Homemade ham in a spiced salt brine

Name: Homemade ham in a spiced salt brine
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Slovak
Ingredients: 1.5 kg Meat (leg, shoulder, or belly); 1 l Water; 100 g Salt; pinch Coriander seeds; 5 Black peppercorns; 5 Allspice berries; Bay leaf

Homemade ham made with 1.5 kg of meat, injected with a salt and spice brine, refrigerated for 3 days, then gently cooked. Serves 5.

Slovak cuisine · Translated from Slovak · October 24, 2026

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Recipe at a glance

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 2 hr 30 min
Temperature: 80 °C (175 °F)
Servings: 5 servings
Difficulty: Medium
Cuisine: Slovak

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Homemade ham in a spiced salt brine lets you make ham at home and know exactly what goes into it. The brine is boiled with water, salt, coriander, black peppercorns, allspice, and bay leaf. Once cooled, it is injected into the meat at different depths with a syringe to salt it evenly.

The meat then rests submerged in the remaining brine in the refrigerator for three days, with occasional turning. Only then is it cooked in the oven.

Instructions

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

Prepare the salt brine: bring the water to a boil, add all the spices and the bay leaf, boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
Draw the cooled brine into a syringe and inject it into the meat. Inject at different depths, as this also affects the ham's juiciness and flavor.
10 min
Submerge the meat in the remaining brine, cover, and refrigerate for 3 days, as the U.S. National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) recommends for brining raw meat. Turn occasionally so the meat is salted evenly.
After 3 days, tie the meat with kitchen twine and wrap it in plastic wrap.
Do not cook the ham in boiling water. Heat the water to 80 °C (175 °F). Once it is steaming heavily, reduce the heat to its lowest setting, add the meat, and cook for 2.5 hours without letting the temperature rise. Then rinse the ham with cold water, let it cool completely, and refrigerate for another 2 hours.
The ham is ready. Keep it refrigerated and eat within 3–4 days, as the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) advises for cooked ham made without curing salt containing nitrites, or freeze it for longer storage.

Tip: Weigh the meat down with a small plate to keep it fully submerged in the brine. Monitor the water temperature with a kitchen thermometer, since it is difficult to judge 80 °C (175 °F) by the steam alone.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Domáca šunka naložená v soľnom láku s korením