best commercially available Cubano in town", 'cause it looks to me like you got 'em beat.

Thanks Greg! Pretty much where I get Cubans when I crave but homemade takes it to another level obviously.

Beautiful. No pickles on mine please.

Thanks Marty! Pickles are what makes for me but can't argue there if you don't like 'em. Like someone telling me to eat tofu. :shocked:

I would rename that sandwich the "Gloria Estefan" because it, too, is a hot Cuban.

Lol, Thanks Ron!

Super Nommy Sako!

Thank you Neighbor!

 

[ssv3]

You sir nailed it! Now I want one

I love cubanos and make them pretty regularly. I used to use leftover pulled pork but now I make mojo sliced pork just for them after people preferred that. Now I have been trying to make the bread myself to complete it.

Thanks Cakemix! Making the bread would be killer for sure.

:shock:

I get a lot of cubanos in South Florida. None have looked better than that. Sweet!

Thank you sir!

Bam you nailed that Sako! Love me a good grilled sammie never had a cuban but need to try it out sometime.

I love sandwiches (he types as he is eating a grilled Slap Ya Mama boneless skinless chicken thigh between two slices of sourdough with Mayo and provolone). I like trying various regional types. Finally scratched Bahn Mi off the list last year. Cubano is gotta be next. I'd gladly try yours if you were local!

Thanks Joe and Terry! You gotta give it a shot for sure if you like the sandwich components.

 

[BillN]

Amazing job Sako on the ham and the Sandwich. What kind of temps were you able to maintain using your charcoal box setup as you did?

 

[toymaster]

Great looking sammich :thumb:. I hope you didn't throw out that ham bone. That's for red beans and rice :-D.

 

[campdude]

Wow, looks fantastic Sako. The ham looked perfect and that Cubano... The only thing missing was me!

 

[ssv3]

Did you inject the ham?

Nope! I just let it sit in the cure and that's all. This is my second one doing a whole leg and worked out excellent both times.

Couple of Questions if you don't mind.
Cambro is the Tub?
Your cure mixture?
Temp stored at?
Did you Pump the cure?

bacon etc no problem. Ham eludes me

Titch,

Cambro is the container/tub so yes

I stored at a min of 38* in the fridge

No pumping or injecting like I told Dan. Just made sure the liquid cure covered the whole thing. Pretty straight forward actually. you can start by practicing with pork loin to make Canadian bacon (what it's called here) or boneless pork butt. Both work great.

Any way you would share the marinate recipe you out the ham in for 10 days?

Sure. The below is for about 15-20 (trimmed) fresh whole leg or equivalent if your curing something else.

2 gallons of water

500 g of kosher salt

500 g brown sugar

35 g of pink salt (InstaCure #1 or Prague Powder #1 etc)

***Note that pink salt is not the Himalayan stuff but sodium nitrite that's dyed pink to distinguish it from other ingredients***

Bring to a boil or hot enough to dissolve the salt and sugar

Then add the following by eyeballing. More of the ingredients you want or vice versa. For example if you like more peppery taste then more peppercorns or if you like more garlic taste more garlic cloves etc. etc. Make sure not to overpower but it really is hard to pour so much of one ingredient to screw it up unless you dump and whole back of coriander in there or something. If that makes sense.


Here are the rest of the ingredients that go into the sugar, salt and pink salt cure/brine:

Again eyeball it according to your taste

Fresh garlic cloves

Black peppercorns

Mustard seeds

Coriander seeds (not too much because corinader can overpower)

Whole allspice berries

Ground or powdered ginger

Ground nutmeg (one other spice that can overpower easy)

Bay leaves (not a whole lot)

Cloves (optional)


Stir it all and let it cool down to 38* minimum before you place the meat inside. You can do that by letting it come down in temp enough where you can put it in the fridge to achieve 38*. Or dump some ice in to expedite it but not too much to dilute the cure.


Meat goes in for 9-10 days. You'll see and smell that the meat has cured.

Take it out of the brine and put in fresh water for 4-6 hours and change the water at least once during this time. This helps draw out and neutralize the salt content.

Then take the meat out, put on a wire rack in a pan and into the fridge to form a pellicle before smoking. This takes about a day.

Once pellicle is formed you smoke it at 180-200*max until you hit 150-155* IT at the thickest, deepest part

Take it out of the smoker and let cool all the way down

Place it in the fridge at least a day for the smoke and flavors to equalize





Finally you can carve it and eat it cold or you can warm it up or glaze it in the smoker or oven as you usually do with store bought ham. I know it sounds like a ton of work but it really isn't and once you taste a home cured ham everything else will taste funny.


Good luck!