Baked ham in the sleeve - general principles of cooking
We are used to cooking fresh meat chops and cutlets, and where less often we eat cold meat. Still, imagine the cooled steak covered with a film of stiffened fat! But there is one way to make delicious cold meat - bake it like a baked ham in the sleeve.
This dish first appeared in Ancient Russia in the 16th century, when our Slav ancestors hunted for food. Having thrown a bear, they cooked a part of the carcass immediately, and a part was baked on the fire and consumed later, in a cold form. It is from the word “bear meat” that the name of the dish “baked ham” originated. Later, the main ingredient of the dish was changed to pork, but the essence of the preparation did not change.
To make you have a tasty baked ham, there are several secrets:
- Meat must first be soaked. The product contains about 50% moisture, but under the action of high temperatures in the oven, it will gradually evaporate. So that the meat can be baked for a long time without becoming dry, the pork must be pre-marinated in a special brine. Most often, water is simply dissolved salt or specially boiled brine with spices. Meat is aged for about an hour, if it is meat of a young piglet, from two to three, if it is lamb or beef. The bird should be kept in brine for no more than thirty minutes.
- Meat will turn out juicy if you bake it, having previously wrapped it. Baked ham in a sleeve or in a foil does not “give up” excess liquid during baking, and therefore this method is the best.
Baked ham in the sleeve - preparation of products and dishes
The most important advice for cooking delicious ham in the sleeve is to choose good meat. It should not be ice cream or steam, otherwise the dish will turn out to be dryish and heterogeneous, with a fibrous structure.
If you buy pork, then buy a neck - this part is perfectly suited for cooking delicious ham because it consists of 30-40% of fat. It is the melted fat that will saturate the meat layers and give the pork a juicy taste and appetizing appearance even when cold. If you choose beef or chicken for cooking, then it can be any meat part, but you have to report the fat, otherwise the ham will turn out to be rather dry.
For a tasty baked ham, you do not need anything other than salt and pepper, although you can vary the taste of the dish with spices, vegetables and dried fruits. Suitable spices are basil, dried herbs, oregano, barberry, hop-suneli. Vegetables suitable garlic, carrots, radish.
Baking time for pork, beef and lamb - from an hour to three, chicken and turkey cook up to twenty minutes.
Baked pork recipes in the sleeve:
Recipe 1: Baked ham in the sleeve
Why invent something complicated if the simplest solution is usually the best? Baked ham in the sleeve will turn out juicy, tender and soft, and the authentic taste of meat will be emphasized by salted marinade and black pepper. This is exactly how the Slavs cooked bear-baked ham, repeat the recipe (albeit with pork) today.
Ingredients Required:
- Pork, whole piece
- Pepper and salt
Method of preparation:
- Prepare the marinade by dissolving the salt in water (approximately forty-five grams per liter of water).
- Soak the meat in a brine - leave it for 1.5 hours (for 1 kg of meat you need 1-1.5 brine).
- Remove the meat, dry it with paper towels and sprinkle with pepper on all sides.
- Preheat the oven and place the deck with the pork in the sleeve. The ideal temperature for roasting baked ham is no more than 160 degrees.
Recipe 2: Baked ham in a beef sleeve
From this recipe you will learn how to bake beef pork deliciously. As you know, this kind of meat can be quite tough if it is not cooked properly. The secret to the delicious baked ham is in the right time for marinating and baking, as well as adding brisket or bacon to the meat.
Ingredients Required:
- A piece of beef
- Spices
- Breast - 240 gr.
Method of preparation:
- Prepare a brine, millet having dissolved salt in water.
- Wash a piece of beef for baking and place to be steeped in brine for 2 hours.
- Cut brisket into thin slices.
- Remove the meat and dry it, then overlay it with pieces of brisket and tightly wrap with threads. Pepper it.
- Place the beef in the sleeve and send to bake on the deck. Baking time - 2.5 hours.
Recipe 3: Baked ham in the sleeve (lamb)
The pork can be cooked from any kind of meat, including lamb. The disadvantage of this type of meat is considered by many to be big fat, but with proper preparation it turns into an advantage. Pay attention to the brine preparation method.
Ingredients Required:
- A piece of lamb meat
- Cloves, bay leaf, black pepper
- Lemon Juice
- Salt and spices
Method of preparation:
- Prepare the marinade. To do this, put a saucepan with water on the fire, when it boils, lower there the cloves, bay leaf and pepper. Boil water for 5 minutes, then turn off the gas and let the marinade cool. When it is barely warm, add lemon juice (1 tablespoon per liter of water) to the marinade.
- Lower the meat to soak in the marinade - leave for 2.5 hours in a cold place.
- Drain the lamb, pepper and place in the roasting sleeve.
- Bake meat for at least 2.5 hours at 150 degrees.
Recipe 4: Baked ham in the sleeve with dried apricots and raisins
“Fat with chocolate” is a euphemism, but in the “high” kitchen they don’t stop to add fruits and sweet spices to meat. If you do it wisely, the dish will turn out to be not devoid of delicate aroma and light sweetness, which does not spoil the true taste.
Ingredients Required:
- Pork
- Dried apricots - 160 gr.
- Raisin - 120 gr.
Method of preparation:
- Meat should be washed and marinated. For the marinade, simply dissolve the salt in water. Meat should be soaked for about 1.5 hours.
- Pour boiled water on dried fruits for 15 minutes, then rinse and dry.
- In the meat, make cuts all over the surface and put dried fruits in there. Meat rub pepper.
- Put the pork in the sleeve and put it in the container for baking, then send it to the oven.
Recipe 5: Baked ham in the sleeve (chicken)
Chicken leg - is soft, tender meat, not overdried and homogeneous in structure. In order for the chicken to be baked in this way, you need to pre-marinate it, as well as pork, and then place it in a baking sleeve. Another secret is the use of brisket. The melted tender lard will soak up almost skimmed fillets and make the pork tender and juicy.
Ingredients Required:
- Chicken fillet
- Breast (1/6 of the number of fillets)
- Spices
Method of preparation:
- Wash the meat, remove the greasy pieces.
- Dissolve salt in water, place fillet for half an hour in brine.
- Chop the brisket into thin slices.
- Dry the marinated meat and place the first part on a clean surface. Place the bacon on the chicken meat and cover with the remaining pieces of meat on top. Sprinkle with pepper and rewind.
- Put the meat in the sleeve and put it in the container for baking.
Recipe 6: Baked ham in a sleeve with vegetables
If you are fed up with ordinary meat, then you can vary its taste by adding vegetables and spices. Baked ham can be cooked and not from a single piece of pork. We will tell you how to do this.
Ingredients Required:
- Pork
- Carrot - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 6 teeth
- Salo - 100 gr.
- Spices
Method of preparation:
- To make boiled pork you will need two pieces of meat.
- Marinate the pork in regular salted brine - soak the meat for about an hour.
- Cut the bacon into slices.
- Cut the carrots into thin slices.
- Dry the meat with paper towels. Put the first piece of meat on a clean surface, pepper it generously, put slices of bacon on it, and then skip the garlic teeth through the press. Put a second piece of meat on top and rewind the resulting “sandwich”.
- Make a cut on the meat surface, insert carrot slices into them.
- Place the pork in the sleeve and send it to cook in a baking vessel.
Baked ham in the sleeve - secrets and useful tips from the best chefs
- The cooked meat in the sleeve will have an appetizing, albeit pale look. If you want the meat to get a little “golden”, then 10 minutes before readiness, remove the sleeve from the deck and cut it. The meat will be slightly fried and acquire a golden crisp. Do not rush to pull the boiled pork out of the oven - let it be there for another 15 minutes.
- Put the meat exclusively in a heated oven.
- Some cooks use a special trick to make the meat more succulent, and the marinating time is reduced. To do this, a piece of meat before marinating, you need to quickly fry in a clean pan. This procedure “seals” the meat and does not allow the juice to abundantly stand out during baking.
