written 4/15/2024, updated 7/21/2025
What
Making deli meat at home by combining different cuts of meat (can be same kind of meat or a mixture) with and without a Ham Maker
Why
Ability to control what’s put inside your own cold cuts, and can be cheaper
Time and Effort
Time: A few hours
Effort: Easy
Ingredients
Meat
Seasonings
Supplies
Mixing Bowls
Cutting Board
Knives/Meat Grinder/Processor
Ham Maker
Plastic Wrap/Sausage Wrapping
Foil
Pot/Rice Cooker/Oven
Ham Maker Method
Using a Ham Maker is really the easiest way to make a formed meat, especially if you want to mix several cuts or meats together. It can also be used without mixing meats or grinding them. Ham Makers make the wrapping step a cinch.
Ingredients and Supplies
Meat, Seasonings, Water, Ham Maker, Cooking Bag, Tall Pot, Pot Thermometer, Stove, Refrigerator
Time
30 minutes Prep + 2 hours Cook + overnight Chill
Process
- Wash your Ham Maker if you haven’t
- Fill a tall pot with Water, and heat it up on the stove (Target: 182-195F)
- Choose your meat:
Whole Meat – an entire piece of meat, uncut (e.g. pork loin, pork shoulder, whole breast)
Mixed Meat – a formed mash of different cuts or combinations of meat types
- Prepare your selection by removing veins, bones, and sinews. Decide if you want to keep, and how much, any fat
- If using a meat mixture, chop, mince, grind, process, or any combination as desired
- Season your choice of meat, to taste
- Allow to set for a few minutes
- In the meantime, line the Ham Maker with a Cooking Bag
- When ready, place meat into the canister
- Twist the top of the bag closed
- Close the Ham Maker with the press and lid, then insert the thermometer
- When water in the pot reaches between 180 – 195F, place the full Ham Maker in the water, making sure the water level sits above the fill line of the meat inside
- Keep the temperature steady (I set my gas stove low-medium)
- Cook until internal temperature reaches the safe cooking temperature for your meat choice, about 2 hours
- Place the hot Ham Maker on a hot pad in the refrigerator and cool overnight
- When fully cooled, run canister under warm water to release the meat
Slice and Enjoy!
Pictures!!
Ta-DAAA!! The hole is where both the twist top of the plastic and the thermometer when in. You can see the texture differences from the different cuts/processing of the meat. Delicious!
No Ham Maker Methods
Sous Vide and Smoked are two methods of making this. If you don’t have a sous vide device, there are alternatives
Sous Vide Method
There are different ways to sous vide without actually using a sous vide device. You can use an oven, a Dutch oven or a pot, and even a rice cooker.
Ingredients and Supplies
Meat, Seasonings, Mixing Bowls, Water, Pot/Oven/Rice Cooker, Thermometer, Refrigerator
Time
35 minutes Prep + 2 hours Cook + Chill
Prepare Meat
*Pictures below
- Remove any veins, sinews, and bones. Remove or use fat as desired
- Choose your meat:
Whole Meat – an entire piece of meat, uncut (e.g. pork loin, pork shoulder, whole breast)
Mixed Meat – a formed mash of different cuts or combinations of meat types
- If using Mixed Meat, prepare a [diced: minced: ground] meat ratio of [¾ : ½ : ⅓ lb] or [350 : 250 : 150 g]
- Season the meat, to taste (If desired, season each texture a bit differently for a combined complex flavor)
Wrap
- Set out a double layer of plastic wrap and sprinkle half with smoked paprika and whatever else you’d like
- Turn out meat mixture
- Tightly roll into desired shape and size
NOTE: Make sure wrapped meat log(s) will fit into your cooking implement so it can be covered in water!
- Secure the ends
Cooking
Here are 3 methods of cooking the meat ham without dedicated Sous Vide equipment
Pot Method
- Fill with water
- Bring water to a boil
- Place meat log into the water (make sure meat is and will be fully submerged the whole time)
- Bring to a boil again
- Turn off heat and place lid tightly on top
- Leave for 45 minutes to 1 hour
- Check for doneness with thermometer
- Repeat if necessary
- When done, let cool and enjoy, or chill in refrigerator
Oven Method
- Preheat oven to 215 – 220F (100C)
- Select a deep dish or oven safe pot
- Boil enough water to fill
- Pour in boiling water
- Place meat log
- Cover with parchment paper
- Cover that in foil and/or a tight lid
- Cook for 1-3 hours until 160F (75C)
- Remove from oven
- Place in an ice bath and/or refrigerator until internal temperature is 50F (10C)
Rice Cooker Method
- Boil water
- Pour boiled water into rice cooker
- Using a thermometer, mix in cold water until water temperature is somewhere between 175-195F
- Place meat log into water
- Close
- Set rice cooker to Keep Warm
- Cook for about 2 hours
- Be sure temperature is safe for choice of meat
- Let cool then enjoy or chill in refrigerator
Pictures (Oven Method)
Smoker Method
This method uses a meat grinder then a meat smoker. You can use a dedicated meat grinder, a meat grinding attachment for a stand mixer, or even just a food processor
Prepare Meat
- Decide on ratio of meat cuts (e.g. [½ : ½] ratio of [skinned chicken thigh : skinless chicken breast])
- Cut into small pieces
Grind/Process
- Grind/Process 1st time
- Grind/Process 2nd time
- Add any desired seasonings and half of total water
NOTE: For 1lb of meat, add 20ml (⅔ oz. or 1⅓ Tbsp) of water
Total ratio is 40mL water per 1lb (40mL = 1⅓ oz = 2¾ Tbsp)
- Grind/Process 3rd time
Wrap
- Place ground meat in a mixing bowl
- Add the rest of the water, and then mix together really well (should be very sticky)
- Pump or stuff into an edible or inedible casing (100mm is the largest size I could find on Amazon)
- Secure the end
Cooking
Overview: 1 hour Dry + 1 hour @ 130F + 1 hour @ 145F + 1 hour @ 160F + more @ 175F
Total: ~5 hours
- Set smoker to 120F (50C), NO smoke, NO humidity, OPEN dampers to dry the casing for 1 hour
- Set to 130F (55C), ADD smoke, ADD humidity (water pan), ¾ damper for 1 hour
- 145F (65C) for 1 hour
- 160F (72F) for 1 hour
- 175F (75C) until internal temperature reaches 160F (72C)
- Place in an ice bath to separate the casing and the meat
Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Attempt 4/14/24: Used Oven Sous Vide Method. Should have added something like cornstarch in the meat mixture to give it some adherence. That and/or changing the ratio to add more ground/pureed meat to fill in the gaps in the meat, while taking away from the original cubed meat. Even if cubing (altered the recipe directions to use smaller pieces), then should process a little. 3 degrees of food processor chopping to make the final product smoother would be more ideal. The way this ended up was more of a headcheese. There IS an obvious complex texture, but it all fell apart easily. The 3 different flavor profiles gave it GREAT taste. Made the mistake of not thinking about the cooking vessel until after rolling the meat. Should have cut it in half and then would have been able to have 2 smaller hams and able to cook it inside of the Dutch oven with the water filled to the top. The way I had it, the water didn’t even cover the whole meat log, so cooking was very uneven. Unsure of how to test internal temperature of meat log without making a mess. Cooking @ 215F took about 2.5 to 3 hours total. Used way too much plastic wrap and wasn’t able to use a lidded dish, just 2 layers of foil. Meat used: Chicken. 3 thighs, 1.5 breast, ¼lb ground chicken (hand squeezed to pulverize). NEXT TIME: more ground chicken, less cubed breast. Add cornstarch for smoothness and adherence. Smaller logs for more even cooking. More food processing. Maybe try using meat casing.
7/21/2025: Used Ham Maker
- Sous Vide cooking charts recommend cooking chicken at 150F for 1-3 hours.
- A Ham Maker is a MUCH easier method of doing this. It’s a metal contraption with a spring in it that fits right into a stock pot on the stove and does the same thing neatly. However, if you don’t have one and don’t want one, this is fine, too.
- There’s always the option of baking or broiling it after the fact for a possible crust or rind? Haven’t attempted that yet